Overcoming Barriers to ICT through Accessibility

“Partners for Progress”

April 18, 2013

Tennessee Association on Higher Education and Disability (TNHEAD)

2013 Spring Conference

Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN

Today’s speaker:

Timothy CreaganSenior Accessibility Specialist

U.S. Access Board

Today’s topics:

I. IntroductionII. Barriers III. Background:

§508 of the Rehabilitation Act and §255 of the Telecommunications Act

IV. What about modern technology?V. The “Refresh” of Sections 508 & 255

I. Introduction: U.S. Access Board

Budget: $7.0 million (FY 2013)Staff: 29• Executive Director’s Office• General Counsel’s Office• Office of Administrative Services• Technical & Information Services

Access Board Programs• Guidelines and standards development

• Architectural Barriers Act of 1968• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990• Telecommunications Act of 1996• Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998

• Technical assistance and training• Research• ABA enforcement

II. Barriers to People with Disabilities

Have you ever struggled to see the characters on a screen?

Seeing:• Phones

• Illuminated displays• High contrast controls• Large buttons

• Computers• Zoom display• High contrast display• Screen reader

Hearing:• Phones

• Hearing aid compatibility• Text capability• Vibrating alerts

• Computers• Video captions• Visual alerts

Holding and manipulating:• Phones:

• Large buttons• Lightweight• Speed dial

• Computers• Sticky keys• Keyboard commands• Voice recognition

= +

Thinking, remembering:• Phones

• Automatic redial• Voice activated dialing

• Computers• Alternate input modes• Screen reader

III. Background:

• §508 of the Rehabilitation Act and • §255 of the Telecommunications Act

Overview• Telecommunications Act of 1996

47 U.S.C. §255• “Section 255”

• Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended 29 U.S.C. § 794 (d)

• “Section 508”

Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act

Overview

§ 255 General RequirementsManufacturers & service

providers must:

• Provide equipment that is accessible

• Include representation from people with disabilities in the processes of Product Design, Development, and Evaluation

Cell Phone: How Accessible ?

ButtonFeel

PoorBetter!

Volume control

On/Off buttonPoorBetter!

TextSize10-pt

Text on screen

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

Overview

§508 General Requirements:Each Federal department and agency, as well as the U.S.

Postal Service, when procuring, maintaining, developing or using electronic and information technology, must ensure that:

• Federal employees with disabilities, and members of the public with disabilities seeking information or services, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use by persons who are not individuals with disabilities, unless…

Standard: ….an “Undue Burden” would be imposed on the agency.

What Technology is Covered by §508? Includes, but is not limited to…

Computers Telecommunications

Office Equipment

Websites

Kiosks Printers

Software

Who Benefits from § 508

1. People with disabilities who interact with federal agencies.

2. Federal employees with disabilities. 3. All people with disabilities, because accessible

products for the federal market are also sold in the public marketplace.

IV. What about modern technology?

Modern Technology can be used by People with Disabilities:

iPods and Podcasting

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Phones

Making technology accessible:

• Captions• Alternative formats: text for audio, alt tags

for images• Use of API (Application Programming

Interface) to address compatibility between AT and IT software (make products interoperate)

• “Apps” or “Applications” on Smart phones

This is happening world wide

• Other countries are watching U.S. design

Convergence of Technology • Web applications and web-software installed on a pc v. on web wiki

• Hardware, esp. mobile devices

Cell phone /w text messaging

Mobile TelecommunicationsTexting

SMS (Short Message service) RTT (Real time Text) –

Multi media: video + text + audio =

Multi-touch and gesture interfaces:Touch interfaces on mobile devices.

Touchscreens, cameras, and other movement detection systems can receive and analyze complex actions: “chorded” input

(several fingers at once)

Whole gestures: spreading two fingers apart or tilting one’s head to the side

Multi-touch interfaces:• Apple iPhone

• HP TouchSmart PC

HP TouchSmart PC

Gesture-based interfaces• Wii

V. The Refresh of Section 508

The “Refresh” of Section 508:

The “Refresh” is an update of:

Section 508 standards for electronic and information technology (“E&IT”) (procured by Federal agencies)

Section 255 guidelines for telecommunications products

Why Refresh? • Statutory requirement:

• “The Access Board shall periodically review and, as appropriate, amend the standards to reflect technological advances or changes in electronic and information technology.” (Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act)

• “The Board shall review and update the Telecommunications Act Accessibility Guidelines periodically” (Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act)

• Changes in technology• 12 years since the first Section 508 standards • 15 years since the first Telecommunications Act Accessibility Guidelines

• Clarify ambiguities in current standards and guidelines• What products are covered? • Improve testability

ICT Refresh Steps • TEITAC establishment: July 2006• TEITAC report: April 2008

• First ANPRM and draft text: March 2010• Public comments: March-June 2010 • Review comments

• Second ANPRM and draft text: Dec. 8, 2011• *Harmonization draft published* • Public Comments: Dec . 2011– March 2012• Review comments, revise text of proposed rule

Final Steps• Develop proposed rule (NPRM): **Text, preamble & regulatory assessment• Submit to OMB• Publish NPRM in the Federal Register

• Public comment period – 60 days• Analyze comments

• Develop final rule & regulatory assessment• Publish Final Rule in the Federal Register

Some trends in updating the 508 standards:

1. Organize technical provisions by functions, rather than product types –

“two way voice communication” NOT “telephones”

2. Reference external standards – WCAG 2.0; ANSI C63.19-2011

3. Provide technical assistance within the document.4. Define “covered electronic content”

2011 ANPRM• 508 Chapter 1: Application and Administration • 508 Chapter 2: Scoping Requirements• 255 Chapter 1: Application and Administration • 255 Chapter 2: Scoping Requirements

• Chapter 3: Functional Performance Criteria• Chapter 4: Hardware• Chapter 5: Platforms and Applications• Chapter 6: Documentation and Support

Services

ResourcesCIOC Accessibility Committee: www.CIO.govBest Practices subcommittee for Section 508:

http://www.cio.gov/committees.cfm/csec/3/cid/\www.Section508.gov – FAQs, procurementwww.Access-board.gov – §508 & §255

WCAG 2.0 materials: http://www.w3.org• UNDERSTANDING-WCAG 2.0 • Techniques for WCAG 2.0

Contact us:

Technical assistance:• Creagan@access-board.gov• 508@access-board.gov• (800) 872-2253 (voice)• (800) 993-2822 (TTY)

Website: • http://www.access-board.gov

Thank you!

www.access-board.gov