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Compliance

Web Accessibility

I. PURPOSE

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) is meant to prevent exclusion of or discrimination against otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities. Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodation. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) aim to “make Web content more accessible to people with disabilities.

II. HISTORY

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was the first law to address equal rights and equal access for those with disabilities. Later, Congress passed the ADA, which expanded the provisions of the Rehabilitation Act to entities that do not receive federal funds. Although neither Section 504 nor the ADA directly addresses web accessibility or sets forth specific website standards, industry standards related to web accessibility have been developed and published. In 1999, The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) released WCAG 1.0, a series of guidelines on how to make web pages accessible to those with disabilities. Updated versions of the guidelines were released in 2008 (WCAG 2.0) and again in 2018 (WCAG 2.1). Shortly after the original release of WCAG, provisions from those guidelines were incorporated into regulations governing federal agency websites under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 508).

Additionally, the Department of Justice (DOJ) considered revising ADA Title III regulations to address web accessibility and adopt WCAG 2.0 standards, but the initiative was put on hold in 2017.”

III. APPLICABILITY TO BYU–Hawaii

A. Section 504

BYU–Hawaii is subject to the nondiscrimination requirements of Section 504 because it is, “a college, university, or other postsecondary institution” that “receiv[es] Federal financial assistance” in the form of federal research grants and student financial aid.

B. ADA

As a private entity sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, BYU–Hawaii is exempt from the public accommodation requirements in Title III of the ADA as an “entit[y] controlled by [a] religious organization[.]” However, BYU–Hawaii attempts, in good faith, to comply with those provisions of the ADA from which it is exempted to the extent reasonably practicable.

C. WCAG 2.1

Though voluntary for non-federal websites, the WCAG are the “internationally-recognized” standard for website accessibility and the standard for federal agency websites under Section 508.

IV. REQUIREMENTS

A. Section 504

Under Section 504, a college or university may not discriminate against or exclude an “otherwise qualified individual with a disability”—meaning someone “who meets the academic and technical standards requisite to admission or participation in the recipient's education program or activity” or is otherwise eligible to receive services. Section 504 does not specifically mention website accessibility as a requirement; however, the law does apply to “all the operations of . . . a college [or] university[.]” Moreover, the following actions are specifically prohibited in regards to qualified handicapped persons:

  1. denying the opportunity to participate in or benefit from an aid, benefit, or service;
  2. affording an aid, benefit, or service opportunity that is not equal to that afforded others;
  3. providing a less effective version of the aid, benefit, or service than is provided to others; or
  4. limiting the enjoyment of any right, privilege, advantage, or opportunity enjoyed by others receiving an aid, benefit, or service.

In addition, guidance and statements from the DOJ and the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights interpret Section 504 as requiring website accessibility.

B. ADA

In general, Title III of the ADA prohibits those with disabilities from “be[ing] discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation[.]” The DOJ has taken the position that “the websites of private entities that are public accommodations are covered by the ADA.” No ADA regulations give technical standards for websites, thus giving “flexibility in how to comply with the ADA’s general requirements of nondiscrimination and effective communication.”

C. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

WCAG 2.1 is built around four principles for accessibility: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. These principles are broken down into thirteen different guidelines, each of which includes various success criteria (testable requirements).

Success criteria fall under one of three different levels of conformance: A, AA, and AAA (Level A is the minimum level, while Level AAA is the highest level). To meet a level of conformance, all success criteria assigned to that level (and any levels below it) must be satisfied.

Federal agency websites are held to WCAG 2.0, Level AA.