Non-compliant digital media offered by organizations intentionally or unintentionally discriminates against millions of people
By: Pierluigi Oliverio
There has been substantial public discussion around equity in society. Conversations frequently focus on gender, income, race or sexual orientation. But often missing is the disabled community, which overlaps with all identified groups.
There are many disability categories, but people often think of the most visible types, such as wheelchair-bound individuals and their need for unencumbered physical access. However, accessibility is not limited to the physical world; it includes the digital world. Individuals classified under various disability categories must utilize “screen-reader” software to navigate and read documents and websites. When these individuals encounter digital media that is inaccessible, it is exclusionary. Non-compliant digital media offered by organizations intentionally or unintentionally discriminates against millions of people. One in five people in the United States has a disability. And from that population, approximately 8 million U.S. citizens utilize screen-readers. I first became familiar with screen-readers when supporting the Morgan Autism Center while serving as a Councilmember for San Jose’s District 6.
In 2017, there were 814 digital accessibility lawsuits in the United States, and in 2022 the number was 3,255. Corporations have faced the majority of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) lawsuits regarding digital accessibility and tend to be very responsive to complaints for fear of large monetary payouts and reputational harm. Local government entities, however, have been mostly passive as the preponderance of litigation has focused on corporations. This could change as California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued guidance in June 2022 urging local governments to combat discrimination and enforce disability access laws.
On Sept. 2, 2021, I shared with the City of San Jose administration my observation that a significant percentage of the public-facing documents on the city’s website were either non-accessible to screen-readers, or disabled community members would be unable to navigate multi-page documents, thereby excluding or hampering disabled individuals from participating in government. Like many initiatives in local government, it takes time to budget the necessary funds. Thankfully, the city of San Jose has finally come through. I was pleased to hear city administration announce during the March 21 City Council meeting the hiring of a contractor to provide workforce training to enable compliance with ADA. I shared similar ADA concerns with executives from other local government entities in our county and am disappointed to report there has been no response.
As a current planning commissioner who has been appointed and reappointed by the City Council, I want to be confident that meeting agendas, staff reports and associated constituent feedback are accessible to everyone. I want to compliment the city’s Planning Department, which fixed identified accessibility issues with planning documents last year. Awareness is critical and should be followed by training, adherence to procedure and ongoing updates to technology. The level of effort required to make digital media accessible is like conducting a spell check or grammar check. For many government entities, it may also mean remediating countless historical documents that were not properly formatted when originally created.
Most of us are fortunate enough to not need assistive technology to read digital media. However, we should not ignore the fact that organizations do not prioritize compliance with federal ADA law. State and local governments have discretion on spending but should not have discretion to disregard federal laws. If a government entity believes a regulatory law is too burdensome, then it should lobby to change it or obtain a waiver. Personally, I do not know anyone who believes we should exclude the disabled community from government processes, especially when the remedy is relatively simple. Accessibility enables inclusion and is another key step to improving equity in our society.
Pierluigi Oliverio is chair of the San Jose Planning Commission and a former San Jose City Councilman.
