What does the ADA say about accessibility?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas, including employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications, and access to state and local government programs and services.

The ADA defines a person with a disability as someone who has a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more life activities, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment. The ADA also protects people with disabilities from discrimination by employers, government entities, and private businesses and organizations.

Title III of the ADA requires that public accommodations and commercial facilities be accessible to people with disabilities. This includes businesses such as restaurants, theaters, hotels, retail stores, shopping malls, health care facilities, parks and recreation facilities, and transportation hubs.

Title III also requires that businesses take steps to ensure that communication with customers with disabilities is accessible. This may include providing qualified interpreters, making information available in Braille or large print, and using other accessible technologies.

The ADA also has requirements for website accessibility. Websites must be designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them. This includes features such as alt text for images, closed captioning for videos, and text that can be zoomed in without losing readability.

The Department of Justice has published a set of web accessibility standards called the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These guidelines are intended to help website owners make their sites accessible to people with disabilities.