Hello everyone,
As you may have read, the Department of Justice in April published new rules as part of the Americans with Disabilities Act that all local and state governments will need to meet international accessibility standards for online services and online electronic documents (WCAG 2.1 level AA). The deadline will be April 2026 or 2027 depending on service population. The rules covers public libraries, public schools, and public higher education so libraries across the country will be impacted by the new rules.
To help everyone understand what the new rules will mean for libraries, ALA's Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services and Accessibility Assembly will co-sponsor an online session with representatives from the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division in late-July/early-August. We'll send out an announcement once the date/time is finalized.
To prepare for this session, we need to know what questions you have about the new rules as the DOJ representatives can only respond to pre-submitted questions.
So read the DOJ's briefing on the new rule (and the full ADA rule pdf if desired), then send in any questions you have to this posting so we can submit the questions to our presenters.
Also, please feel free to email me at jerry.yarnetsky@miamioh.edu if you have any questions about the program or this need.
Many thanks!
Jerry Yarnetsky
Co-chair ALA's Accessibility Assembly
Web services librarian
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio
PS - here are a few of the questions I have about the rule through the lens of a university library to prime the pump:
- How should libraries interpret the final clause of § 35.201(b) exceptions for preexisting electronic documents? Because a primary activity of libraries is research, would it be correct to say that older online research materials, such as academic journal articles, could not be exempt under the preexisting conventional electronic documents exemption because they are "used to ... participate in the public entity's services, programs, or activities"?
- If a small press fails to make their electronic documents accessible by the deadline, but the content is required by an academic program, does the library still have to cut the resources or does the hardship clause allow for continued use?
- How will archiving websites work in practice? § 35.104(4) states the site "is organized and stored in a dedicated area or areas clearly identified as being archived." Does this mean a separate archive server or, if multiple servers are unavailable, can the entire site be clearly identified as archived by a banner notification across each page of the site for instance?
- How would the electronic document exemption apply to archival material offered for research purposes by the university archives? For instance scans of early campus newspapers or early board of trustees records?
- If a university library hosts digital scholarship websites for faculty, do all the sites need to meet ADA standards even if they are not being used by university students? For example, if a creative writing professor's website is sharing their personal work to their professional community, but they are not using the site for their teaching.