Accessibility and Section 508Clint Brown

Jim McKinney

February 9–10, 2015 | Washington, DC

Federal GIS Conference

Overview

• Background• Know Your GIS Environment• Section 508 and Esri• Esri Product Development Efforts• Reporting Accessibility: VPATs• Section 508: Misconceptions• Section 508: Suggested Best Practices

Background

• In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to require Federal agencies to procure electronic and information technology (EIT) that is accessible to people with disabilities.

• Section 508 was enacted to eliminate barriers experienced by people with disabilities and to encourage the development of accessible EIT.

• The Voluntary Product Accessibility Template® (VPAT®) was developed jointly by the Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC) and GSA to assist Federal Government contracting officials and buyers in making preliminary assessments on the accessibility of EIT products.

• VPATs are now widely used by vendors, including Esri, to report accessibility features under Section 508.

Know Your GIS Environment• Accessibility may depend on the interaction between the hardware, operating

system, and software in your GIS environment.• Hardware

- Various hardware platforms have different accessibility features, for example, the support for alternate types of keyboard and computer monitor size and resolution.

- The end user should check the hardware vendor's website for accessibility features.

• Operating Systems- The operating system handles many accessibility issues and facilitates the communication

between the hardware and various assistive technologies (e.g., larger keyboards, dynamic Braille display).

- Most vendor sites will have information on accessibility. For example, Microsoft’s Ease of Access Center provides a centralized place to locate accessibility settings. Check your operating system’s website for accessibility features.

Know Your GIS Environment, cont.

• Applications, Platforms, Runtime Libraries (Category for most Esri products)- Esri is primarily a vendor of commercial off the shelf (COTS) software.- Esri also sells web-based SaaS and PaaS products, such as ArcGIS Online and Server for

ArcGIS.

• Custom Code (built on top of Esri’s platform)- Custom applications are those built on top of Esri software or that utilize Esri software

components.- Accessibility features may be built into applications such as ArcGIS for Server and Portal

for ArcGIS are customizable by the agency’s developers.- The web developer may format information so as to take advantage of Assistive

Technology for the blind or visually impaired.- When contracting for Esri professional services, the agency should communicate its

desired accessibility features in the RFP.

• Understanding your technology environment will help you implement assistive technology that supports ArcGIS.

• Microsoft Ease of Use Center

Section 508 and Esri

• Overview- ArcGIS is generally a COTS software item. - Esri has the goal of making its products accessible to as many users as possible.

- As a practical matter, certain products may never be fully accessible to ALL, given the variability of disabilities.

• Esri software generally falls into one of four categories- Desktop applications- Server applications- SaaS/PaaS- Mobile applications

• Esri reports the accessibility of its products through VPATs which are updated on an ongoing basis.

• For a comprehensive list of Esri’s VPATs, please refer to- http://www.esri.com/software/section508.

Esri Product Development Efforts

• Esri is continually striving to increase the accessibility of its products at a procedural and tactical level.

- Discuss issue tracking process- Technical Support

- Demonstrate Software Issue Tracking System- Example1- Example2- Example3

Change the mindset from one of testing to one of Design. Think of the 508 guidelines as Design guidelines

Desktop software, Web App Templates, Mobile software Look for ways to partner and allow feedback from users regarding 508.

New aspect of Product Web Pages – 508 page and community

Reporting Accessibility: VPATs

• EIT vendors are encouraged to maintain a VPAT for each of their products to help Federal agencies conduct accessibility assessments.

• The VPAT contains three columns:- Criteria, Supporting Features, and Remarks/Explanations

• In order to promote consistency in vendor responses, VPAT guidelines encourage vendors to fill out the Supporting Features column with one of the following five responses

- Supports- Supports with Exceptions - Supports when combined with compatible Assistive Technology,- Does not Support- Not Applicable

- Esri also uses “Generally Supports” as a response

- VPAT Example

Reporting Accessibility: VPATs, cont.

• A “Supports with Exceptions” may be difficult to decipher- Supports with Exceptions may mean the following:

- 1) there are certain limitations on accessibility or Assistive Technology for that feature; or - 2) that feature does not fully conform to that specific accessibility criteria.

• “Supports with Exceptions” does NOT necessarily mean that the entire application fails that criteria nor does it imply that the product is inaccessible as a whole. It means that a minimum of one criteria is not fully supported.

• Agencies should contact Esri if additional information is desired regarding a “Supports with Exceptions” response.

Section 508: Misconceptions

• In July 2014, the ITIC reported a trend where Federal Agencies are requiring vendors and manufacturers to conform to Section 508 via a simple “yes/no” or “pass/fail” answers. (Information Technology Industry Council – Reporting Conformance to ICT Accessibility Standards – July 2014).

• According to the ITIC, “[t]his [trend] is troubling, because it ignores the complexity involved in conforming to accessibility standards.” (ITIC, 2014)

• Likewise, the ITIC states that “this approach implies that a web site that fails to meet a single criterion, however minor, is as inaccessible as a site where none of the criteria are met.” According to the ITIC, “[t]he presence of defects does not always constitute failure.” (ITIC, 2014)

• “While a fully accessible product or web site is a laudable goal, it does not reflect reality.” (ITIC, 2014)

Section 508: Misconceptions, cont.

• Esri products contain GIS technology that are visual/graphical by nature and may not be fully accessible to individuals with certain disabilities or have compatible assistive technology.

• Visual aspects of geographic features may not be fully translatable to verbal queues (e.g., topography, vegetation trends, erosion patterns, etc.).

• Esri’s platform is largely based on capturing, managing, and analyzing data through highly dynamic digital maps.

- Certain features (such as drawing a line on a map) cannot be adequately represented with voice or text equivalent and, therefore, no text equivalent exists for these functions.

- Esri reports these as “Exceptions” on its VPATs, but this is an example where the “Exception” is actually a limitation of GIS in general.

• Example Maps - Speak this to me…

Section 508: Misconceptions, cont. • Example of GIS accessibility limitations: “Speak these maps to me”

Section 508: Misconceptions, cont. • Example of GIS accessibility limitations: “Speak these maps to me”

Section 508: Misconceptions, cont. • Example of GIS accessibility limitations: “Speak these maps to me”

Section 508: Misconceptions, cont. • Example of GIS accessibility limitations: “Speak these maps to me”

Section 508: Misconceptions, cont. • Example of GIS accessibility limitations: “Speak these maps to me”

Section 508: Misconceptions, cont. • Example of GIS accessibility limitations: “Speak these maps to me”

Section 508: Suggested Best Practices

• The ITIC suggests that the best way to characterize accessibility is by addressing the “degree of conformance.” This is the standard suggested by Section 508.

- “If products are commercially available that meet some but not all of the standards, the agency must procure the product that best meets the standards.” (Section508.gov)

- This statement does not support a “yes/no” or “pass/fail” standard.

• The “degree of conformance” approach allows software manufacturers to provide conformance information on a “criterion-by-criterion basis. (ITIC, 2014)

• This enables prospective purchasers to evaluate whether a product may still meet essential accessibility objectives even if it is not fully conformant with technical requirements. (ITIC, 2014)

Section 508: Suggested Best Practices, cont.

• In all cases, the Federal agency should conduct its assessment of Esri products based on its specific use case.

• All assessments should be done in accordance with Federal guidelines. • Acquisition guidelines for agencies are found at the website buyaccessible.gov.

- “The determination of a Section 508 exception is the responsibility of the agency and cannot be transferred to the vendor.” (buyaccessible.com – Evaluation Criteria –Things you should avoid in your solicitation).

• “If products are commercially available that meet some but not all of the standards, the agency must procure the product that best meets the standards.” (Section 508 Reference Guide§1194.2(2)(b)).

Section 508 Best Practices, cont.

• The ITIC suggests that the best way to characterize accessibility is by addressing the “degree of conformance.”

• The “degree of conformance” approach allows software manufacturers to provide conformance information on a “criterion-by-criterion basis. (ITIC, 2014)

• This enables prospective purchasers to evaluate whether a product may still meet essential accessibility objectives even if it is not fully conformant with technical requirements. (ITIC, 2014)

• The agency makes the final decision!

Conclusion

• Esri will continue to make efforts to improve the accessibility of its products under Section 508, but certain limitations apply to GIS environments.

• Esri is committed to providing the information you need to evaluate the impact of Section 508 on your GIS environment.

• Esri’s VPATs can be found at http://www.esri.com/legal/section508/swguide.• Questions and inquiries may be sent to Esri’s dedicated Section 508 email:

section508@esri.com. • We are listening and working to improve the accessibility of our products!