Sec. 2. Findings and purposes
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Congress finds the following: Section 2(b)(1) of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 states that the Act provides a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities ( 42 U.S.C. 12101(b)(1) ). In 1990, websites and applications were essentially nonexistent, but Congress made clear that the ADA should keep pace with the rapidly changing technology of the times (H.R. Rep. No. 101–485, pt. 2, at 381 (1990)), as reprinted in 1990 U.S.C.C.A.N. 303, 391).
Section 102 of the ADA ( 42 U.S.C. 12112 ), section 202 of the ADA ( 42 U.S.C. 12132 ), and section 302 of the ADA ( 42 U.S.C. 12182 ) broadly prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in regard to employment, services, programs, or activities of public entities, and of goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, respectively. The Department of Justice has promulgated regulations to address the intersection of the ADA and emerging technologies, including the obligation to ensure effective communication with and by individuals with disabilities by using technologies such as video remote interpreting, real-time computer-aided transcription, open and closed captioning, audio description, videophones, captioned telephones, screen reader software, optical readers, and telephone systems that interact properly with internet-based relay systems.
The activities of a vast number of ADA-covered entities now occur in whole or in part through websites and applications, a shift that has been accelerated by a global pandemic. The digital economy accounts for nearly 10 percent of the United States gross domestic product, and 85 percent of United States adults visit the internet at least once per day. Many entities, including those covered by the ADA, rely on third-party technology providers to deliver goods and services via websites and applications, yet these websites and applications are often created and developed in a manner that is inaccessible to individuals with disabilities.
Despite the ADA’s clear language covering all services, programs, and activities of public entities, all goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of public accommodations, and all terms, conditions, and privileges of employment and certain actions of employers, including when conducted through websites and applications, most websites and applications contain significant barriers for individuals with disabilities. When Congress enacted the ADA in 1990, Congress intended for the ADA to keep pace with rapidly changing technology.
The Department of Justice has rightly acknowledged that the ADA requires covered entities to ensure that their websites are accessible to individuals with disabilities. Some courts have misconstrued the ADA, saying the ADA does not cover websites despite the clear language of the ADA’s provisions. Without equal access to websites and applications, many individuals with disabilities are treated as second-class citizens and are excluded from equal participation in and equal access to all aspects of society.
It is the purpose of this Act— to affirm that the ADA and this Act require that websites and applications used by any covered entity to communicate or interact with applicants, employees, participants, customers, or other members of the public be readily accessible to and useable by individuals with disabilities, whether the entity has a physical location or is digital only; to require the Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to set and enforce standards for websites and applications and to periodically update such standards; to address and remedy the systemic nationwide problem of inaccessible websites and applications that exclude individuals with disabilities from equal participation in and equal access to all aspects of society; and to create effective mechanisms to respond to emerging technologies and to ensure that such technologies do not impair the rights and abilities of individuals with disabilities to participate in all aspects of society.
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