Re: ADA Section 508 Compliance on StudentLoans.gov?

  • From: "Donald Marang" <donald.marang@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2010 10:38:57 -0400

I agree completely.  I am attempting to determine the Agency responsible since 
even the Customer Service (actually in New York) does not even know what agency 
they work for at the moment.  Evidently the Direct Loan program is so new that 
they are in a state of flux.  

Don Marang


From: Dale Leavens 
Sent: Saturday, July 17, 2010 10:12 AM
To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Subject: Re: ADA Section 508 Compliance on StudentLoans.gov?


Impressing a customer service representative is not how to make change. This is 
probably a near minimum wage clerk quite possibly in an off-shore call centre.

There is probably an alternative paper way of completing the application, there 
are still many millions without computers or convenient Internet access, some 
people who are in the greatest need of government services don't have 
telephone. surely such people aren't denied government services on the basis of 
their ability to purchase high technology.

What I don't understand is the apparent need to complicate these forms, human 
interfaces and the like for no other purpose but to demonstrate the developers 
genius. It seems that every computer defense programme needs to be clever 
implementing the user interface by reinventing standard and perfectly adequate 
Windows controls, after all they are just variations on comboboxes, list boxes, 
check boxes, radio buttons many of which don't work even with the Jaws cursor, 
many of which are just numbered graphic images which represent and function 
like one of those standard controls.

Why is it done and what benefit is it to the programmers or the usual sighted 
user? There must be some.


Anyway, your complaints, probably fully valid need to be made to the agency 
directors and their legal departments.


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Donald Marang 
  To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Saturday, July 17, 2010 9:21 AM
  Subject: Re: ADA Section 508 Compliance on StudentLoans.gov?


  I was using JAWS 10 at the time.  I did at one point switch to JAWS 11 and 
had the same results.  I did not try other screen readers.  I could have and 
should have tried both NVDA and System Access To Go.  I guess I did not want to 
waste the nice Customer Service person's time  on the phone.  Looking back it 
would have been more informative and have had more impact if I had shown her 
multiple screen readers failing.  

  Don Marang


  From: andy 
  Sent: Saturday, July 17, 2010 8:21 AM
  To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Subject: Re: ADA Section 508 Compliance on StudentLoans.gov?


  hello donald have you tryed switching to jaws 10 to see if that fixes the 
problem i ran in to the same issue on another page a while back and went back 
to jaws 10 and completed the form. this is just a thought.

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