Comment on FR Doc # 2026-07663

1- Lack of Web accessibility costs government and the public time and money. The Washington State vocational rehabilitation agency and the Neurological Vocational Services Unit at the University of Washington expect their disabled clients to use Web sites efficiently to conduct independent job searches using an Internet connection and Web page interaction. I discovered this truth while I was a client for more than six years, attempting to use State Web-based job searches. Agency records show that the Vocational Services Unit was paid more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) from the state budget per year for alleged vocational services for me. This is about one hundred dollars ($100.00) per week of agency expense. The accessibility of Web pages influenced my job search progress. The less efficient I am using Web technology the worse it is for those paying for the vocational agency expenses. The Web accessibility problem does not go away by using vocational mentors or human document readers because ultimately the Web page will be the point of interaction by the disabled person working independently, and independence is enforced by state agency policies and lack of resources for the disabled. 2- Understand that extending the time to comply with this long-known Web accessibility rule may feel like a reasonable reprieve, but the hidden costs such as reduced efficiency in serving the disabled community should be acknowledged. My experience with state vocational rehabilitation is a very small example of how hindered Web accessibility eventually costs real dollars. 3- The technical standard, WCAG 2.1 Level AA, was published about eight years ago. It is a known standard. The Mayor of the City of Everett, Washington commented upon this DOJ Title II proposal that some of her city’s sites were compliant, asking for extension to make the remaining ones compliant. This comment demonstrates the work is not a fool’s errand and is possible when appropriate effort and time are given to the work. What seems to be lacking is the sense of a binding, stable directive to complete tasks on time. See the mayor’s statement at Comment ID DOJ-CRT-2026-0067-0072. 4- web Sites are vital to my life and participation as an informed resident, and any Web inaccessibility is obviously a detriment to modern world survival. Sites I attempt to use are the city’s public utility site, the state’s Office of the Secretary for voter information, state public disclosure commission site, the state insurance commissioner site, the state licensing department site, and the state legislative affairs site. 5- I urge the DOJ to ignore arguments about extending Title II deadlines and instead act to enforce the previously established date for Web accessibility, supporting much-needed access for a community of people often viewed and spoken of as sickly and difficult.