A key piece of disability civil rights law could get a much-needed refresh.
Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) will introduce legislation Wednesday to strengthen and extend Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The proposed update would boost online accessibility for people with disabilities on federal websites and significantly expand protections and working conditions for disabled federal employees.
“The federal government has an obligation to ensure that its services are accessible to people with disabilities, including its websites and technology,” said Sen. Casey in a statement.
The bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), both of whom have a history of backing disability-related legislation.
Sen. Casey’s legislative push comes a month after a blind federal employee sued the Department of Veterans Affairs because the agency wouldn’t provide her a screen reader compatible with the electronic health records software she worked with. The Office of Management and Budget also released a memo in 2023 that outlined a timeline for federal agencies to make their websites accessible, as many of the most-visited websites fail to meet the current requirements.
The original Section 508 mandates that all federal electronic and information technology be accessible. But the text was last updated in 1998, right as the digital age dawned. Websites, software and other digital infrastructure are not explicitly included, as the law currently stands.
The proposed update includes several items. All federal programs, information and technology — digital and analog — must be accessible to all Americans. It ensures that people with disabilities participate in the testing for new technology used in federal agencies. It reforms the complaint process by which disabled federal employees can register acts of discrimination, and it establishes a dedicated section 508 compliance officer for every department and agency. The bill also enshrines routine testing of technology to ensure that it stays up to code in the future and that all federal technology and information can be accessed.
“We would not ask someone using a wheelchair to walk up the courthouse steps, but we are doing something similar when we ask people with disabilities to use federal websites, apps, kiosks, and other technologies that are not accessible,” said Casey, the chair of the Senate Committee On Aging. “I’m introducing the Section 508 Refresh Act to compel federal agencies to make their technology accessible and ensure people with disabilities are not locked out of essential government services and resources.”