Technology has changed a lot since 2000, when the U.S. Access Board issued its
first accessiblity guidelines for federal IT.
On Wednesday, the Access Board released its long-awaited
proposed rule to
update accessibility guidelines for federal information and communication
technology (ICT) subject to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. It also
provides similar updates for telecommunications equipment covered by Section
255 of the Communications Act.
"The Board's proposal is responsive to widespread changes and innovations in
the IT and communication industries," said Sachin Dev Pavithran, vice chairman
of the Access Board, in a release. "It is important that the 508 Standards and
255
Guidelines stay abreast of the ever-evolving technologies they cover so that
accessibility for people with disabilities is properly addressed."
The proposed rule incorporates the latest version of the international Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
"We're proposing to reference that as the Web standard for accessibility plus
the standard to determine whether documents and software are accessible," said
David Capozzi, executive director of the Access Board.
WCAG 2.0 is used by many other countries and has been referenced by the
Department of Transportation in its rule making under the Air Carrier Access
Act for airline websites.
The original version of WCAG came out in 2000, which was about the same time
the Access Board was finalizing its own set of WCAG-inspired Web standards in
the first version of Section 508. This time around, the Board decided to
incorporate WCAG 2.0 rather than stick with its own separate guidelines.
"Rather than mimicking the standards, we did a direct reference, which I think
goes a lot further toward providing harmonization with international
standards," Capozzi said.
The proposed rule also adds Real Time Text (RTT) functionality to the Board's
accessibility guidelines for products providing real-time voice
communications.
"That's kind of like the new version of TTYs for people who are deaf or hard
of hearing," Capozzi said. "Real Time Text is different from text that most
people would think of where, when you're sending a text from one person to
another or from one person to a group, you'd type the whole message and then
you'd send it. Whereas Real Time Text you send character-by-character as
you're typing."
Feds using RTTs will be able to communicate quicker and in a more
conversational manner than they had previously with TTYs.
The proposed rule also addresses the types of electronic content that are
covered by Section 508.
For example, if an individual files an emailed complaint with a federal agency
that has enforcement authority, that agency's email reply would be covered
under the rule change.
"An email blast from, for example, the Office of Personnel Management that
sends out emails to all federal agencies alerting them to some new OPM memo or
a memo from the Office of Management and Budget that goes to all the agencies
alerting them to some new policy change, those would be covered as well,"
Capozzi said.
Some of the changes being proposed are more subtle. For example, information
technology or "IT" will now be referred to as "ICT" for information and
communication technology, which is how many other nations refer to this type
of technology
In addition, the Access Board is moving away from identifying specific
products in its guidelines.
"The current standards address technology kind of product by product, so it
looks at what the product is instead of what the product does," Capozzi said.
"And so, the new proposed standards are more functional-based as opposed to
product-specific requirements."
The Access Board took this approach as a way to keep the guidelines from
becoming obsolete as technology continues to rapidly evolve.
"We're trying to make these last a little bit longer, so that it's not
relating to the product itself, but what the function is," he said. "The
functions probably won't change that dramatically."
The Access Board is accepting public comments on the proposed rule for 90
days. It's also hosting two public hearings, one on March 5, at the Manchester
Grand Hyatt Hotel, Mission Beach A & B, in San Diego, California, and the
other on March 11, at the Access Board Conference Center, in Washington, D.C.
The Board will also host a public
webinar on
March 31.
As
the guide points out, employers can often take their existing
programs—such as retention strategies—and tweak them to focus on the
needs of employees with disabilities. As an example, the guide notes
that onboarding or new employee orientation programs can include
disability-specific information such as reasonable accommodation
procedures and orientation materials that are in accessible formats.
The guide indicates that structured onboarding programs have been shown
to ease the transition of veterans with disabilities into the civilian
workplace.