Both Illinois Senators have signed on tackle accessibility to the federal government’s websites for people with disabilities.
Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin have signed on to a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland asking why the federal government continues to have long-standing accessibility issues with federal websites dating back to at least 2012.
The issues revolve around compliance with Section 508 of the federal Rehabilitation Act that requires the federal government to make all its information technology accessible to people with disabilities. The law also requires DOJ to publicly report on the federal government’s compliance with accessibility standards every two years. However, DOJ has not provided a publicly available report since 2012.
A third party report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation found that 30% of the most popular federal website homepages did not pass standard accessibility tests.