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JULY 25, 2003
By Suzanne Robitaille The ADA's Next Step: Cyberspace The landmark law that ensures the disabled access to public facilities and workplaces needs to be extended to the Net and e-commerce Entrepreneur Kevan Worley, blind since birth, relies on the World Wide Web for his livelihood. As president of Blackstone/Worley Consulting, a contractor of military food-service facilities, he regularly gets access to his e-mail and food-service industry research using a screen reader that speaks the text of the messages to him. He also operates a Web site and e-mail list service in his role as president of the National Association of Blind Merchants, a division of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). "The Internet is an indispensable tool," says Worley. Yet, he notices that screen readers still don't work well with many sites because they haven't been designed to be compatible with assistive technologies for the disabled. "There's clearly much more work to be done," he says. That's for sure. The Americans with Disabilities Act marks its 13th anniversary on July 26. Plenty of progress has been made since enactment of this landmark law, which was intended to make public facilities and workplaces accessible to people with disabilities. SALES FORCE. Yet, no mandate exists yet for companies doing business on the Web. Why? Congress enacted the statute in 1990 -- light years before the Web become the economic and social force it is today. Back then, e-commerce on a nascent Internet was prohibited. Imagine that. With the Net and e-business now a vital part of commerce, it's time for companies to take the next step -- and ensure that the Web is accessible, too. The Commerce Dept. estimates that retail e-commerce accounted for $45 billion in sales in 2002, up 11% from the prior year. In the first quarter of 2003, online retail sales jumped 30%, to $11.9 billion, from the first quarter of 2002, while total retail sales grew just 4.4% in this same period. The ADA has done some of its job well, leading to hard-won improvements like Braille on banking ATMs and more restaurants with wheelchair-accessible ramps. The act has encouraged -- in some cases forced -- employers to make workplace accommodations for people with disabilities. And it has raised consciousness nationwide that people with disabilities can perform as ably and professionally as other workers if just given a chance. EVERYBODY WINS. Now, disability groups are pushing for better Web usability for the blind, deaf, and mobility-impaired, and they're seeing improvements. "Executives are saying, 'O.K., now we get it. We don't want to discriminate against persons with disabilities,'" says Judy Brewer, director of the Web-accessibility initiative for the World Wide Web Consortium (WC3), which develops technical standards for the Web. Disability advocates target top brass by translating the Web-accessibility issue into a language that corporate types can understand: the large, untapped market of 54 million Americans with disabilities. If that doesn't work, they can try threats of legal exposure. Accessibility-software makers spread awareness by packaging their products with other Internet tools coveted by CEOs and CIOs, like security and privacy. With the Net playing an ever-increasing role in employment, education, commerce, and even social and family life, Web accessibility removes barriers to equal opportunity. As a side benefit, an aging population also benefits from many kinds of Web accessibility, including larger font sizes and computers that speak text.
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