U.S Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) joined by several other Senators, have written a letter to the U.S Department of Justice (DOJ), through the Attorney General Merrick Garland, urging the department to provide better guidance and regulations to help State and local governments better comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) accessibility requirements on their websites, mobile applications and other forms of technology .
The letter read in part ‘For people with disabilities, website accessibility and other forms of accessible [technology] are necessities—not luxuries or conveniences—that foster independence, economic self-sufficiency and active, meaningful participation in civic life. Although the Department has clearly stated that the ADA applies to such digital spaces, the lack of specific requirements or technical compliance standards incorporated in regulation has led to a widespread lack of meaningful digital accessibility for people with disabilities. It is past time for the Department to issue robust clarifications and remedy this exclusionary status quo.’