Bill Summary
The Online Accessibility Act is a bill that aims to amend the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to include consumer facing websites and mobile applications owned or operated by private entities. It establishes web accessibility compliance standards for these websites and applications, in order to ensure that individuals with disabilities are not excluded from their services. It also outlines a process for filing complaints and seeking remedies for violations of the standards. The bill also includes provisions for flexibility for small businesses to comply with the standards and for periodic review and updates to the standards.
Possible Impacts
1. A person with a disability may be able to access and use consumer facing websites and mobile applications owned or operated by private entities, creating equal opportunities for them to participate in activities and access goods and services.
2. Small businesses may have to make changes to their websites and mobile applications in order to comply with the new accessibility standards, which could incur additional costs and resources.
3. The Department of Justice may receive an increase in complaints and have to allocate more resources towards investigating and enforcing violations of the Online Accessibility Act, potentially leading to delays in resolution for individuals with disabilities.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8478 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8478
To amend the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to include
consumer facing websites and mobile applications owned or operated by a
private entity, to establish web accessibility compliance standards for
such websites and mobile applications, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 1, 2020
Mr. Budd (for himself and Mr. Correa) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to include
consumer facing websites and mobile applications owned or operated by a
private entity, to establish web accessibility compliance standards for
such websites and mobile applications, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Online Accessibility Act''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990
RELATING TO CONSUMER FACING WEBSITES AND MOBILE
APPLICATIONS OWNED OR OPERATED BY A PRIVATE ENTITY.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new title:
``TITLE VI--CONSUMER FACING WEBSITES AND MOBILE APPLICATIONS OWNED OR
OPERATED BY A PRIVATE ENTITY
``SEC. 601. REQUIREMENTS FOR CONSUMER FACING WEBSITES AND MOBILE
APPLICATIONS OWNED OR OPERATED BY A PRIVATE ENTITY.
``(a) General Rule.--No individual, by reason of a disability,
shall be excluded from participation in or be denied the full and equal
benefits of the services of a consumer facing website or mobile
application, or be subjected to discrimination by any private owner or
operator of a consumer facing website or mobile application.
``(b) Standard for Compliance.--
``(1) In general.--A consumer facing website or mobile
application shall be considered compliant under the
requirements of this section if such website or mobile
application is in substantial compliance with the Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines (referred to in this title as WCAG)
2.0 Level A and Level AA standard established by the
Accessibility Guidelines Working Group, or any subsequent
update, revision, or replacement to the WCAG 2.0 Level A and
Level AA standard published by the World Wide Web Consortium or
successor organization.
``(2) Alternative means of access.--A private entity that
owns or operates a consumer facing website or mobile
application that is not in substantial compliance with the
standard set forth under paragraph (1) shall provide an
alternative means of access for individuals with disabilities
that is equivalent to access the content available on such
website or mobile application.
``(c) Regulation.--
``(1) Access board.--
``(A) In general.--The Architectural and
Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (referred to
in this title as the `Access Board'), shall issue and
publish standards setting forth--
``(i) for purposes of this title, a
definition of `substantial compliance',
`alternative means of access', and `consumer
facing website or mobile application'; and
``(ii) regulations necessary to implement
the standard set forth in subsection (b).
``(B) Timing of regulations.--For purposes of this
title:
``(i) Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Access
Board shall promulgate a notice of proposed
rulemaking.
``(ii) Upon issuance of the notice under
clause (i), the Access Board shall solicit
comments from the public on such proposed rule
for a period of 90 days.
``(iii) After the Access Board has reviewed
the comments solicited under clause (ii) and
revised such proposed rule, the Office of
Management and Budget shall conduct a
regulatory assessment of the rule for a period
not to exceed 90 days.
``(iv) Not later than 365 days after the
Office of Management and Budget has completed
the regulatory assessment under clause (iii),
the Access Board shall issue final regulations.
``(C) Review and amendment.--The Access Board shall
periodically review and, as appropriate, amend the
standard required under subsection (b) to reflect
technological advances or changes in electronic and
information technology.
``(2) Department of justice.--No later than 365 days after
the end of the comment period under subparagraph (B)(ii), the
Attorney General shall establish a procedure for receiving and
investigating complaints filed under this title.
``(3) Flexibility for small business concerns.--Regulations
established under this section shall include flexibility for
small business concerns to comply with the standard under
subsection (b).
``SEC. 602. ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES.
``(a) Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies.--No individual may
bring an action before a civil court to enforce the provisions of this
title until all administrative remedies under this section have been
exhausted.
``(b) Notice to Owner or Operator.--Prior to filing a complaint
with the Attorney General under subsection (c), an individual must
first notify the private owner or operator of a consumer facing website
or mobile application that such website or mobile application is not in
compliance with the standard for compliance under section 601 of this
title.
``(1) If within 90 days of receiving notice under
subsection (b) the owner or operator of a consumer facing
website or mobile application fails to bring such website or
such application into compliance with the requirement under
section 601 of this title, an individual may file a complaint
with the Department.
``(2) If an individual files a complaint with the
Department of Justice (referred to in this title as the
`Department') under paragraph (1), a copy of such complaint
shall be provided to the owner or operator of a consumer facing
website or mobile application.
``(c) Reporting of Violations to Attorney General.--
``(1) Deadline to file complaint.--If an individual files a
complaint with the Department, such complaint shall be filed
within the 90-day period beginning on the date after the 90-day
period under subsection (b)(1) has terminated.
``(2) Investigation by attorney general.--Upon receiving a
complaint of an alleged violation, the Attorney General shall
complete an investigation within 180 days to determine whether
a violation exists.
``(3) Final agency determination.--The Attorney General
shall be considered to have made a final determination on a
complaint if--
``(A) during the 180-day period after a complaint
has been filed with the Department, the Attorney
General determines the owner or operator of a consumer
facing website or mobile application is not in
compliance with the standard set forth under section
601; or
``(B) the 180-day period expires without the
Attorney General having made such a final
determination.
``(d) Enforcement by Attorney General.--
``(1) Denial of rights.--
``(A) Duty to investigate.--
``(i) In general.--The Attorney General
shall investigate alleged violations of this
title, and shall undertake periodic reviews of
compliance of consumer facing websites and
mobile applications under this title.
``(ii) Attorney general certification.--On
the application of a State or local government,
the Attorney General may, in consultation with
the Access Board, and after prior notice and a
public hearing at which persons, including
individuals with disabilities, are provided an
opportunity to testify against such
certification, certify that a State law or
local ordinance that establishes accessibility
requirements that meets or exceeds the minimum
requirements of this Act for the accessibility
and usability of consumer facing websites and
mobile applications under this title. At any
enforcement proceeding under this section, such
certification by the Attorney General shall be
rebuttable evidence that such State law or
local ordinance does meet or exceed the minimum
requirements of this Act.
``(B) Potential violation.--If the Attorney General
has reasonable cause to believe that--
``(i) any person or group of persons is
engaged in a pattern or practice of
discrimination under this title; or
``(ii) any person or group of persons has
been discriminated against under this title and
such discrimination raises an issue of general
public importance,
the Attorney General may commence a civil action in any
appropriate United States district court.
``(2) Authority of court.--In a civil action under
paragraph (1)(B), the court may--
``(A) grant any equitable relief that such court
considers to be appropriate;
``(B) order monetary damages to persons aggrieved
when requested by the Attorney General; and
``(C) assess a civil penalty against the entity in
an amount--
``(i) not to exceed $20,000 for a first
violation; and
``(ii) not to exceed $50,000 for any
subsequent violation.
``(3) Punitive damages.--For purposes of paragraph (2)(B),
the term `monetary damages' and `such other relief' does not
include punitive damages.
``(4) Single violation.--For purposes of paragraph (2)(C),
in determining whether a first or subsequent violation has
occurred, a determination in a single action, by judgment or
settlement, that the consumer facing website or mobile
application has engaged in more than one discriminatory act
shall be counted as a single violation.
``(5) Judicial consideration.--In a civil action under
paragraph (1)(B), the court, when considering what amount of
civil penalty, if any, is appropriate, shall give consideration
to any good faith effort or attempt to comply with this Act by
the entity.
``SEC. 603. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.
``(a) In General.--Upon exhausting all administrative remedies
under section 602, any individual aggrieved by a violation of this
title may commence a civil action in any appropriate court of the
United States against the owner or operator of a consumer facing
website or mobile application that engages in such a violation, unless
the Attorney General has instituted an enforcement action under this
title. A civil action under this title is the sole and exclusive remedy
for any person aggrieved by the failure of any consumer facing website
or mobile application to meet the requirements of section 601. In any
action filed under this title, the complaint shall plead with
particularity each element of the plaintiff's claim, including the
specific barriers to access a consumer facing website or mobile
application.
``(b) Tolling.--With respect to the running of the statutory
periods of limitation for such action, the running of such statutory
periods shall be deemed suspended during the period beginning on the
date of the enactment of this Act and ending 180 days after the date
the Access Board has issued final regulations under section 601.
``SEC. 604. DEFINITIONS.
``In this Act:
``(1) Consumer facing website.--The term `consumer facing
website' means any website that is purposefully made accessible
to the public for commercial purposes.
``(2) Mobile applications.--The term `mobile application'
means a consumer facing software application that can be
executed on a mobile platform, or a web-based software
application that is tailored to a mobile platform but is
executed on a server.
``(3) Small business.--The term `small business concern'
has the meaning given such term in section 3(a) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)).''.
SEC. 3. CLERICAL AMENDMENT.
The table of contents of the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 515 the following new item:
``TITLE VI--CONSUMER FACING WEBSITES AND MOBILE APPLICATIONS
``Sec. 601. Requirements for consumer facing websites and mobile
applications owned or operated by a private
entity.
``Sec. 602. Administrative remedies.
``Sec. 603. Private right of action.
``Sec. 604. Definitions.''.
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