Hello,

The government of tomorrow will be electronic, virtual, and paperless.
It is already emerging today.  When Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
was strengthened in 1998, it promised to deliver access to the government
of the future for people with disabilities.  Many heralded the new civil
rights legislation that would apply specific access standards to
electronic and information technology purchased by the federal government
as "curb cuts for the digital age".

Yet, in passing this law, Congress did as it usually does and totally
exempted itself from the law's provisions while demanding strict
adherence and access from others, including the rest of the government.
In 1995, Congress passed the Congressional Accountability Act which ended
the decades old practice of Congress passing health, safety, and civil
rights laws only to wiggle out of them.  Left out of that equation was
the civil rights provisions of the Rehabilitation Act, which are nearly
identical to those in the ADA.  That is except for Section 508 and access
to technology.

When Congress exempted itself from Section 508, it not only included your
Congressman's or Congresswoman's office but the Government Printing
Office, the Library of Congress, and the General Accounting Office.
Right now, the Library of Congress is massively digitizing its collection
and the Government Printing Office offers loads of publications to the
public.  People with disabilities should have access to these services
and websites.

Action is needed to support the movement underway to make all electronic
government services accessible and available to people with disabilities,
whether these services are under the control of Congress or the
President.  Already, the Bi-partisan House Disability Policy Caucus is
energized on this issue and has adopted Congressional 508 as one of the
issues it will work on throughout 2002.  The Caucus is an informal
working group of about 16 Republican and Democratic members of the House
of Representatives interested in learning about and advancing disability
issues.  It is sponsoring an accessibility day on April 24 at the Rayburn
House Office Building to educate and inform other House members and their
staffs about the accessibility and independence afforded through
assistive technology and accessible telecommunications services.  There
will be training for government information technology personnel and
managers and demonstrations of assistive technology and accessible
telecommunications services.  Even now with the momentum Section 508 has
generated in the rest of the government, there are four information
technology Section 508 staff members at the Capitol conducting an
inventory of each server and reviewing each congressional web site to
suggest changes for increased accessibility.

While all this activity is commendable, it must broaden and deepen for it
to have a meaningful impact.  The Disability Caucus and the Office of
Compliance, which helps Congress meet the expectations of the ADA, need
to hear from people with disabilities and others about their desire to
access all government electronic services, including those of Congress.
If you have had any problems or issues in accessing your congressman's
website, the Library of congress, or the government Printing Office, be
sure to let them know that too.  All that is needed is a simple e-mail.
Just writing a couple of sentences about your interest or your problem is
enough.  Send it to Alma Candelaria.  Alma is the Deputy Executive
Director of the Office of Compliance for the House of Representatives.
Her e-mail address is:

  [log in to unmask]

mailto:[log in to unmask]

The second address is for Unix and Linux users whose systems may need a
little extra help in getting a clickable e-mail address that opens up a
fresh e-mail message.

With everybody's help and action, we can extend access to electronic and
information technology to all parts of the federal government and ensure
that the government of tomorrow will be fully accessible to people with
disabilities.

Kelly Pierce


VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
 VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html