[Second Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 4856

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

219th LEGISLATURE

INTRODUCED OCTOBER 22, 2020

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  PAMELA R. LAMPITT

District 6 (Burlington and Camden)

Assemblyman  DANIEL R. BENSON

District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)

Assemblyman  RALPH R. CAPUTO

District 28 (Essex)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Vainieri Huttle, Assemblymen McClellan, Simonsen, Conaway, Verrelli, Assemblywoman Dunn, Assemblyman Dancer, Assemblywomen Jasey, Quijano, Reynolds-Jackson, Jimenez, Assemblyman Mejia, Assemblywomen Downey, Lopez, Timberlake and Assemblyman Freiman

SYNOPSIS

     Requires Internet websites and web services of school districts, charter schools, and renaissance schools to be accessible to persons with disabilities.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As reported by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on May 18, 2021, with amendments.

An Act concerning the accessibility of public school websites and web services and supplementing chapter 36 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1.   a.  ²[Any Internet website or web service of a] No² school district, charter school, ¹[or]¹ renaissance school ¹, or the Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf¹ shall ²[comply] make available to the enrolled students of the district or school or to the public an Internet website or web service unless the Internet website or web service complies² with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA ²[,]² or the most up-to-date version of the guidelines ²if the guidelines are approved by the Commissioner of Education, or any other applicable guidelines or requirements as may be designated or approved by the Commissioner of Education². 

     b.    The Commissioner of Education shall establish a procedure to determine whether the Internet website or web service of a school district, charter school, ¹[or]¹ renaissance school ¹, or the Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf¹ complies with the requirements of this section.  The ²[Office of Information Technology in the]² Department of Education shall be responsible for issuing certifications of compliance, which certifications shall attest that an Internet website or web service complies with the requirements of ¹[the] this¹ section.

     c.     (1)  If a school district, charter school, ¹[or]¹ renaissance school ¹, or the Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf¹ establishes ²[or significantly improves]² an Internet website or web service after the effective date of this act, the public school shall receive a certification of compliance from the ²[office before the Internet website or web service may be considered operational] department².  ²An Internet website or web service established by a school district, charter school, renaissance school, or the Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf after the effective date of this act shall be permitted to operate while pending receipt of a certification of compliance from the department.²

     (2)   Every two years following ²[initial certification, the office shall] the effective date of this act, a school district, charter school, renaissance school, or the Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf shall certify or² recertify the compliance of each Internet website or web service operated by ²[a] the² school district, charter school, ¹[or]¹ renaissance school ¹, or the Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf¹ with the requirements of this section.

     d.    ²Nothing in this section shall be construed to bar, exclude, or otherwise affect any right or action that exists under the “Law Against Discrimination,” P.L.1945, c.169 (C.10:5-1 et seq.).

e.² As used in this section, “Internet website or web service” includes any webpage, website, web service, online curriculum, or online third party or open educational resource product that is made available to enrolled students or the public by a school district, charter school, ¹[or]¹ renaissance school ¹, or the Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf¹ through the Internet.

2.   This act shall take effect ¹[immediately] on the first day of the sixth month next following the date of enactment^{1 2}, but the Commissioner of Education may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act².