All businesses, even those that do not serve the public, must meet accessible design standards when constructing or altering facilities. Construction departments are also not required or authorized by the ADA to enforce the ADA Standards (some construction departments even include a disclaimer in their plan checks stating that ADA compliance is not part of their approval process). Entities covered by the Act are ultimately responsible for ensuring ADA compliance in new construction and alterations. Certification facilitates compliance by ensuring that state and local code requirements are consistent with ADA accessible design requirements.
An occupancy permit issued by a local jurisdiction (or a building inspection) does not guarantee ADA compliance. Such consultations are permitted under the ADA, either because they would not be disability-related or, if the pandemic were truly serious, they would be justified under the ADA's rules for employee disability consultations. Several courts in the United States have ruled that commercial websites are places of public accommodation and are therefore subject to the rules of The ADA entrusts the Access Board with responsibility for developing guidelines for accessible design that are intended to serve as the basis for the mandatory ADA Standards and applicable adopted by the DOJ and the DOT. However, the final EEOC regulations apply only to Title I of the ADA; they do not apply to Title II and III of the ADA.
To answer the question of whether compliance with the ADA is mandatory for websites, we will look at what the term “mandatory” means in the law and what the ADA and Section 508 say about it, as well as what other bodies are important for interpreting the law, such as the courts of law and the U. Among the punishments that the ADA provides for violators of compliance with the ADA 508 is the revocation of federal funds. After the ADA became law in 1990, the DOJ created the first set of ADA Title III regulations, the 1991 Standards for Accessible Design (1991 Standards). Contact the ADA National Network if you have questions or to find an ADA National Network regional center near you.
The ADA National Network can assist people with disabilities by providing ADA information related to access to services, programs and activities provided by public entities. Title III of the ADA requires that each owner, landlord or operator of a “place of public accommodation” provide equal access to users who meet ADA disability standards. Administrative action related to the federal government and its agencies purchasing products and services accessible to people with disabilities, which is articulated through 508 compliance certification requirements during procurement processes, further entrenches the obligation for websites to be ADA because, without compliance, as evidenced by compliance with the VPAT 508, qualifications of your products or services during procurement processes. As you've probably already discovered, the answer is no, because it's not entirely clear how or even if the ADA rules will apply to any particular website.
