3E. Regulations and ICT

USA: Accessibility in ICT

In the US, there are two laws that are used to enforce ICT accessibilities.

Section 508 draws its standards from WCAG 2.0. Through Title II of the ADA, it applies to government websites on the federal, state, and local level.

Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination based on disability 'in the activities of places of public accommodation.' This applies to basically everything including e-commerce and public mobile applications.

It is enforced through lawsuits. People can bring violation claims and sue organizations through the US DOJ Civil Rights Division. Cases against educational institutions are brought to the US Department of Education Office for Civil RIghts.

EU: Accessibility in ICT

So there are some names of legislation that we have to learn. All of things work together to provide full coverage of things.

• European Web Accessibility Directive. This covers the public sector.
• European Accessibility Act This covers the private sector and the deadline for compliance is four months from now, in June 2025.

But how do we tell what is and isn't accessible?

Harmonized Standards

EN 301 549 lays out the criteria that determines whether a digital product is accessible .

Other harmonized standards that may be relevant to the domain of ICT.

• EN 17210 accessibility of the built environment
• EN 17161 is a Design for All standard for products, goods and services
• In-progress standard for non-ICT information related to products
• In-progress standard for help desk, call centres, technical support, relay, training services.
• In-progress standard for accessible emergency communications