FW: [SECT508WG] Advisory Committee Presents Report on Updated 508 Standards
- From: "Jamal Mazrui" <Jamal.Mazrui@xxxxxxx>
- To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 13:32:31 -0400
Thought this may be of interest,
Jamal
-----Forwarded Message-----
From: Sect508WG [mailto:Sect508WG@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bailey,
Bruce
Sent: Friday, April 04, 2008 12:23 PM
To: SECT508WG@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [SECT508WG] Advisory Committee Presents Report on Updated 508
Standards
From: http://www.access-board.gov/news/teitac-report.htm
On April 3, the Telecommunications and Electronic and Information
Technology Advisory Committee (TEITAC) presented its report
<http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/refresh/report/> to the Access Board
on updating accessibility criteria for information and communication
technologies. The committee's report recommends revisions to the
Board's standards for electronic and information technology covered by
section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. It also addresses updates to
guidelines for telecommunications products issued by the Board under
section 255 of the Telecommunications Act.
"We firmly believe that the recommendations of this report will lead to
new versions of the standards and guidelines that comprehensively cover
accessibility in a dynamic and innovative marketplace," stated Mike
Paciello of the Paciello Group who co-chaired the committee. Co-chair
Jim Tobias of Inclusive Technologies concurred, noting that "this
committee, through the incredible range of expertise and talent it
enlisted, indeed rose to the challenge and was not shy in confronting a
host of complex issues before it."
The committee's report details recommended changes to both the substance
and the structure of the standards and guidelines. The recommendations,
adopted by consensus under a process common to Federal advisory
committees, specify updates that are responsive to market trends and
technological innovations that continuously reshape the range of
products covered. These include technologies used for communication,
computing, storage, duplication, and production, among others. Access
is addressed for all types of disabilities, including those that are
sensory, physical, speech-related, or cognitive in nature.
Organized by the Board in July 2006, the committee met regularly over
the course of its charter and held numerous teleconferences in between
meetings. The committee's 41 members comprised a broad cross-section of
stakeholders, including representatives from industry, disability
groups, standard-setting bodies in the U.S. and abroad, and government
agencies, among others. In their deliberations, committee members
addressed a range of issues, including new or convergent technologies,
market forces, and international harmonization. Recognizing the
importance of standardization across markets worldwide, the committee
coordinated its work with other standard-setting bodies in the U.S. and
abroad. Representatives on the committee from the World Wide Web
Consortium, the European Union, Canada, Australia, and Japan greatly
facilitated this effort.
The committee sought to balance the need for detailed criteria with an
approach that accommodates the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of the
technologies covered. Many people, from product designers and engineers
to procurers and end users, have called for clear delineation of what
makes a product accessible for compliance purposes. However, the
committee determined that product-specific criteria will not keep pace
with innovative trends and market forces which enhance the capabilities
of products and blur their categorization. Convergent technologies, for
example, support the growing demand for all-in-one products, such as
mobile devices that offer voice and text communication, web browsing,
and media players.
The committee's report puts forth a revised set of performance criteria
that describe access capabilities for products generally. The committee
organized these provisions to serve as a framework for supplementary
technical specifications that have been updated to address hardware,
user interfaces and electronic content, audio-visual players, displays,
and content, real-time voice communication, and authoring tools. Unlike
the current section 508 standards, these provisions are organized by the
features or capabilities of a product, instead of discreet product
types. The recommendations contain advisory and background information
on the performance and technical provisions, including references to
related standards, and update defined terms and provisions covering
documentation, support, and maintenance. The report also advises the
Board on considerations for future updates, supplementary guidance
materials and tools, compliance testing, and further research.
The Board will propose updates to the section 508 standards and
telecommunications guidelines based on its review of the committee's
report. The Board's proposal will be made available for public comment.
Additional information is available on the Board's Section 508 Update
webpage <http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/update-index.htm> and the
committee's website <http://teitac.org>. For further information,
contact Tim Creagan at: creagan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, (202)272-0016 (v), or
(202)272-0082 (TTY).
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