I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8478 

To amend the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to include consumer 

facing websites and mobile applications owned or operated by a private 

entity, to establish web accessibility compliance standards for such 

websites and mobile applications, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 1, 2020 

Mr. BUDD (for himself and Mr. CORREA) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to 

include consumer facing websites and mobile applications 

owned or operated by a private entity, to establish web 

accessibility compliance standards for such websites and 

mobile applications, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Online Accessibility 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE AMERICANS WITH DISABIL2 ITIES ACT OF 1990 RELATING TO CONSUMER 

3 FACING WEBSITES AND MOBILE APPLICA4 TIONS OWNED OR OPERATED BY A PRIVATE 

5 ENTITY. 

6 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 

7 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

8 the following new title: 

9 ‘‘TITLE VI—CONSUMER FACING 

10 WEBSITES AND MOBILE AP11 PLICATIONS OWNED OR OP12 ERATED BY A PRIVATE ENTI13 TY 

14 ‘‘SEC. 601. REQUIREMENTS FOR CONSUMER FACING 

15 WEBSITES AND MOBILE APPLICATIONS 

16 OWNED OR OPERATED BY A PRIVATE ENTITY. 

17 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—No individual, by reason of 

18 a disability, shall be excluded from participation in or be 

19 denied the full and equal benefits of the services of a con20 sumer facing website or mobile application, or be subjected 

21 to discrimination by any private owner or operator of a 

22 consumer facing website or mobile application. 

23 ‘‘(b) STANDARD FOR COMPLIANCE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A consumer facing website 

25 or mobile application shall be considered compliant 

26 under the requirements of this section if such 


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1 website or mobile application is in substantial com2 pliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guide3 lines (referred to in this title as WCAG) 2.0 Level 

4 A and Level AA standard established by the Accessi5 bility Guidelines Working Group, or any subsequent 

6 update, revision, or replacement to the WCAG 2.0 

7 Level A and Level AA standard published by the 

8 World Wide Web Consortium or successor organiza9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(2) ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF ACCESS.—A pri11 vate entity that owns or operates a consumer facing 

12 website or mobile application that is not in substan13 tial compliance with the standard set forth under 

14 paragraph (1) shall provide an alternative means of 

15 access for individuals with disabilities that is equiva16 lent to access the content available on such website 

17 or mobile application. 

18 ‘‘(c) REGULATION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) ACCESS BOARD.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Architectural and 

21 Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (re22 ferred to in this title as the ‘Access Board’), 

23 shall issue and publish standards setting 

24 forth— 


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1 ‘‘(i) for purposes of this title, a defini2 tion of ‘substantial compliance’, ‘alter3 native means of access’, and ‘consumer 

4 facing website or mobile application’; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) regulations necessary to imple6 ment the standard set forth in subsection 

7 (b). 

8 ‘‘(B) TIMING OF REGULATIONS.—For pur9 poses of this title: 

10 ‘‘(i) Not later than 180 days after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Ac12 cess Board shall promulgate a notice of 

13 proposed rulemaking. 

14 ‘‘(ii) Upon issuance of the notice 

15 under clause (i), the Access Board shall so16 licit comments from the public on such 

17 proposed rule for a period of 90 days. 

18 ‘‘(iii) After the Access Board has re19 viewed the comments solicited under clause 

20 (ii) and revised such proposed rule, the Of21 fice of Management and Budget shall con22 duct a regulatory assessment of the rule 

23 for a period not to exceed 90 days. 

24 ‘‘(iv) Not later than 365 days after 

25 the Office of Management and Budget has 


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1 completed the regulatory assessment under 

2 clause (iii), the Access Board shall issue 

3 final regulations. 

4 ‘‘(C) REVIEW AND AMENDMENT.—The Ac5 cess Board shall periodically review and, as ap6 propriate, amend the standard required under 

7 subsection (b) to reflect technological advances 

8 or changes in electronic and information tech9 nology. 

10 ‘‘(2) DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.—No later than 

11 365 days after the end of the comment period under 

12 subparagraph (B)(ii), the Attorney General shall es13 tablish a procedure for receiving and investigating 

14 complaints filed under this title. 

15 ‘‘(3) FLEXIBILITY FOR SMALL BUSINESS CON16 CERNS.—Regulations established under this section 

17 shall include flexibility for small business concerns to 

18 comply with the standard under subsection (b). 

19 ‘‘SEC. 602. ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES. 

20 ‘‘(a) EXHAUSTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE REM21 EDIES.—No individual may bring an action before a civil 

22 court to enforce the provisions of this title until all admin23 istrative remedies under this section have been exhausted. 

24 ‘‘(b) NOTICE TO OWNER OR OPERATOR.—Prior to fil25 ing a complaint with the Attorney General under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8478.IH H8478

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1 section (c), an individual must first notify the private 

2 owner or operator of a consumer facing website or mobile 

3 application that such website or mobile application is not 

4 in compliance with the standard for compliance under sec5 tion 601 of this title. 

6 ‘‘(1) If within 90 days of receiving notice under 

7 subsection (b) the owner or operator of a consumer 

8 facing website or mobile application fails to bring 

9 such website or such application into compliance 

10 with the requirement under section 601 of this title, 

11 an individual may file a complaint with the Depart12 ment. 

13 ‘‘(2) If an individual files a complaint with the 

14 Department of Justice (referred to in this title as 

15 the ‘Department’) under paragraph (1), a copy of 

16 such complaint shall be provided to the owner or op17 erator of a consumer facing website or mobile appli18 cation. 

19 ‘‘(c) REPORTING OF VIOLATIONS TO ATTORNEY

20 GENERAL.— 

21 ‘‘(1) DEADLINE TO FILE COMPLAINT.—If an in22 dividual files a complaint with the Department, such 

23 complaint shall be filed within the 90-day period be24 ginning on the date after the 90-day period under 

25 subsection (b)(1) has terminated. 


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1 ‘‘(2) INVESTIGATION BY ATTORNEY GEN2 ERAL.—Upon receiving a complaint of an alleged 

3 violation, the Attorney General shall complete an in4 vestigation within 180 days to determine whether a 

5 violation exists. 

6 ‘‘(3) FINAL AGENCY DETERMINATION.—The 

7 Attorney General shall be considered to have made 

8 a final determination on a complaint if— 

9 ‘‘(A) during the 180-day period after a 

10 complaint has been filed with the Department, 

11 the Attorney General determines the owner or 

12 operator of a consumer facing website or mobile 

13 application is not in compliance with the stand14 ard set forth under section 601; or 

15 ‘‘(B) the 180-day period expires without 

16 the Attorney General having made such a final 

17 determination. 

18 ‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

19 ‘‘(1) DENIAL OF RIGHTS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) DUTY TO INVESTIGATE.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney 

22 General shall investigate alleged violations 

23 of this title, and shall undertake periodic 

24 reviews of compliance of consumer facing 


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1 websites and mobile applications under this 

2 title. 

3 ‘‘(ii) ATTORNEY GENERAL CERTIFI4 CATION.—On the application of a State or 

5 local government, the Attorney General 

6 may, in consultation with the Access 

7 Board, and after prior notice and a public 

8 hearing at which persons, including indi9 viduals with disabilities, are provided an 

10 opportunity to testify against such certifi11 cation, certify that a State law or local or12 dinance that establishes accessibility re13 quirements that meets or exceeds the min14 imum requirements of this Act for the ac15 cessibility and usability of consumer facing 

16 websites and mobile applications under this 

17 title. At any enforcement proceeding under 

18 this section, such certification by the At19 torney General shall be rebuttable evidence 

20 that such State law or local ordinance does 

21 meet or exceed the minimum requirements 

22 of this Act. 

23 ‘‘(B) POTENTIAL VIOLATION.—If the At24 torney General has reasonable cause to believe 

25 that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) any person or group of persons is 

2 engaged in a pattern or practice of dis3 crimination under this title; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) any person or group of persons 

5 has been discriminated against under this 

6 title and such discrimination raises an 

7 issue of general public importance, 

8 the Attorney General may commence a civil ac9 tion in any appropriate United States district 

10 court. 

11 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF COURT.—In a civil action 

12 under paragraph (1)(B), the court may— 

13 ‘‘(A) grant any equitable relief that such 

14 court considers to be appropriate; 

15 ‘‘(B) order monetary damages to persons 

16 aggrieved when requested by the Attorney Gen17 eral; and 

18 ‘‘(C) assess a civil penalty against the enti19 ty in an amount— 

20 ‘‘(i) not to exceed $20,000 for a first 

21 violation; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) not to exceed $50,000 for any 

23 subsequent violation. 


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1 ‘‘(3) PUNITIVE DAMAGES.—For purposes of 

2 paragraph (2)(B), the term ‘monetary damages’ and 

3 ‘such other relief’ does not include punitive damages. 

4 ‘‘(4) SINGLE VIOLATION.—For purposes of 

5 paragraph (2)(C), in determining whether a first or 

6 subsequent violation has occurred, a determination 

7 in a single action, by judgment or settlement, that 

8 the consumer facing website or mobile application 

9 has engaged in more than one discriminatory act 

10 shall be counted as a single violation. 

11 ‘‘(5) JUDICIAL CONSIDERATION.—In a civil ac12 tion under paragraph (1)(B), the court, when con13 sidering what amount of civil penalty, if any, is ap14 propriate, shall give consideration to any good faith 

15 effort or attempt to comply with this Act by the en16 tity. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 603. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Upon exhausting all administra19 tive remedies under section 602, any individual aggrieved 

20 by a violation of this title may commence a civil action 

21 in any appropriate court of the United States against the 

22 owner or operator of a consumer facing website or mobile 

23 application that engages in such a violation, unless the At24 torney General has instituted an enforcement action under 

25 this title. A civil action under this title is the sole and 


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1 exclusive remedy for any person aggrieved by the failure 

2 of any consumer facing website or mobile application to 

3 meet the requirements of section 601. In any action filed 

4 under this title, the complaint shall plead with particu5 larity each element of the plaintiff’s claim, including the 

6 specific barriers to access a consumer facing website or 

7 mobile application. 

8 ‘‘(b) TOLLING.—With respect to the running of the 

9 statutory periods of limitation for such action, the running 

10 of such statutory periods shall be deemed suspended dur11 ing the period beginning on the date of the enactment of 

12 this Act and ending 180 days after the date the Access 

13 Board has issued final regulations under section 601. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 604. DEFINITIONS. 

15 ‘‘In this Act: 

16 ‘‘(1) CONSUMER FACING WEBSITE.—The term 

17 ‘consumer facing website’ means any website that is 

18 purposefully made accessible to the public for com19 mercial purposes. 

20 ‘‘(2) MOBILE APPLICATIONS.—The term ‘mobile 

21 application’ means a consumer facing software appli22 cation that can be executed on a mobile platform, or 

23 a web-based software application that is tailored to 

24 a mobile platform but is executed on a server. 


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1 ‘‘(3) SMALL BUSINESS.—The term ‘small busi2 ness concern’ has the meaning given such term in 

3 section 3(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

4 632(a)).’’. 

5 SEC. 3. CLERICAL AMENDMENT. 

6 The table of contents of the Americans with Disabil7 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) is amended 

8 by inserting after the item relating to section 515 the fol9 lowing new item: 

‘‘TITLE VI—CONSUMER FACING WEBSITES AND MOBILE 

APPLICATIONS 

‘‘Sec. 601. Requirements for consumer facing websites and mobile applications 

owned or operated by a private entity. 

‘‘Sec. 602. Administrative remedies. 

‘‘Sec. 603. Private right of action. 

‘‘Sec. 604. Definitions.’’. 

Æ 


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