Currently each agency is making determinations as to whether a product is 508 compliant. A central location for sharing product testing for accessibility, by product name and version, would save each agency from having to replicate testing over and over again. We could start with major applications such as Windows and Lotus Notes. Most agencies are spending significant dollars to make some major procurements, such... more »
Optimize 508 administrative services across the Federal Government by 1) Benchmark interagency Best Practices and Lessons Learned to support refinement of existing 508 processes and policy and development of a new Department-wide 508 Strategic Plan 2) Determine feasibility of a Shared Services Cost-Savings Model where one agency provides Braille and other services for a fee such as the existing Federal Occupation Health... more »
Right now 508 decisions are made with almost no transparency. This leads to disparities among agencies, and insufficient information about accessibility for other decisionmakers -- basically everyone who buys or uses ICT. (Remember, 508 is supposed to benefit the entire ICT market.) For example, why are VPATs treated as private communications between an agency and a vendor? All information about ICT accessibility should... more »
How can we eliminate waste of Federal resources used to retrofit ICT? People with disabilities are left behind when the Federal government does not adopt accessible ICT technology or implement the Section 508 Standards. If government doesn’t adopt and implement accessibility as part of its overall IT strategic planning, including: IT Modernization planning; Consolidation efforts; Shared services planning; adoption... more »
It is hard enough for agencies to collaborate between one another, but what is harder is collaboration with States, Academia, Advocates, and Industry. A government focused community of practice should have contributors from all these perspectives since they are all stakeholders in Section 508. In order to navigate Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) rules, a sponsoring agency is needed.
No one likes to be chained to certain set of rules and guidelines. Even though most will agree that Rules and Guidelines are needed in order to have structure, most will also agree that having freedom and flexibility to find what works best for your agency. The problem is that there is no place for different agencies to place their success stories or their struggles. This will allow agencies to see what works and what... more »