New ADA Title II Rule for Digital Accessibility

As most all of us know, there are federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities in programs, services, and activities. Starting with section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (1973) through to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, 1990), the federal government has laid guidelines with direct impact on our school systems. Both laws predate technology as we know it today. Until now, there have not been specific rules regarding websites and mobile apps under the ADA.

The new rule is: Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability; Accessibility of Web Information and Services of State and Local Government Entities. Here is a link to the federal registry. What does it do?

• Implements a rule based on the Title II of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Applies to state and local government entities including public schools
• Proactive rather than reactive.
  • This implies that accessibility accommodations aren't placed when needed, but included for all sites/apps offered to any students in the system; i.e. the accommodations are in place to begin with, not added later when needed.

Implications on K-12 CS Education

While this rule change doesn't take effect until April 21, 2026, (for systems greater than 50,000 individuals) and April 27, 2027, (for systems smaller than 50,000), there are some serious implications regarding commonly used software tools to consider:

• Most block-based programming environments are currently not accessible
  • App Lab (code.org) - developer is aware of the rule change and actively working on making accommodations.
  • App Inventor - while MIT is committed to accessibility, the development team has not commented on this rule change.
  • Snap! - while UC Berkeley is committed to accessibility, the development team has not commented on this rule change.
  • Scratch - developer is aware of the rule change and actively working on making accommodations.
• Most text-based languages are accessible, however some IDE's have components which are not accessible.
• Nearly all endorsed AP Computer Science Principles courses use inaccessible tools.

Further implications:

• All these laws and regulations apply even if no one with a disability is in the class (this rule is proactive versus reactive)
• Curriculum providers must make their curricula and tools accessible or they can't be used
• Curriculum providers are not liable if their inaccessible curricula or tools are used in a classroom. The school or school district is liable.

This information is summarized from a webinar given by Dr. Richard E. Ladner from the University of Washington. You can find his complete slides here.