On Friday, July 23rd, the Obama Administration proposed trying to improve internet access for people with disabilities. The U.S. Justice Department released four new proposals for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regarding website accessibility, 9-1-1 accessibility, ATM accessibility, and movie theater captioning and video description. The new proposals, coming in the form of advance notice of proposed rule-making (ANPRM), are released to receive analysis and feedback from the general public.
However, many business owners may be critical of the new proposals with an already rocky relationship with the administration over financial regulations. Specifically, for large theater and entertainment chains like Regal Entertainment Group, this new legislation could result in major expenditure in new technology and create budgeting problems.
Despite potential disapproval from the business community, the Justice Department promotes updating and revamping the ADA in its 20th anniversary.
“Just as these quantum leaps can help all of us, they can also set us back—if regulations are not updated or compliance codes become too confusing to implement,” says Attorney General Eric Holder. The Justice Department set a 6-month commenting period for the public. The four proposals can be viewed at ada.gov.
