News Release
NCD #03-418
July 10, 2003
Contact: Mark S. Quigley
202-272-2004
202-272-2074 TTY
mquigley@ncd.gov
National Council on Disability
Says Americans with Disabilities Act Applies to Commercial and Other
Private Web Sites
July 26 is the 13th Anniversary of the ADA
WASHINGTON-The National Council on Disability today
released a policy paper (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/adainternet.html)
that analyzes and answers the critical question: Does the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA) apply to commercial and other private
sector Web sites, and if so, what does it require?
Much discussion of this question seems to be conducted
without careful attention to the case law and other authorities
that have already built-up around this question. Beginning with
a brief discussion of the role electronic communication has come
to play in our lives, the paper then goes on to the placement of
the ADA in the context of current technology and of computer usage
in our country. Though many people are familiar with the term "digital
divide," the paper suggests that we should be focusing on the opportunities
offered by the "digital future."
NCD analyzed all the legal background to the ADA and
Internet access issue, pointing out authorities and scholarship
on both sides of the question, and identifying as carefully and
precisely as possible what these authorities actually do and do
not say.
Through this process, the narrow legal issues, bearing
mostly upon the definition of the word "place" in Title III of the
ADA, are brought into clear focus. The paper also analyzes the meaning
and application of this term, in light of the ADA's legislative
history, its plain meaning, and court decisions applying this term
in nontechnology-based settings.
Many authorities, including those that are opposed
to the view that the ADA should apply to e-commerce, are cited and
discussed. But based on all the authorities, the paper reaches the
conclusion that the law does clearly contemplate the coverage of
the Internet by Title III of the ADA. Finally, the paper explains
the practical and economic arguments that should guide those who
may be called upon to apply the law, suggesting strategies by which
the accessibility principle can be broadly implemented without disruption
and with benefit to consumers and business alike.
NCD is an independent federal agency making recommendations
to the President and Congress on disability policy. NCD first proposed
and then drafted the original Americans with Disabilities Act. |
