DisABILITY, Computing and the Law: What You Should Know - Laws, Regulations, Court Decisions and Disability Tech - The Research Center on Computing & Society

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Tzipporah Benavraham

Laws, Regulations, Court Decisions and Disability Tech

Most people think of laws as scary things that pinstripe suited lawyers argue about in ornate halls of justice. However through law comes the greatest possibilities for technology access for disabled persons. Here are a few key laws:

• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990: 42 U.S.C. Sections 12101 et seq.

This is called the most significant piece of legislation concerning disabled persons ever in the history of the world. This 102 page law contains elements concerning employment, housing, public accommodation, and telecommunications. Regulations and public hearings will continue to 1992. In this law are many issues concerning the disabled and what is called “reasonable accommodation.” That phrase is included in many laws concerning disabled persons. Among the technologies of today are adaptive computer terminals for disability access. These would cover the broadest spectrum: Employers may have to place disability work stations in businesses where the disabled will work. Or TDDs may be required for deaf to have access to the phone lines for simplistic communication. Public accommodation will include libraries having talking terminals for the print disabled for access to the library’s computerized technology. Also included will be public buildings of all kinds, such as restaurants, hotels, trains, planes and rail stations, plus an array of public service and commercial establishments. In all places a computer is placed, access for the disabled may indeed become an actionable issue under this law if there is no accommodation. Thus an airline with a computer terminal for information for passengers may indeed be required to provide voice synthesis access for blind persons. Or a hotel may be required to have a TDD for a hearing-impaired person to use. And the net effect may well be lower cost as more people are mandated to conform to this law in the future. However, since most of these laws will not be in regulatory form until 1992, they are not clearly established yet.

• Technology Act for the Disabled; Public law 100-407 29 USC 2201, 2202 et seq.

This law establishes sites of technology access for disabled persons. The theory is that the technology is quite expensive at present. Yet if more people (the rationale states) with disability had access to “try out” these devices and “train” on them, more disabled persons would take advantage of the technology. In accordance with this plan many centers are funded nationwide. Every state has established a “tech act” coordinator. In New York State, as an example, the New York State Office of Advocate for the Disabled has been designated as the liaison. In New York State the phone number is (518) 474-5567 and the coordinator is Deborah Buck. However every state has one designated agency and person to deal with this funding and plan. Seek out your own state’s plan and director for more concrete information.

• International Meeting of Experts on Human Resources in the Field of Disability: Tallin Estonia SSR, 1989

A spectacular meeting was held on the International Implications of Disability and Technology Use in 1989 by the United Nations Disabled Persons Unit. A rich pamphlet was produced quantifying in a document technology use and law on the international plane. The name of this paragraph is the name of the document. You may get a copy of it by writing to the Disabled Persons Unit, United Nations Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs, PO Box 500, A-1400, Vienna, Austria. In this unique world document you will find issues concerning disabled children and telecommunications education, the use of disability technology in the workplace, how to train teachers to develop such resources, and an array of codified instructions to governments on how to accomplish this task. In international law, the rules and guidelines may only look like “recommendations,” because there are scarce resources to force or police a nation into compliance. Hence, upon reading, these rules and guidelines do not appear as laws to the otherwise uninitiated. Indeed they are, and this document presents a wealth of ideas and stipulations.

• Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Public Law 93-112 as amended 29 U.S.C. Section 702 et seq.

The famous “504 law” appears in this section. 504 is “non discrimination on the basis of disability in federally assisted programs.” Before the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, this 1973 law, as amended, was the civil rights provision for disabled persons. It only allowed what was called “reasonable accommodation” in those programs for disabled persons that received Federal money. Until now a disabled person who needed an adapted computer to work could not use this law. However the ramifications were clear regarding 504 issues for colleges and schools of education funded by the government.

In this act, also, is the definition of a disabled person. To clarify “who is a disabled person,” I include this definition:

In the Federal Register, Volume 45 number 92 Friday May 9, 1980, page 30937, the Department of Education made regulations about disabled persons in education. Originally this was a rule made for the Education Department alone. However, it has become a universal reference as to who or what a disabled person is for the federal government’s purposes. Let me interject the verbatim listing of the definition:

Section 104.3 part j defines “Handicapped Person.”

(1) “Handicapped person” means any person who (i) has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities. (ii) has a record of such an impairment. (iii) is regarded as having such an impairment.

(2) As used in paragraph (j)(1) of this section, the phrase: (i) “Physical or mental impairment” means (A) any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the following body systems: neurological; musculo-skeletal; special sense organs; respiratory, including speech organs; cardiovascular; reproductive; digestive; genitourinary; hematic and lymphatic; skin and endocrine; or (B) any mental or psychological disorder such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities. (ii) Major life activities means functions such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, breathing, learning and working.

In this context, we have a medical-model definition of what handicapped means. In effect, those persons with those impairments are a ‘protected class’, who require certain adaptive technology to be equal in society.

As you see, many common ordinary people you know are “handicapped” under this definition. 504 gave the shape, quantity and format to the issues.

• Section 508: Electronic Data Processing for Disabled Federal Employees of Public Law 99-506 as amended

This was the start of another array of laws concerning disabled persons and technology. Here is the full text of the law:

Full Text of Section 508 of Public Law 99:506

Electronic Equipment Accessibility

Section 508. (a) (1) The Secretary, through the director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and the Administrator of General Services, and in consultation with the electronics industry, shall develop and establish guidelines for electronic equipment accessibility designed to insure that individuals with handicaps may use electronic office equipment with or without special peripherals.

(2) The guidelines established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be applicable with respect to electronic equipment, whether purchased or leased.

(3) The initial guidelines shall be established not later than October 1, 1987 and shall be periodically revised by the Director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and the Administrator of General Services in consultation with the electronics industry and the Interagency Committee for Computer Support of Handicapped Employees as technologies advance or change.

(b) Beginning after September 30, 1988, the Administrator of General Services shall adopt guidelines for electronic equipment accessibility under subsection (a) for Federal procurement of electronic equipment. Each agency shall comply with the guidelines adopted under this subsection.

(c) For the purposes of this section, the term, “special peripherals” means the specific needs aid that provides access to electronic equipment that is otherwise inaccessible to an individual with handicaps.

In this simple law, these 1591 characters started the revolution in disability technology policy. To dovetail this, Public Law 99-506 and its sections is the amended form of the Rehab Act of 1973. In this we see the progression of policy as the rights of disabled proceed.

A rather remarkable policy document called the “COCA Bulletins has been written concerning this. The regulations called the firmness bulletins quantify the rules of this law. You may get copies of this. Here is a quoted citation from the manual:

Managing End User Computing for Users with Disabilities has been prepared by the Clearinghouse on Computer Accommodation (COCA) of the Information Resources Management Service (IRMS), General Services Administration (GSA). This handbook presents guidance to Federal managers and other personnel who are unfamiliar with the application of computer and related information technology to accommodate users with disabilities and provide for their effective access to information resources. Issues reviewed represent “lessons learned” by agencies and GSA’s Clearinghouse On Computer Accommodation.

The unbound format of this handbook accommodates the need for periodic updating due to the rapid introduction of new accommodation-related products and services and the evolving nature of the guidance presented. Updates will be available on-line, and hard-copy and can be obtained by completing the registration form (see Appendix A).

COCA staff invite comments and contributions to the guide. In addition, COCA can be contacted to arrange demonstrations of accommodation solutions at their technical resource center. COCA is also available to assist managers with technical advice and assistance during acquisition planning.

The COCA staff may be reached at (202) 523-1906 voice/TDD (FTS 523-1906) or via mail at GSA, Susan A. Brummel, Director, Clearinghouse on Computer Accommodation, Room 2022, KGDO, 18th & F Streets, NW, Washington, DC 20405.

COCA offers a training class for managers entitled “Managing Computer Accommodation for Users with Disabilities.” In addition, COCA also offers informal introductory consultation/training at its technical resource center at the GSA building, 18th and F Sts. NW, Washington, D.C. 20405. Consultations can be scheduled by calling (FTS or 202) 523-1906.

Appropriate documentation is an important part of training. Whenever possible, documentation should be made available to the user in the most useful manner, whether this be Braille, audio tape, large print, captioned tapes or electronic media. For example, a printed manual on a database package is virtually useless to a blind user. “If documentation in a special form is required, management should take steps to secure such documentation after determining the accommodation requirements.” (end of quote from COCA documentation)

We see from this that technology assistance is well defined with the law and regulations. No base has been left uncovered. Thus the ever expanding laws and rules of disability and technology surface and remain intact. We see the building blocks of law and service which are the benchmarks and foundations of access technology.

• Education of All Handicapped Children Act, Public Law 94-142 as amended. 20 USC Sec 1400 et seq.

This law is soon to be named the “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act” (IDEAS) by Congress on its reenactment. Children with disabilities also are afforded “reasonable accommodation” in their education. However another phrase, “related services,” has appeared in the laws for children with disabilities. In 20 USC Section 1401 (18) “appropriate education” for a disabled child is defined as providing “special education and related services.” A rather significant court ruling came from a child named “Tatro” who needed a “related service” of a catheterization to attend a mainstream school. In the case before the Supreme Court of the United States, “Tatro v State of Texas, 703 F.2d 823 (5 Cir. 1983,” the bottom line was that the Supreme Court decided an array of services are indeed “related” if it enables the child to continue in school in the least restrictive most appropriate environment. Thus catheterization was indeed given in her “free and appropriate public education.” From this decision an array of “related services” are contracted for, including use of and instruction of adaptive technology. In the New York City Board of Education, as an example, Dr. Stephen Hittman runs the Office of Contracted and Related Services. He runs a program by which disabled children and their schools can “contract” for “related services” for their needs. This came to be because of the Tatro decision. Dr. Hitmman’s Office at the New York City Board of Education is at 111 Livingston Street, Brooklyn, NY, Room 444 (phone (718) 935-3581). Perhaps your own area includes such an office.

Disabled children have also been afforded such devices as “augmentative speech” devices and “hearing aid loops” in what is called their “individual education program.” That becomes a “legal and binding contract” for services for each child. In New York State, a number of technology assistance centers called SETRCs (Special Education Training and Resource Centers) have been established. Many of the expensive technological devices used by disabled children have been recycled in these centers. One such SETRC is the Batavia School for the Blind of Richmond Avenue, Batavia NY, 14020 (phone(716) 343-5384). Here they recycle such things as computers, voice synthesizers and Braillers and an array of disability technology relating to blindness and vision impairment for children. A similar SETRC is at the Rome School for the Deaf, 401 Turin St., Rome, NY (phone (315) 337-8400).

• State Run Schools for Handicapped Children, Public Law 89-313

Prior to Public Law 94 142, this law funded schools for disabled children. Such schools were to be run by the State Education Department and were mostly sequestered. Many schools, such as the above Batavia School for the Blind and Rome School for the Deaf, were established and were “disability specific” under this law. However, since mainstreaming was mandated and funded by Public Law 94 142 as amended, many of these schools have taken on a new face and purpose. Many now provide centralized points of training and technology for that specific disability. Look in your area for similar schools. Many of them may even contract to provide technology training for the specific disability and child you are seeking to assist.

You may find resources that amaze you. For deaf children and adults, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services of the federal government funds a project called “Captioning of Films for the Deaf.” There are two places specifically funded to produce captioned educational films for deaf persons. The first is:

National Captioning Institute, Inc.
5203 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA 22041
(703) 998-2400

This institute provides closed captioning service for television networks, program producers, cablecasters, producers of home entertainment video cassettes, advertisers and other organizations in the federal and private sectors.

The second place is:

Modern Talking Picture Service, a captioned film/video program service made possible by the U.S. Department of Education. It makes available feature films and a range of educational films and videos. Users of theatrical films/videos should have a general audience setting that contains at least six deaf or hard-of-hearing persons. Users of educational titles should have a class or educational setting that contains at least one deaf or hearing-impaired person. There are 3,561 educational and theatrical titles in this free-loan captioned film program. Contact Modern Talking Picture Service, 5000 Park Street N, St. Petersburg, FL 33709, (800) 237-6213. (My thanks to Mr. Chuck Lynd of LINC Resources, Inc. at 1 (800) 772-7372 for this captioning information.)

The US Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services funds many services dealing with technology and the needs of the disabled. The specialized money to produce these captioned films is defined in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance which one can find at any US Government bookstore. Many of these films are now captioned by use of specialized computer technology. An impressive array of these devices can be found at the Rochester Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, New York. Much software is available at present to help your common personal computer assist with captioning of any film. Hence again disability and computers take on a fascinating interface.

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