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URL: http://www.govtech.net/magazines/story.phtml?id=2530000000000926



   Cover Story
 Breaking The Access Barrier

   While government hails the internet and automated information systems
   as a means for improving service delivery and boosting internal
   efficiency, information technology represents a double-edged sword for
   Americans with disabilities.
   By Steve Towns - February 2001

For millions of citizens with vision, hearing, dexterity and
   short-term memory challenges, the ability to use emerging electronic
   government applications hinges upon careful attention to accessible
   design. The American Association of People with Disabilities estimates
   that one in five Americans has some type of impairment, making
   accessible technology vital to widespread use of e-government.
   IT accessibility policies also play a vital role in meeting the needs
   of government workers with disabilities as agencies continue to
   automate manual processes. For instance, Texas estimates that more
   than half of all state employees with disabilities work as
   professionals or paraprofessionals, presumably requiring access to a
   wide range of electronic information systems. And in the federal
   government, more than 7 percent of employees in branch agencies are
   disabled, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
   Call to Action
   Given the rapid growth of e-government applications and the
   proliferation of automated systems in the workplace, IT accessibility
   for people with disabilities has reached a critical turning point,
   according to the State Information Technology Access Coalition
   (SITAC), an alliance of state CIOs, procurement officers and assistive
   technology program officials. In a recent accessibility status report,
   the organization contends many Americans with disabilities remain on
   the wrong side of the digital divide.
   "For people with disabilities, a basic reason for exclusion from the
   digital environment is inaccessibility of the information technology
   product," the report said. "Inaccessible Web sites, software that is
   incompatible with adaptive devices, voice-automated systems that
   cannot be accessed by adaptive telephones and other access barriers
   continue to exclude people with disabilities from digital government."
   However, accessibility concerns have sparked a flurry of activity
   aimed at opening government IT applications and Web sites to citizens
   and employees with disabilities. Indeed, some observers expect
   government and industry to pour an unprecedented amount of effort into
   breaking down accessibility barriers this year.
   At least 10 states have already created their own IT access laws,
   rules or policies, according to Diane Golden, chairwoman of the
   Association of Tech Act Projects, an organization that tracks state
   access initiatives and promotes awareness of assistive technology.
   Meanwhile, federal government agencies are scrambling to comply with
   Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which requires them to procure
   IT hardware and software that is accessible to people with
   disabilities.
   Golden and others call the emerging efforts a prudent step by public
   jurisdictions to address accessibility issues while the most complex
   electronic government systems are still on the drawing board. "If
   you're going to build e-government, now is the time to talk about
   access," she said. "Because if you get things half-way built, it is
   painfully difficult and expensive to retrofit them."
   But along with the growing activity comes a fair amount of
   uncertainty. Some state government officials worry they may be bound
   by Section 508 requirements if they accept certain types of federal
   grants. Furthermore, manufacturers must contend with multiple access
   standards budding from myriad organizations.
   "You'd be surprised if I were to list all of the different standards
   and working groups that exist right now. That's one of the challenges
   for us as [an] industry," said Laura Ruby, regulatory program manager
   for Microsoft Corp.'s Accessible Technology Group. "There are a lot of
   really exciting things going on, but it's really scattered right now."
   States of Confusion
   Perhaps the biggest question facing state officials involves whether
   Section 508 applies beyond the federal government. The law, originally
   scheduled to take effect Aug. 7, 2000, requires federal agencies to
   ensure that government IT systems and electronic information meet a
   series of accessibility standards.
   President Bill Clinton delayed implementation of the law late last
   year because the U.S. Access Board, an independent agency that
   enforces accessibility rules for federally funded facilities, had not
   finalized standards. Final standards were expected to be published in
   late December or early January. Federal agencies then have six months
   to comply.
   Although both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Access Board say
   section 508's scope is limited to federal agencies and departments,
   some state officials aren't so sure. That's because the U.S.
   Department of Education says the law applies to states receiving funds
   from its Assistive Technology Act State Grant program, which funnels
   $38 million annually into efforts to implement assistive technology
   devices and policies.
   "States are still in a terribly awkward position in terms of legal
   application of Section 508," said Golden, who is also director of
   Missouri's Office of Assistive Technology. "We are just floundering
   around with that issue, and I don't know when it will be resolved."
   Applying Section 508 requirements to Assistive Technology grant
   recipients exposes state governments to potentially broad liability,
   some officials say. Currently, all 50 states and U.S. territories
   receive Assistive Technology Act funds and, therefore, have written
   some form of Section 508 assurance into their grant applications,
   according to the SITAC report. But these assurances generally consist
   of simple statements, offering few details about which state entities
   are subject to the requirements, what standards will be used to judge
   compliance, and who is responsible for enforcement and oversight.
   "As part of the grant application, the state has to say something
   like, 'We assure the state will comply with section 508,'" said
   Golden. "In most states, that has meant nothing because it is vague.
   There's so much ambiguity about what would be covered -- if that
   assurance even had the effect of law."
   Depending on the scope of Section 508 enforcement under the program,
   states may consider foregoing Assistive Technology grants altogether,
   some believe. "Funding for the Assistive Technology Act is very
   limited, with an average state grant of about $400,000, making this a
   poor incentive for development of extensive policies and procedures to
   assure state compliance," the SITAC report said.
   The extent of Section 508's impact on state governments may remain
   murky until the law faces a legal test, suggested Microsoft's Ruby.
   "It's a very contentious issue right now," she said. "As with many
   laws, often times there are gray areas that don't get defined until
   complaints are filed or the laws are challenged."
   Looking for Guidance
   While Section 508's reach remains in question, state officials expect
   the Access Board's final accessibility guidelines to provide a
   valuable model for state policies. Several states already have
   incorporated material from proposed accessibility standards which was
   published by the Access Board last March and, is available online at .
   "At least [the proposed standards] gave everyone a target to shoot for
   and a better understanding of how you classify something as meeting
   accessibility criteria. Quite honestly, I had not thought of a lot of
   the devices that they have mentioned," said Jerry Johnson, senior
   policy analyst of the Texas Department of Information Resources.
   Texas became one of the first states in the nation to create an IT
   access policy with the passage of 1997 legislation that added an
   accessibility clause to state information technology contracts.
   "Basically, it puts the burden on agencies to include that clause in
   every contract and for vendors selling the product to warrant that it
   can be adapted to make it accessible for people with visual
   disabilities," said Johnson.
   He gave the state's technology vendors credit for cooperating with the
   Texas policy -- even before its access requirements were clearly
   defined.
   "Back in 1997, we didn't have the same situation we have today with
   the Access Board publishing standards. We were kind of winging it on
   our own," Johnson said. "We were asking vendors to verify that their
   software would meet accessibility without giving them specific
   examples of what they would have to do to accomplish that. So it was a
   little bit fuzzy, but at least it got their attention, and in most
   cases, the vendors were willing to work with us."
   Texas IT access policies have since evolved to include both purchasing
   rules for accessible technology and design standards for government
   Web sites. The state's ongoing efforts resulted in a 2000 Recognition
   Award from NASIRE for outstanding achievement in information
   technology. Texas purchasing
   standards are available online as are the state's Web design standards
   .
   Missouri, another early adopter of IT access policies, enacted
   legislation requiring state agencies to purchase, develop and maintain
   accessible information technology nearly two years ago. Golden said
   Missouri has created some standards under the law -- it adopted the
   World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) guidelines for Web site accessibility
   -- but has waited for the U.S. Access Board to complete its task
   before finalizing the state's IT access criteria.
   "Obviously, whatever the board uses for software [access standards],
   commercial developers are going to start complying with," she said.
   "So those are the same standards we want to use, because Missouri's
   not going to get a developer to do something different just for
   Missouri."
   Golden added concrete standards that define what accessibility for
   various IT products and systems are vital to government's effort to
   purchase accessible IT products. Missouri learned the value of such
   standards soon after the release of Microsoft's Windows 95 software,
   when former state CIO Mike Benzen refused to purchase the popular
   software package until a compatible screen-reader application became
   available. A marginally acceptable product appeared some five months
   later, according to Golden.
   "State agencies were calling me all the time asking me, 'Why on earth
   they couldn't buy this thing,'" she said. "That just drove home to us
   that we weren't gong to be able to stand on a no-buy decision very
   long without some really clear, verifiable standards. Quite honestly,
   without clear standards, you can't force the issue. If you don't have
   testable standards and you don't have protocols to test against those
   standards, there's really no way you are going to be able to reject a
   proposal or a bid."
   Need for Speed
   With the explosive pace of technology development in the public
   sector, both Golden and Johnson said IT accessibility issues must be
   addressed early to minimize expensive retrofitting.
   "If agencies go full-bore and do something that is not accessible,
   it's going to cost them to go back and change that," Johnson said.
   "It's critical, as we're starting to look at putting more services on
   the Web, to address accessibility when we start. Then the cost is
   insignificant."
   That proactive approach appears to be taking hold, at least in some
   jurisdictions. A handful of states -- including Texas, Missouri and
   Virginia -- have taken a lead role in tackling disabled access issues,
   said David Nadler, an attorney with the Washington, D.C.-based law
   firm of Dickstein, Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky. Nadler, who specializes
   in government contract law, expects other states to quickly follow
   suit as federal government IT access initiatives ramp up.
   "On these types of policy matters, the states tend to piggyback on the
   feds," he said. "I would expect that anybody who does state
   contracting business is going to have to deal with this over the next
   year or so."
   Microsoft's Ruby also pointed to growing awareness among the company's
   government clients. "There's been heightened interest from our
   enterprise customers as accessibility has become more of a mainstream
   concern," she said. "As states have become more active in putting
   accessibility requirements in their contract and the federal
   government has started to be more concise about promulgating rules and
   standards, we're starting to see people talk about accessibility
   features and products with more of a common language."
   Perfect Timing
   Pennsylvania's adoption of a statewide policy to ensure accessibility
   of public-sector Web sites dovetailed with a broad push to deliver
   services through its government portal, dubbed the "PAPowerPort."
   "I think the timing was perfect for the issuance of this policy. We
   issued the policy in September, and that was really just at the
   beginning of our really strong push with a ton of e-government
   applications coming online," said Rhett Hintze, senior policy manager
   for technology and economic development with the Governor's Policy
   Office.
   Released in the form of an Information Technology Bulletin from state
   CIO Charles Gerhards , the policy contains a number of design
   components intended to make state Web sites friendly to users with
   disabilities. Among its recommendations:
   * Web designers must include a text description for non-text elements,
   such as bullets, images and symbols, allowing them to be interpreted
   by screen-reader software.
   * Text transcriptions should accompany audio clips, and video
   clips should include an audio description.
   * Frames, moving text and blinking text should be avoided.
   Gerhards' office collaborated with the Pennsylvania Office of
   Vocational Rehabilitation, which regularly works with citizens with
   disabilities, to develop the guidelines. An inter-governmental project
   team also reviewed the policy's feasibility.
   Pennsylvania's multi-agency approach recently won recognition from
   Temple University's Institute on Disabilities, which gave the state an
   Assistive Technology Achievement Award in November. And Hintze said
   involving a number of key constituencies resulted in a stronger final
   product.
   "You walk a fine line between writing a policy that is so strict that
   it becomes prohibitive on what applications or sites you can develop
   vs. one that's so general that it doesn't do anything," Hintze said.
   "I think they very nicely found an appropriate balance between what
   can be done and expected from a vendor, yet still provide enough
   leeway to have very professional-looking Web sites for those who have
   no impairment."
   False Assumptions
   Despite burgeoning interest in breaking down accessibility barriers,
   state IT access policies remain the exception rather than the norm. A
   recent survey conducted by the Association of Tech Act Projects
   discovered significant laws, rules, regulations or policies in Maine,
   Minnesota, Missouri, Maryland, New York, Texas, Kentucky, Arkansas,
   Pennsylvania and Nebraska. In addition, IT access bills were
   introduced in Oregon, Arizona and West Virginia, according to the
   organization.
   Golden laid some blame for the scarcity of state policies on officials
   who incorrectly assume the federal Americans with Disabilities Act
   (ADA) already mandates open technology. Though the ADA entitles
   Americans with disabilities to equal access to government information
   and programs, it does not require those services to be delivered
   through accessible information technology, she said.
   For instance, Missouri equipped its one-stop employment centers with
   adaptive computer stations suitable for independent use by citizens
   with disabilities -- a move not required under the ADA. "The ADA would
   say you can have persons with disabilities come in and have a staff
   member get on a computer for them and help them do the job search --
   not make the job search accessible, but do the job for them. That's
   providing program access, and it's perfectly legal under the ADA,"
   Golden said.
   Bob Ruppenthal, program analyst for Pennsylvania's Office of
   Vocational Rehabilitation, said resistance to IT accessibility
   policies among public agencies or vendors often stems from a simple
   lack of awareness. He contended IT policies that foster accessible Web
   sites offer benefits that extend beyond citizens with disabilities.
   "I certainly believe that when your site conforms to accessible Web
   site standards, it actually functions better -- pages load faster,
   there is less demand on network resources and it's going to lower your
   costs," Ruppenthal said. "You're also making your Web site more
   competitive; you're expanding your audience because you're able to
   reach everyone."

   Steve Towns
    S I D E B A RSETTING THE AGENDA
   The Association of Tech Act Projects recently compiled a list of
   recommendations for improving assistive technology policy in state,
   local and federal government. The recommendations -- developed by
   state assistive technology program staff members, consumer
   organizations and others -- advocate the following:
   * Public policies should provide or fund assistive technology based on
   clear, consistent coverage standards rather than device definitions or
   classifications.
   * Assistive technology funding systems should eliminate policy
   conflicts and explore the possibility of creating true "blended"
   funding streams for assistive technology that allows equipment to
   follow persons with disabilities across all life settings.
   * A permanent network of assistive technology programs should be
   maintained in each state and territory to provide a national structure
   for information dissemination, training, program development and
   policy advocacy.
   * New or expanded public health programs should provide comprehensive
   assistive technology coverage.
   * The Medicaid and Medicare definition and description of "medical
   care and medical necessity" and "durable medical equipment" should be
   revised, and assistive technology coverage should be a benefit
   coverage in addition to long-term care per diem.
   More details are available online.



    S I D E B A RU.S. DISABILITY STATISTICS
   * 7.4 MILLION Americans use Assistive Technology Devices (ATDs).
   * 4.6 MILLION Americans use ATDs to accommodate
   orthopedic impairments.
   * 4.5 MILLION Americans use ATDs to accommodate
   hearing impairments.
   * 500,000 Americans use ATDs to accommodate
   vision impairments.
   (Source: Advance Data 292, National Center for Health Statistics,
   1994)
   * More than 8 MILLION Americans have visual impairments.
   * Nearly 3 MILLION Americans are color blind.
   * More than 700,000 Americans have cataracts.
   * Nearly 3 MILLION Americans have glaucoma.
   * 22 MILLION Americans are hearing-impaired.
   * Nearly 2.7 MILLION Americans have speech impairments.
   (Source: Vital and Health Statistics Series 10, No. 200, National
   Center for Health Statistics, 1996)


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