Signed into law on July 26 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act is a wide-ranging legislation intended to make American Society more accessible to people with disabilities. Section 504 states that "no otherwise" qualified individual with a disability in the United States, as defined in section 7(20), shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance or under any program or activity conducted by any Executive agency or by the United States Postal Service." To build on this legislation, Section 508 requires that electronic and information technology that is developed or purchased by the Federal Government is accessible by people with disabilities.
Through lawsuits and settlement agreements, the Department of Justice has achieved greater access for individuals with disabilities in hundreds of cases. The Web sites, which are not assistive technology -friendly, will seriously eliminate the online information for disabled individuals. Thus a violation of the ADA act has been committed. Under title III, the Department of Justice may obtain civil penalties of up to $50,000 for the first violation and $100,000 for any subsequent violation. The BEST way to apply the ADA to the cyberspace is to build accessibility into the site itself.
This law requires all products to be usable by people with disabilities or be compatible with accessibility aids. Creating accessible Websites will be an easier process when hardware and software tools are fully compliant with this law. Until then, it is up to the designers to ensure that their Web sites are accessible today.