The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and a blind business owner filed an administrative complaint with the Small Business Administration (SBA) alleging that its website was inaccessible.  NFB Press Release.  Specifically, they allege that the SBA’s site made it impossible to fill out the forms necessary for Section 8(a) certification.  I think that’s truly ironic as Section 8 of the Small Business Act is a program to help enable people with disabilities (and other socially disadvantaged groups) to overcome their business disadvantages in the first place.

I suppose some explanation of legal nuances is appropriate here.  Section 508(f) permits both administrative complaints and judicial actions (i.e. lawsuits).  Technically, the NFB didn’t “sue” SBA, but instead filed an administrative complaint against them.  It might seem odd that you’d file a complaint with the same people you’d ordinarily sue, but that’s the way it’s done.  The rationale is that the agency should try to iron it out internally and come up with a resolution that NFB can be happy with.

Why didn’t NFB just sue them directly in federal court when Section 508 permits it?  Courts follow a doctrine called “exhaustion of administrative remedies” that essentially means that, before taking up a Federal judge’s time, the parties should try to resolve it at the agency level first— particularly when a law like Section 508 gives them that option.  If things don’t work out so well at the agency level, then it’s difficult or important enough for a judge to hear.  It’s never been tested with Section 508 and, I suspect, NFB doesn’t want to create bad case law if things don’t work out (e.g. they got an unsympathetic judge).  I think it’s pretty shrewd lawyering by NFB’s attorneys— use the legal tools you’ve got carefully to get the best results in the end.

With the recent attention that WCAG 2.0 has been getting around the world and our nation’s new commitment to disability rights, I think we’re going to be seeing an exponentially greater number of these kinds of complaints.  I think that’s not a bad result in a very inaccessible world.