BILL NUMBER: AB 768	CHAPTERED  09/28/06

	CHAPTER  546
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 28, 2006
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  SEPTEMBER 28, 2006
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 22, 2006
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 21, 2006
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 16, 2006
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 12, 2006
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 23, 2006
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JANUARY 23, 2006
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 31, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 10, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 4, 2005

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Nation
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bermudez, Koretz, and Levine)
   (Coauthors: Senators Cedillo and Figueroa)

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2005

   An act to add Section 54.9 to the Civil Code, relating to
touch-screen devices.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 768, Nation  Touch-screen devices.
   Under existing law, individuals with certain disabilities are
entitled to equal access rights to various facilities.  Existing law
requires certain existing point-of-sale systems that include a video
touch-screen or nontactile keypad to be equipped, on or before
January 1, 2010, with a tactually discernible numerical keypad
meeting specified requirements that enables a visually impaired
person to enter personal information necessary to process a
transaction.
   This bill would require, on and after January 1, 2009, a
manufacturer or distributor of touch-screen devices used for the
purpose of self-service check-in at a hotel, as defined, or at a
facility providing passenger transportation services to offer for
availability touch-screen self-service check-in devices that enable a
person with a visual impairment to enter any personal information,
as specified, and to use the device independently and without the
assistance of others in the same manner afforded to those without
visual impairments.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares the following:
   (a) While the advancement of digital technology has provided
numerous conveniences and expediencies in many aspects of our
personal and professional lives, it has also introduced numerous
obstacles.
   (b) Touch-screen devices, especially point-of-sale devices in most
retail outlets, transportation facilities, and entertainment venues,
present hindrances to blind and visually impaired people. They have
created an environment in which blind and visually impaired citizens
are not allowed to shop independently and are often put in situations
where their safety and security are severely compromised.
   (c) The widespread implementation of touch-screen devices is
completely inaccessible to the estimated 10 million blind and
visually impaired people currently living in the United States.
   (d) The number of people excluded from using this technology will
grow sharply in the next few decades as the aging population
increases and more people experience vision loss due to complications
of diabetes and other ailments.
   (e) The use of this rapidly expanding technology requires the
consumer to possess well functioning eyesight, particularly when
tactile keypads are replaced with smooth, touch-screen windows.
   (f) Recent laws have been approved to address the need for
accessibility to touch-screen devices in several different
industries; however, the growth of touch-screens in many other
industries continues.
  SEC. 2.  Section 54.9 is added to the Civil Code, to read:
   54.9.  (a) On and after January 1, 2009, a manufacturer or
distributor of touch-screen devices used for the purpose of
self-service check-in at a hotel or at a facility providing passenger
transportation services shall offer for availability touch-screen
self-service check-in devices that contain the necessary technology.

   (b) For purposes of this section, "necessary technology" means
technology that enables a person with a visual impairment to do the
following:
   (1) Enter any personal information necessary to process a
transaction in a manner that ensures the same degree of personal
privacy afforded to those without visual impairments.
   (2) Use the device independently and without the assistance of
others in the same manner afforded to those without visual
impairments.
   (c) For purposes of this section, "hotel" means any hotel, motel,
bed and breakfast inn, or other similar transient lodging
establishment, but it does not include any residential hotel as
defined in Section 50519 of the Health and Safety Code.
   (d) This section shall not be construed to preclude or limit any
other existing right or remedy as it pertains to self-service
check-in devices and accessibility.