May 5, 2026
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Secretary
Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue
Washington, DC 20201
RE: RIN 0945-AA30
Dear Secretary Kennedy:
The National Federation of the Blind is the transformative membership and advocacy organization of blind Americans. Throughout our more than eighty-five year history, we have sought to advance the lives of all blind people in the United States. A major driver of that advancement during our existence has been equal access to information, particularly digital information.
It is for this reason that we oppose any attempt to delay, rescind, or otherwise undermine the effectiveness of the Final Rule regarding Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance (89 FR 40066) that is set to take effect on May 11, 2026.
The Section 504 final rule, published on May 9, 2024, pertains to entities that receive HHS funding under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 including public and private schools, public and private colleges, hospitals, and social service agencies.
While reflecting a compromise between the needs of people with disabilities and the resources of covered entities, the clarity provided by the final rule is important to the lives of people with disabilities. The inaccessibility of digital materials is one of the most significant barriers to blind people being able to achieve their full potential and make their rightful contribution to American society.
Moreover, the final rule provides exactly the clarity that covered entities have been requesting regarding their obligations under Section 504 to make their websites and mobile applications accessible. Since 1973, Section 504 has required covered entities to ensure their communications with individuals with disabilities are "as effective as" communications with nondisabled individuals.
In the more than five decades since, the Department has made it clear that this standard also applies to websites and mobile applications and has issued guidance documents providing technical assistance to covered entities.
The final rule clarifies what is required to meet Section 504’s equally effective communication requirement in the context of digital information. It provides a clear technical standard based on an internationally recognized and widely adopted consensus standard.
It also provides flexibility by allowing covered entities to achieve equivalent facilitation and preventing liability for inaccessible elements that do not substantively affect the usability of a website or mobile application.
Notably, the rule also provides a series of exceptions, presumably implemented at the behest of covered entities, establishing web and mobile application elements and content that do not have to be made accessible. These exceptions are not available under the pre-existing equally effective communication requirement.
Although the equally effective communication requirement has been in effect for decades, the final rule also provides delayed effective dates of two or three years, depending on the size of the covered entity. Thus, rather than burdening those entities, the rule actually reduces their burdens.
The final rule reflects exactly what public entities have been seeking for years–a clear, transparent shared understanding of the applicable legal requirements. The final rule is clear and comprehensible, does not stray from legislative intent, and provides additional exceptions beyond what was established in the law.
There is no basis for reconsidering the Section 504 final rule, which has already gone through the traditional process of public input and adjustment, and which is based on a requirement in existence for nearly fifty years.
Additionally, public entities have had numerous years to prepare for the requirements that have been actively requested by stakeholders on all sides. Conversely, delaying or amending the regulation at this point would severely harm blind and other disabled Americans by denying us access to critical information. We urge that you withdraw the Interim Final Rule immediately.
Thank you for your attention to this important issue.
Sincerely,
Mark A. Riccobono, President
National Federation of the Blind