Memo to federal Chief Information Officers re Section 508

>From the web page
http://www.section508.gov/docs/ciomemo.html

MEMORANDUM FOR CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICERS    December 21, 2000

FROM:      Craig Luigart, CIO, Department of Education
                 James Flyzik, CIO, Department of Treasury

SUBJECT: Publication of Final Regulations Implementing Section
508

As you know, history is being made today as the final
regulations for Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
(as amended) are published in the Federal Register. These
standards, which have been in the works since 1998 when the
Rehabilitation Act was re-authorized, establish "curb-cuts" for
the information age.

Speaking on behalf of the CIO Council, echoing the goals of the
CIO Council Strategic Plan, we proudly join with the rest of
Federal government's corporate management in committing to
support full implementation of the Section 508 standards.

These standards (available at http://www.access-board.gov/and
www.section508.gov) will insure that:
  * Federal employees with disabilities are able to use
    information technology (IT) to do their jobs; and
  * Members of the Public with disabilities who are seeking
    information from Federal sources will be able to use IT to
    access the information on equal footing with people who do
    not have disabilities.

The 508 standards require such things as text labels for
graphics on web pages, desktop software that is compatible with
Assistive Technology, and hardware that meets certain height and
reach requirements.

The standards were developed by the Access Board in close
consultation with members of the IT industry, disability
advocates, world-wide standards groups, members of academia, and
Federal officials. While some industry representatives have
expressed concern about their IT product meeting all of section
508's requirements, a number of vendors have already made
significant inroads into the accessibility arena by releasing
accessible versions of their products.

With 70 percent of the disabled population either un- or
under-employed, and given the tight labor market we presently
face, complying with the 508 standards will increase our ability
to tap into this under-utilized labor market. The 508 standards
are critical because they mean that Federal agencies will be
able to take advantage of this untapped pool of capability. The
CIO Council believes that fully implementing and supporting
Section 508 will not only have a positive affect within our own
agencies, but upon society at large. Making information
technology accessible is critical to keeping our economy growing
by insuring that all Americans may work. Ten percent of
Americans have some type of disability and they would benefit
from having accessible information technology in their workplace.

While the standards are targeted to improve the accessibility of
IT for people with disabilities, they are forward looking and
will benefit many who may become disabled as they age.
Statistics show that by age 75 fully three quarters of the
population will have some type of disability. Industry has long
recognized that the usability improvements made with the 508
standards will help all workers - whether they are a mobile
worker using speech recognition, or an individual browsing the
web with a PDA requiring text labels for images. It makes good
business sense to develop IT for the aging population while
marketing to younger people who want improved usability

Designing for accessibility is not hard or expensive when done
in the development phase and that is why the enforcement
provision for procurement of IT does not become effective until
6 months from today. Your agency's Procurement Executives will
need to play a key roll in adopting the section 508 rules. We
look forward to the FAR Council fully supporting and
incorporating the 508 rules into the acquisition rules for all
agencies use to govern how they procure IT.

Accessibility of IT to people with disabilities has long been a
non-partisan issue with strong support in all branches of
government. The issuance of the final Section 508 rule caps off
a decade of both parties working together to improve rights and
opportunities for people with disabilities. The decade began in
1990 with President Bush signing the touchstone of disability
rights -- the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Progress
has continued with President Clinton signing the amendments to
the Rehabilitation Act in August 1998 and the Assistive
Technology Act in November 1998. The CIO Council looks forward
to working with President-elect Bush to achieve successful
completion of the goals established by his father and continued
by President Clinton. To provide technical assistance to Federal
agencies in implementing Section 508, the General Services
Administration and Access Board established an interagency
initiative known as the Federal IT Accessibility Initiative
(FITAI). Each of your agencies has identified a point-of-contact
to serve as a liaison to the FITAI (see www.section508.gov). The
FITAI has established a series of educational programs for
agency 508 IT Coordinators, state and Federal procurement
officials, industry representatives, and webmasters. The FITAI,
with the Department of Education, has let contracts to provide a
National Electronic and Information Technology Demonstration
Center that will be open to all Americans as a way to showcase
vendor products complying with the 508 standard.

In closing, making IT accessible is not just the morally right
thing to do -- it is the smart thing to do. We as a country, sit
on a cusp at the dawn of the Information Age. We have the
potential to give millions of Americans an even greater freedom
in cyberspace. In the end, in the not completely knowable
terrain of the human heart, is the real argument for all these
efforts. We ask you to look into yours, and to move forward with
us together in the challenges that lie ahead.

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End of Document





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