[tabi] Fw: [leadership] Justice Department to survey agencies about compliancewith Section 508
- From: "Easy Talk" <easytalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:37:26 -0400
----- Original Message -----
From: Pratik Patel
To: leadership@xxxxxxx ; ACBNY-L ; iac@xxxxxxx ; Blind Information Technology
Specialists discussion list ; VICUG-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2010 6:31 PM
Subject: [leadership] Justice Department to survey agencies about
compliancewith Section 508
Dear all,
Please see the memorandum from the Whitehouse regarding this announcement
below. Note that an assessment has not been done since 2004. It was required
to be done every two years. According to the following article, an assessment
is scheduled to be done in September of this year and the results will be
available in spring 2011.
http://fcw.com/articles/2010/07/21/justice-department-survey-on-accessibility-compliance.aspx
ACB's role in bringing this issue to the forefront has been vital. Both Eric
and Melanie have participated in vital conversations to ensure that Section 508
gets proper attention.
Regards,
Pratik
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503
July 19, 2010
MEMORANDUM FOR CHIEF ACQUISITION OFFICERS
CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICERS
FROM: Daniel I. Gordon
Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy
Vivek Kundra
Federal Chief Information Officer
SUBJECT: Improving the Accessibility of Government Information
The President identified transparency, participation, and collaboration as the
principles of an open government in his January 21, 2009, Memorandum on
Transparency and Open Government1, which requires that government information
and data be accessible to all citizens. To ensure that persons with
disabilities have equal access to their government, agencies must buy and use
accessible electronic and information technology (EIT), as required by Section
508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C 794d), as amended.
1 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment/
2 www.buyaccessible.gov
For example, accessible EIT allows a person who is blind or visually-impaired
to consume information on an agency's website; a federal employee who is deaf
or hard of hearing to access an agency's webcast training; and an individual in
a wheelchair to make photocopies. While some agencies have made progress in
this area, all agencies must make accessibility a cornerstone of their open
government plans. The purpose of this memorandum is to make agencies aware of
existing resources and direct agencies to take stronger steps toward improving
the acquisition and implementation of accessible technology.
Increasing Awareness of Responsibilities and Requirements
Building and maintaining an accessible environment requires that the
information technology and acquisition communities partner when developing,
procuring, using, or maintaining EIT. The General Services Administration
(GSA), as part of its statutory requirement to provide technical assistance to
agencies on Section 508 implementation, has created a number of tools,
available at www.Section508.gov, to help agencies to develop accessible
requirements, test the acceptance process, and share lessons learned and best
practices. For example:
. the BuyAccessible Wizard2helps build compliant requirements and
solicitations;
. the Quick Links site 3 provides pre-packaged Section 508 solicitation
documents;
2 3 https://app.buyaccessible.gov/baw/KwikLinksMain.jsp
4 https://app.buyaccessible.gov/DataCenter/
5 http://buyaccessible.net/blog/
. the BuyAccessible Products and Services Directory4provides a registry of
companies and accessibility information about their offerings; and
. the Section 508 blog 5provides a venue where stakeholders may share ideas and
success stories, or engage in conversations on improving accessibility.
Emerging technologies and the introduction of new applications can present
challenges for the implementation of accessibility standards. To assist
agencies:
a) Within 180 days, the GSA Office of Governmentwide Policy (OGP) will provide
updated guidance on making government EIT accessible. This guidance will build
upon existing resources to address challenges, increase oversight, and reduce
costs associated with acquiring and managing EIT solutions that are not
accessible.
b) Within 180 days, the GSA OGP will update its general Section 508 training to
offer refreshed continuous learning modules that can be used by contracting
officers, program/project managers (especially those managing IT programs), and
contracting officer technical representatives (COTRs) as they fulfill their
Federal Acquisition Certification requirements.
Improving Agency Accountability and Accessibility Performance
As with any requirement, agencies must monitor their accessibility performance
and should consider a variety of internal controls to ensure that agency
managers are accountable for providing an accessible environment. To help
agencies achieve an accessible environment, the Chief Information Officers
Council (CIOC) recently created an Accessibility Committee. This new Committee
is collaborating with GSA, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the U.S. Access
Board. Together these entities will take the following steps:
a) In September 2010, the GSA OGP and the DOJ will issue a survey to allow
agencies to assess their implementation of Section 508, including accessibility
of websites and other technology used by the agencies. This information will be
used by the DOJ in preparing its next assessment of agency compliance as
required by the Rehabilitation Act. The CIOC Accessibility Committee will also
use this information to identify best practices and lessons learned.
b) In the spring of 2011, the DOJ will issue a progress report on Federal
agency compliance with Section 508, the first since 2004. Going forward, DOJ
will meet its obligation to issue a report biennially.
c) Beginning in FY 2011, the GSA OGP will begin providing OMB a quarterly
summary report containing results of Section 508 reviews of a sample of
solicitations posted on FedBizOpps.gov. GSA will provide the agencies a summary
of the sampling results to facilitate sharing of best practices and successes,
and to address common challenges.
3
Improving Outreach and Communication Citizen and employee engagement is
important for understanding the needs of diverse communities and providing
better solutions. Within 60 days, the GSA OGP and the U.S. Access Board6, in
collaboration with the Chief Acquisition Officers Council (CAOC) and CIOC, will
design listening sessions and will research technology solutions to facilitate
such sessions. The sessions will be an opportunity for the government and
interested members of the public to address concerns and propose ideas.
Feedback from the sessions will be used by, and shared across, agencies to
improve accessibility and usability.
6 The Access Board is required by Section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
to develop and maintain design criteria for the built environment, transit
vehicles, telecommunications equipment, and for electronic and information
technology.
Promoting equal access to government for persons with disabilities will improve
the delivery of services to the public and ensure that all federal employees
have the information and data they need to do their jobs. If you have any
questions regarding this memorandum, please contact Karen Pica in the Office of
Federal Procurement Policy at 202-395-3302 or Janice Nall in the Office of
Electronic Government and Information Technology at 202-395-0368.
Thank you for your attention to this very important matter.
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