The new rule which comes on the rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act is aimed at addressing challenges for web and mobilebased services. Thirtythree years after the ADAs passage many barriers to the full participation and inclusion of people with disabilities still remain. The Justice Department has issued the proposed rule via the Federal Register. After it is published on federalregister.gov it will be open for review from stakeholders and the public who can submit comments for days. After that the Justice Department expects to issue a final rule that will lay out clear standards for public entities to comply with the ADA. It will affect nearly million people with vision hearing cognitive and manual dexterity disabilities officials said. Despite the important progress made under the ADA many people with disabled cannot access web or mobilebased state and local services. This lack of accessibility has led unequal access to critical services for millions of Americans. It does not need to be that way US associate attorney general Vanita Gupta told reporters. Its important that websites and mobile apps be designed accessibly so that people with disability have equal opportunity to access public programs services and activities. The White House is taking new steps to improve access to online services for Americans with disabilities working to eliminate disparities with a new rule establishing accessibility standards for state andLocal governments web andMobile appbased services, the White House said in a fact sheet. As most services turned online during the pandemic access disparities worsened the fact sheet said noting that deaf and hard of hearing people could not understand video messages from governors and mayors due to lack of captioning and American Sign Language interpretation and community college students with certain disabilities such as Manual dexterity disabilities could not properly navigate online course content. The proposed rule will be published on Federal Register and will be available for review for days before it is released to the public for comment. It is expected that the final rule will come out by the end of the year. For confidential support call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details. In the U.S. call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255 or visit www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org. In Europe and the Middle East call the suicide prevention helpline on 0800-788-7255 or click here for information on suicide prevention in the UK. In Africa and the South Africa, call the Suicide Prevention Helpline at 0800 515-9255 or go to the Suicideprevention Lifeline at 0300 515 7255. In Australia and the UK call the Crisis Helplines on 01457 909090 or visit the CrisisHelpline for help in the South. In Canada and the Republic of Ireland call 0800 555 111 or the Crisis Lifeline for the South, the South East and the West, the East, the Midlands, the West and the North, the North and the East. The South and South Africa are all part of the European Union.
Biden administration unveils new steps to improve access to online services for Americans with disabilities
