Justice Department Finds Oklahoma Mobile App Inaccessible to People with Vision Disabilities
November 16, 2023 - The Justice Department announced today its findings that Service Oklahoma violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by maintaining a mobile application that is inaccessible to individuals with vision disabilities.
In a letter issued to Service Oklahoma, the department detailed its findings following its investigation of a complaint filed by an Oklahoma resident who is blind and could not access the Oklahoma Mobile ID Application (OK Mobile ID App).
Service Oklahoma’s OK Mobile ID App allows users to store their identification on a smartphone and use it in many contexts where a person would normally use a physical driver’s license or other state-issued ID. This includes applying for unemployment benefits and paying for purchases at retail stores. It can also be used to start an application for a REAL ID, which will be required in the future for such things as boarding domestic flights, visiting military bases or entering specific federal buildings.
“Public entities, like Service Oklahoma, are increasingly using mobile apps to offer a wide range of critical government services, yet people with disabilities often face significant barriers accessing them,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “In Oklahoma, the OK Mobile ID App provides users with important benefits such as additional convenience, security and privacy. We will fully enforce the law to ensure that when public services are made available through technology such as mobile apps, those services are equally accessible to people with disabilities.”
The department found that the OK Mobile ID App imposes critical accessibility barriers for people with vision disabilities. To use the OK Mobile ID App, people must scan or take photos of their identification cards and take pictures of themselves by connecting the dots that appear on the screen using only head and eye movements. Both tasks are difficult or impossible for individuals who are blind to do without receiving any verbal feedback. Thus, Service Oklahoma violates the ADA by denying people with vision disabilities equal access to the OK Mobile ID App and by failing to ensure that communications with them are as effective as communications with others.
This letter is part of the Civil Rights Division’s Tech Equity Initiative to combat disability discrimination that occurs through technology, such as in websites and mobile apps. For more information on the ADA, please call the department’s toll-free ADA information line at 800-514-0301 (TTY 833-610-1264) or visit www.ada.gov. For more information on the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt. Complaints may be filed online at www.civilrights.justice.gov/.
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U.S. Department of Justice
