Title II and Research Libraries: Community Call

On April 24, 2024, the Federal Register published the US Department of Justice’s final rule on Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which includes specific rules for state and local governments to ensure that web content and mobile applications are accessible to people with disabilities. Most entities have until April 24, 2026, to comply with this regulation (smaller public entities have until April 26, 2027).

Join ARL and experts from the research library and disability rights community for a discussion about the updated Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II regulations. After a brief overview of the regulations and exceptions, we will explore the types of library content and resources that might be affected by the regulations and exceptions, and offer recommendations for how your library can approach interpreting and implementing the regulations. Then, we will discuss how libraries can leverage the regulations to negotiate for born-accessible content. We will leave time for discussion, and a team of lawyers will be present to answer your questions.

Schedule

Welcome (10 min)

• Welcome: Katherine Klosek, Director of Information Policy and Federal Relations, ARL
• Opening remarks and introduction to moderator: Liz Lorang, BTAA liaison to Library Accessibility Alliance (LAA)
• Moderator: Blake Reid, Associate Professor of Law, Faculty Director, Silicon Flatirons Center, Colorado Law
  

Overview of regulations, exceptions, and limitations (10 min)

• Nancy Horton, Associate Director of the Mid-Atlantic ADA Center

Interpreting the applicability of the regulations to library content (20 min)

• Hana Levay, Collection Assessment Librarian, UW, will share examples of scenarios in which libraries may have to apply their own analysis of the regulation and exceptions.
• Nancy Sims, Director of Copyright and Scholarly Communication at University of Minnesota Libraries, will share how her library is preparing to interpret and implement the regulations.
• Claire Stanley, Director of Advocacy and Government Affairs, American Council of the Blind, will offer insight into how the exceptions can be interpreted.
• Samantha Teremi will discuss the implications of the regulations for licensed e-resources.

Licensing accessible content (20 min)

• Samantha Teremi, Licensing Librarian, University of California, Berkeley will share Berkeley Library’s successful strategies in negotiating for accessible content with scholarly vendors. 

Discussion with all speakers (20 min)

During the discussion, the chat will be monitored by:

• Nancy Sims, Director of Copyright and Scholarly Communication at University of Minnesota Libraries 
• Rachael Samberg, Director, Scholarly Communication & Information Policy at University of California, Berkeley
• Jonathan Band, ARL Copyright Counsel
• Brandon Butler, Executive Director of the Re:Create Coalition

Next steps (10 min)

• John Burger, Executive Director, Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) and one of the founders of the Library Accessibility Alliance
• Katherine Klosek, ARL

Recording

Transcript