San Antonio Standard

AUSTIN, Texas – U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas announced today that the United States has reached a settlement agreement with Upton County to resolve findings that the county violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by maintaining an election website that is not accessible to individuals with vision or manual disabilities.

The county’s election website provides essential information about how to vote, such as registration requirements, identification requirements, and voting information for people with disabilities. The website also links to other critical information, including details about voting early and on election day.

“The right to vote is a foundation of our democracy and must not be diminished or restricted,” said Esparza. “Election websites provide crucial voting information and should be accessible to voters with disabilities.”

Under the settlement agreement, Upton County agreed to make all future and existing online election content accessible to people with disabilities. The county also agreed to hire an independent auditor to evaluate the accessibility of content on its election website, solicit comments and requests from visitors and users of its website about any accessibility barriers, designate an employee to coordinate its accessibility efforts, revise its accessibility procedures, and train relevant personnel.

This agreement is part of the Department of Justice’s ADA Voting Initiative, which safeguards the voting rights of individuals with disabilities. To read more about the ADA and how it applies to voting, please visit www.ada.gov/topics/voting/. This settlement agreement is also part of the Department of Justice’s Tech Equity Initiative to combat disability discrimination that occurs through technology such as websites and mobile apps.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Liane Noble represented the government on behalf of the Western District of Texas during the resolution process in coordination with partners in the Civil Rights Division and other U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Texas.

For more information about the ADA, visit www.ada.gov or call the Department of Justice’s toll-free information line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TDD). Information about filing a complaint, including instructions for filing a complaint online, can be found at https://www.justice.gov/crt/how-file-complaint.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

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