Legislation

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Five Guys burger chain in a pickle over website inaccessibility

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On 21 July 2017, a US federal district court in Manhattan rejected a ‘motion to dismiss’ claim by the ‘Five Guys’ burger chain (Case No. 17-cv-788) defending their alleged inaccessible website. The judge found that there is indeed a case of discrimination to answer against a legally-blind customer who couldn’t order the burger they wanted from the fast food seller’s site.

A ‘Five Guys’ burger with beef and cheese

A ‘Five Guys’ burger with beef and cheese.


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Australia adopts accessible ICT procurement standards

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Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, Standards Australia, and ACCAN have jointly announced that Australia will be the first country outside Europe to adopt the European standard for the procurement of accessible ICT. It will be known in Australia as Accessibility requirements suitable for public procurement of ICT products and services.

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Fingers on a computer keyboard

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New Zealand gives go-ahead for data-driven disability plan

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The New Zealand government is committed to developing a Disability Plan in order to ensure that government agencies have the necessary digitally-delivered data to make informed, evidence-based policy decisions on New Zealanders with a disability.

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Improving the availability of quality information about those with a disability or impairment in NZ will lead to better decision-making by government agencies, say both the Statistics Minister Craig Foss, and the Disability Issues Minister Nicky Wagner.

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UK charity puts pressure on government to enforce web accessibility

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Robin Christopherson, head of digital inclusion at Abilitynet, a UK disabilities charity, has written an open letter to the British Parliament, to put pressure on the people in power to fine organisations whose websites and apps fail to comply with WCAG 2.0.

Traffic warden issuing a parking ticket on a busy London road


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New Zealand holds an inquiry into captioning

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New Zealand’s Government Administration Committee has announced an inquiry into captioning, and is seeking submissions from the public.

Remote control being pointed at a TV with captions at the bottom of the screen

The inquiry’s terms of reference include:


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Public Sector web and mobile app accessibility to become law in Europe

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Last week, three years since its proposal, it was agreed that public sector web accessibility will now become a legal requirement in Europe; an improvement that will make a huge impact on the community.

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Accessible Canada by law

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Canadian province Manitoba has introduced a customer service standard as part of its accessibility legislation. This recognises that disabled customers may not be able to access communications and may be using assistive devices. The standard also applies to public events.

Canadian flag

Many countries have moved towards disability inclusion through strategies, equity and diversity plans. Generally the only area that has been enshrined in law has been around building codes, but Manitoba’s new standard is an example of it reaching into digital accessibility and customer service.


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Greens Senator calls for audio description on TV

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The Senate has supported a motion introduced by the Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert, calling on the Federal Government to amend the Broadcasting Services Act to include a requirement for all free-to-air and subscription television services to provide audio description.

Headphones with auxiliary cable cable shaped into an audio waveform


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Lessons from Skandia Bank’s accessibility journey

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Norwegian bank Skandiabanken’s Snorre Kim discusses why a major national bank decided to put digital accessibility at the front and centre of its recent website redesign and move to a new banking platform.

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Snorre spoke to Media Access Australia following his presentation at Funka’s Accessibility Days conference, which was held April 14-15 in Stockholm, Sweden.


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New caption quality rules take effect in the US

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has introduced new quality rules for closed captions on television which come into effect in the US on 16 March 2015.

Left hand pointing remote control towards TV. Image credit: flash.pro via Flickr


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