Attorney General Bonta Joins Multistate Coalition Supporting U.S. DOJ’s Proposal to Adopt Specific Accessibility Requirements Online for People with Disabilities

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a multistate coalition of attorneys general in submitting a comment letter supporting an update to the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) Title II regulations that seeks to improve equal access for people with disabilities online by establishing specific requirements for state and local government websites and mobile applications (mobile apps). As society becomes increasingly reliant on websites and mobile apps for information, services, and more, it is essential that public entities ensure their website and mobile app-based services are accessible to individuals with disabilities. 

“The Americans with Disabilities Act has been an essential tool for safeguarding the civil rights of people with disabilities since 1990, and it’s important that the protections set forth in this landmark law keep up with the times,” said Attorney General Bonta. “In this digital age, as our lives move increasingly online, public agencies must ensure they are meeting people where they are. The Biden administration’s proposed regulations do just that by setting standards for state and local public entities to better serve our communities with disabilities. In California, we are committed to ensuring equal access for people with disabilities to all aspects of life — on and offline.”

The ADA is designed to ensure individuals with disabilities have equal access to all aspects of society and to prohibit discrimination against them through strong, consistent, and enforceable standards. Title II of the ADA applies to all activities of state and local governments. 

In the comment letter, the attorneys general support the U.S. Department of Justice’s (U.S. DOJ) proposed regulations to update Title II to set consistent, achievable standards to ensure that people with disabilities can access public entities’ services, programs, and activities. 

In the comments, among other things, the coalition: 

• Encourages U.S. DOJ to adopt an accessibility standard for websites and mobile apps that is consistent across all public entities regardless of size, and that will allow for more uniform experiences for people with disabilities that are not dependent on the size of the public entity whose programs and services they wish to access.  
• Asks U.S. DOJ to clarify that by establishing compliance dates for the standards set in this regulation, U.S. DOJ is not pausing the existing obligation for public entities to have accessible websites until the dates that those standards become effective.
• Appreciates U.S. DOJ’s balanced approach in ensuring full and equal access to services, programs, and activities offered by public entities through the web and mobile apps, while setting forth obligations that public entities can reasonably achieve given the innovation and dynamism of websites and mobile apps. 

A copy of the comment letter is available here.