Accessibility: internet website.

(1) Existing law imposes liability upon a person who denies, aids or incites a denial, or makes any discrimination or distinction contrary to rights afforded by law, for actual damages suffered, exemplary damages, a civil penalty, and attorney's fees, as specified, to any person who was denied the specified rights. Existing law also imposes liability upon a person, firm, or corporation that denies or interferes with admittance to or enjoyment of public facilities or otherwise interferes with the rights of an individual with a disability, as specified, for damages and attorney's fees to a person who was denied those rights. Existing law establishes in state government the California Commission on Disability Access which is required to provide information regarding preventing or minimizing problems of compliance by California businesses by providing educational services, including outreach efforts, and by preparing and hosting on its internet website a Guide to Compliance with State Laws and Regulations Regarding Disability Access Requirements. This bill would specify that statutory damages based upon the inaccessibility of internet website under these provisions shall only be recovered against an entity, as defined, if the internet website fails to provide equally effective communication or facilitate full and equal enjoyment of the entity's goods and services to the public. The bill would, in order for a plaintiff to be entitled to statutory damages for internet website inaccessibility, require the plaintiff to prove that they personally encountered a barrier that interfered with their ability to access all or part of the entity's internet website and that caused them to experience a difference in their access to, or use of, the website as compared to other users such that they were unable to acquire the same information, engage in the same interaction, or enjoy the same services with substantially equivalent ease of use, or have the same level of privacy and independence as other users who are not disabled, or that they were deterred from accessing all or part of the internet website because of the website's failure to provide equally effective communication or to facilitate full and equal enjoyment of the entity's goods and services to all members of the public. The bill would specify that an internet website is presumed to provide equally effective communication for the purpose of an award of minimum statutory damages, as specified, if the internet website complies with specified standards for the accessibility of an internet website established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Accessibility Guidelines Working Group. The bill would require the California Commission on Disability Access to review those standards to determine whether they are the most up-to-date standards for effective communication by means of internet websites, and to notify the Legislature if they are not up to date and should be revised. The bill would also make other conforming changes. (2) Existing law requires each city, county, or city and county that issues business licenses, building permits for additions, alterations, and structural repairs to commercial property, or building permits for new construction of commercial property to make available, and, upon receipt of an application for a business license or building permit to provide to the applicant, an informational notice to the applicant containing, among other things, general information about the compliance requirements pursuant to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the state's disability access laws. This bill would also require the information about the compliance requirements pursuant to the state's disability access laws to include a statement that a business' internet website is required to be accessible, and to provide equally effective communication or facilitate full and equal enjoyment of the entity's goods and services, to the public, including any member of the public who is disabled.