New media policy and legislation

There is no Australian legislation specifically addressing new media accessibility. Australians must rely on the more general anti-discrimination provisions in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. This is a largely reactive system, which relies on individuals making complaints about the practices of an organisation to the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).

Australia

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), with the release of version 1.0 in 1999 and version 2.0 in 2008, has been instrumental in providing concrete standards to support government web accessibility.

In February 2010, the Commonwealth Government committed to making all its websites compliant with WCAG 2.0 by 2015. Adoption and implementation details were released by Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) on 30 June 2010 as part of the Web Accessibility National Transition Strategy.

The Commonwealth Government will require all federal, state and territory government websites to conform to the Single A level of WCAG 2.0 by the end of 2012. All Federal government websites must conform to the Double A level of WCAG 2.0 by the end of 2015. States and Territories may elect to conform to Double or Triple A levels.

This applies to all websites, including departmental intranets and private extranets, subject to stringent exemptions and opt-out policies (Federal government only).

From July 1, government will enter the first of three phases:

1. Preparation Phase – July 2010 to December 2010.
2. Transition Phase – January 2011 to December 2011.
3. Implementation Phase – completed by December 2012 (Single A) and December 2014 (Double A).

Agencies will be required to conduct their own assessment and review of their websites and form their own implementation strategies with advice and guidance from AGIMO. Federal government agencies will be required to report to AGIMO, while State and Territory government agencies will deal with jurisdictional representative agencies

International

While few legislatures have been willing to regulate the Internet, and new media more broadly, many have seen government as a leader of web accessibility. Government web accessibility has been required and enforced in some legislatures, most notably the US, New Zealand and the European Union. In these countries, government web accessibility has been dealt with more comprehensively and on a more proactive basis than in Australia.

In the United States, Section 508 of the Rehabillitation Act has been a driving force in government web accessibility, creating enforceable requirements. The European Union was an early adopter of the WCAG 2.0 standards, which is part of a larger e-accessibility and e-inclusion scheme Towards an accessible information society. In New Zealand, the Government Web Standards now requires compliance with WCAG 2.0.

On 26 July 2010, the US House of Representatives passed The Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibily Act of 2009 with an overwhelming majority, 348 for to 23 against.  The bill was presided over by Rep Jim Langevin, the first quadreplegic elected to the House, after the rostrum was made wheelchair accessible.  A similar bill has recently passed the Senate’s Commerce Committee, meaning that the bills are close to becoming law.

The Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibily Act of 2009 would:

·         Require that equipment providing advanced communications via a built-in speaker provide an internal means for hearing aid use;

·         Redefine ‘telecommunications relay services’;

·         Require interconnected and non-interconnected VoIP providers to contribute to the Telecommunications Relay Services Fund;

·         Require, unless it would be an undue burden (significant difficulty or expense), that equipment and services for advanced communications be usable by individuals with disabilities;

·         Require, if that requirement is an undue burden, that the equipment or service be compatible with existing commonly used peripheral devices or specialized customer equipment, unless that requirement would be an undue burden;

·         Establish an accessible products and services clearinghouse that is publicly available;

·         Authorise Lifeline and Link Up programs and other federal universal service support mechanisms to be used for those telecommunications services, Internet access services, and advanced communications that are needed by individuals with disabilities;

·         Define as eligible for universal service support certified programs that distribute equipment to make telecommunications service, Internet services, and advanced communications accessible by deaf-blind individuals;

·         Require every provider of Internet access service and every manufacturer of Internet access equipment, unless it would be an undue burden, to make user interfaces accessible to individuals with disabilities;

·         Require that apparatus that receives or plays back video programming and has a picture screen of any size be capable of decoding closed captioning, transmitting and delivering audio description (AD), and conveying emergency information (current law: (1) requires closed caption decoders only for apparatus having a picture screen that is at least 13 inches; and (2) does not require AD or emergency information conveyance capability);

·         Require that apparatus to record video programming retain and pass through closed captions and AD;

·         Ratify and considers in full force and effect the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC's) AD regulations contained in a specified Report and Order;

·         Define, for certain portions of this Act, "video programming" as including programming distributed over the Internet or by other means;

·         Require video programming owners, providers, and distributors to convey emergency information accessibly to blind or visually-impaired individuals;

·         Require that apparatus to receive or play back video, including using the Internet, allow control by individuals with disabilities and that on-screen menus be accompanied by integrated or peripheral audio output to enable control by blind or visually impaired individuals; and

·         Require each provider or owner of video programming and each multichannel programming distributor to ensure that video programming information and selection provided by means of a navigational device, guide, or menu is accessible in real-time by individuals with disabilities who are unable to read the visual display.