This litigation and legislation proceeded in the absence of regulations that could have provided clarity to business owners in making their websites fully accessible. In 2010, the Obama administration released but did not complete an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Titles II and III of the ADA. These rulemakings were later withdrawn as part of a deregulatory agenda during the Trump administration.  Then, the COVID 19 pandemic caused an unprecedented upsurge in reliance on websites and apps in nearly every facet of life. The access barriers that existed with digital spaces now became enormous barriers for people with a range of disabilities, including those who rely on screen readers, switches, or other assistive technology; who cannot used timed forms; and who require ASL or captioning during telehealth visits. For many in the disability community, the promise of the ADA was far out of reach with the new reality of living in a digital age. A new coalition forms.

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By the beginning of the Biden administration, Blindness and disability groups began strategizing over what should be done to rectify the web and app issues. National Federation of the Blind catalyzed renewed and impassioned advocacy by circulating a draft of a bill that would amend the ADA to clarify that the internet was covered. While this bill created divisions among advocates who were staunchly opposed to any ADA amendments in an uncertain political environment, it was the first step in creating a consensus driven proposal. The draft text needed revisions and a coalition to bring it to fruition.

In late 2021, representatives of American Federation of the Blind (AFB), National Federation of the Blind (NFB), American Council of the Blind (ACB) and the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) formed a working group and began meeting weekly to develop new plans. The organizations settled on a two-pronged approach seeking final ADA regulations during the Biden administration and simultaneously advocating for a legislative fix. In early 2022, I asked Tony to join our working group to provide political and strategic counsel.

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Although Tony didn’t engage in legislative drafting, he advised us that we wouldn’t get anywhere with introduction if we didn’t assemble a cross-disability coalition of advocacy organizations to back the bill. Tony immediately leveraged his long-standing relationships and brought John Wodatch to the legislative drafting table. To counter some of the hesitance ADA advocates had when seeing the NFB bill that opened the ADA, Tony encouraged us to enlist drafting support from organizations who were directly involved in the ADA and kept the working group’s conversations with the cross-disability community moving forward. John Wodatch, Claudia Center of DREDF, and Blake Reid served as key advisors and drafters. Their work led to a provision that would share liability between businesses and web and app Developers. This provision made the new bill unique from the current legal framework and helped allay fears about the bill being redundant or overshadowing current law. Support among the community grew.

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Tony continued to forge the necessary relationships to build a broader coalition, resulting in the September 28, 2022, bicameral introduction of the Websites and Software Applications Accessibility Act. Senator Tammy Duckworth and Rep. John Sarbanes led as original sponsors, and about 20 organizations from across the disability community were on the record supporting the bill. A year later, Rep. Pete Sessions joined Duckworth and Sarbanes when the bill was reintroduced, making it a bicameral and bipartisan bill. As the 118th Congress passed with little progress on a spectrum of disability priorities and a raft of departures by key Congressional allies, Tony began work to secure new leadership from Rep. Steny Hoyer. Rep. Hoyer was an essential supporter of the ADA and his leadership position would allow him to influence the direction of the bill at a higher level.

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Tony also reached out and secured support from former House Republicans like Steve Bartlett and former Speaker, Newt Gingrich. Both of these political allies from the ADA days saw parallels to the original legislation and current exclusion of the disability community due to society’s heavy reliance on digital tools. Tony set up an in-person meeting with the working group and Newt. In learning about the impact on the community, Newt exclaimed that this is a “moral issue” that he believed all Americans would want to resolve. He and Tony went on to write an open letter to garner visibility of this as an issue that should be embraced and solved by all Americans. ADA Title II regulations.

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At the same time, Tony continued to closely advise the working group on strategies to pressure the Biden administration to issue strong regulations. He said this work “was as important as the ADA” at listening sessions with DOJ and the White House. He suggested putting regular pressure on the DOJ from a united disability advocacy community. One of the notable by-products of Tony’s counsel was a sign-on letter urging the DOJ to complete final regulations. 181 disability advocacy groups signed the letter. The DOJ released formal ADA guidance shortly thereafter reiterating that the ADA applied to websites and acknowledged it was in response to urging from advocates.

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DOJ issued a proposed Title II rule for websites and applications in the fall of 2023.  There was a set of seven exceptions to the rule that would expand accessibility requirements for state and local entities. The working group opposed all of the exceptions, but we were especially concerned about how the proposed exceptions could negatively impact K-12 and higher education. Tony filed his own personal comment and leveraged his network to support a sign-on comment from the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities alongside partners at the state, local, and national level.  Several disability advocacy organizations who were leaders with CCD joined the working group to craft the collective comment and secure strong sign-on support. When it was filed, the disability community’s comment had 264 organizational signatories. Once DOJ issued their final rule, they dropped the education exceptions and modified how they regulated linked third party content. This meant that the DOJ listened and responded to the community’s public comments. DOJ noted in several areas of their rationale that they amended their regulation in line with the types of comments the disability community filed during the public comment period.  Even though there were many difficult moments during the rulemaking process, the DOJ arrived at a final rule that clearly had the imprint of the disability advocacy community. Compounding the rule’s impact, the Title II rulemaking became the foundation for similar provisions in the Department of Health and Human Services’ Section 504 rulemaking that applies to a broad swath of healthcare providers, universities, nonprofit organizations, and other entities.

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Tony’s commitment to web and app access unequivocally led to stronger regulations and more comprehensive legislative options. He continually pushed us to remember that our power was best realized when we could show our unity and work together. In his words, “when the community comes together around an issue, it is unstoppable.”  It is that unity we will carry forward in the rest of this ongoing fight for a complete solution to this dynamic problem.