NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A2157A
SPONSOR: Fernandez TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the state technology law, in relation to state agency
websites
PURPOSE: OF THE BILL:
This bill requires that all state agencies maintain mobile friendly
platforms for their existing websites and resources. By providing for
mobile friendly forms of state websites the state will ensure wide
spread, equivalent and improved access to state resources.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Establishes that all state agency websites be offered in a
mobile friendly form.
Section 2: Sets forth the effective date.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A6658 of 2017 A10839 of 2018 A2719 of 2019 A2719 of 2020
JUSTIFICATION:
Since 2007, with the introduction of the first Iphone, mobile devices
and smartphones have brought about a technological revolution in terms
the way consumers access and use online resources. Smartphones, tablets
and newer operating systems for desktops and laptops have begun to shift
the marketplace away from landlines and desktops towards more mobile
pathways.
To illustrate the demographic shift, the Pew Research Center reported on
April 1, 2015, that 64% of American adults now own a smartphone, up from
35% in spring of 2011. The same research report indicated that 10% of
American adults rely solely on their mobile device for internet access
in their homes. Further illustrating the need for updated websites, in
2014, Google altered its search engine results pages to list websites
that are mobile friendly as prioritized in search results in response to
the paradigm shift that mobile device use has caused in internet access.
The state remains in the technological dark ages in terms of providing
Mobile-friendly access to citizens who rely on the state's services and
resources. Being that the vast majority of state affiliated websites are
only available in desktop format, the state is effectively double
dipping by making residents use more of their data plans to access crit-
ical information and resources, while taxing use of such mobile devices
via cellphone and utility taxes. The state should ensure that steps are
taken to provide equal access to all citizens.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Minimal. The state already allocates funding for website maintenance to
each state agency. Any additional cost in connection with the updating
of such websites is expected to be recouped in the long haul through
reductions in data traffic thanks to significantly smaller website data
requirements.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2157--A
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 14, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. FERNANDEZ, VANEL, SOLAGES, WILLIAMS, EPSTEIN,
DICKENS, HYNDMAN, NORRIS, ROZIC, COLTON, ENGLEBRIGHT, GRIFFIN, ABINAN-
TI, STECK, REILLY, SMULLEN, DeSTEFANO -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of
A. DAVILA, MIKULIN, SIMON, THIELE -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Operations -- recommitted to the Committee
on Governmental Operations in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2
-- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended
and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the state technology law, in relation to state agency
websites
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The state technology law is amended by adding a new section
2 210 to read as follows:
3 § 210. State agency websites; mobile friendly websites. All state
4 agency websites, as defined in section two hundred two of this article,
5 shall offer a mobile friendly form and shall be made available for all
6 mobile devices that support such technology. For the purposes of this
7 section, "mobile friendly" shall mean, with respect to a website, that
8 such website is configured in such a way that such website may be navi-
9 gated, viewed and accessed on a smartphone, tablet computer, or similar
10 mobile device.
11 § 2. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
12 law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05422-03-2
