This is from the publication "government Computer News."

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Daily Updates

508 deadline is only the beginning

By Dipka Bhambhani
GCN Staff
JUNE 21-It's Section 508 deadline day, when all federal systems are supposed
to be accessible to disabled workers.But just to make sure, the National
Council on Disability today called on President Bush to appoint a blue-ribbon
commission to study the patchwork of laws governing access to information
technology by the disabled.Calling access a civil right, NCD member Bonnie
O'Day said that despite Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of
1998, Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act and the Americans with
Disabilities Act, no comprehensive legal framework exists to cover access.In
a report, "The Accessible Future," NCD called for the proposed commission to
do a cost-benefit analysis for access. It recommended that full access to
so-called E&IT-electronic and information technology-become part of
agencies' planning, and that consumers be included in that planning.Although
June 21 is a key date, disabled federal workers don't necessarily have a case
against their employers if all systems are not accessible today, said David
M. Capozzi, director of technical and information services for the Access
Board, an independent body that established the accessibility deadline last
December."June 21 marks the implementation of 508," Capozzi said at an NCD
press conference today in Washington. "It's not the end, it's only the
beginning."Disabled federal employees can sue if agency procurements on or
after today do not specify products that meet Section 508 requirements. The
deadline is about enforceability, he said.Still, Capozzi praised federal
compliance efforts to date."Industry is responding in an unprecedented
fashion, and the government is responding in an unprecedented fashion," he
said. "I'm proud to be a government employee, because government is
responding in a positive and coordinated way.""People need to start paying
attention to 508," he said. "And they are."Capozzi said the Access Board
site, at
www.access-board.gov,
has received 4.1 million hits since the
deadline was set in December.


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