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> A More Accessible Web
> Companies Assist Agencies in Making Sites Disability-Friendly
> By Carrie Johnson
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Tuesday, August 21, 2001; Page E01
> An economic slowdown doesn't seem like the best time to launch a new
> product. But Arlington-based Crunchy Technologies Inc. is doing brisk
> business on its new $699 software package, shipping almost 4,000 units
> since introducing it four months ago.
> The impetus for the sales is a new federal requirement that government
> agencies make their Web sites accessible to the disabled. The rule, which
> took effect June 25, also charges federal officials with revamping
> keyboards, photocopiers, teletype devices and other office machines for
> agency employees with special needs.
> A government panel estimates it could cost as much as $691 million to
> retrofit federal workplaces and Web sites under Section 508 of the
> Rehabilitation Act. Some experts think the new federal rule will
> eventually trickle down to state and private workplaces as well.
> With about 120,000 disabled workers on the federal payroll, and about 54
> million disabled Americans overall, entrepreneurs such as Crunchy chief
> executive Louis J. Hutchinson III have shifted their focus to technology
> for the disabled.
> Hutchinson's software diagnoses when Web sites are hard to use for people
> with visual impairments, motor-skills problems or other special needs. "I
> don't think this is rocket science," said Hutchinson, a former sales
> executive at Netscape Communications Corp.
> "The e-consulting economy has had a rough time over the past year," he
> said, so he is transforming Crunchy from a service to a product company.
> To help agencies meet the new requirement, at least 25 companies have
> moved in to sell software, training and other services to federal
> contractors and government agencies, according to an analysis by research
> firm Giga Information Group Inc. Clients include the Transportation
> Department, the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Navy.
> WestLake Internet Training in Arlington, for example, recently added a
> $345 one-day course for high-tech designers interested in learning how to
> make Web pages easier for the blind to read. Buan Consulting Inc. is
> hosting a $125 seminar on compliance with the rule for government
> procurement officers and business owners at the Ronald Reagan Building
> next month.
> The nation's biggest technology firms also are responding to the federal
> directive by updating their product lines and rushing to pitch government
> buyers on their disability-friendly features.
> * Microsoft Corp. touts software that offers graphics-free screens, which
> are more easily read by the machines many blind people employ to browse
> the Web.
> * Hewlett-Packard Co.opened a new office for accessibility issues andhas
> already changed the notices on its printers so that people with visual and
> other physical problems don't have to make unnecessary trips to the
> printer when there are glitches with their documents.
> * Government contractors such as Electronic Data Systems Corp. and GTSI
> Corp. are partnering with small software companies that already offer
> accessibility products.
> The disability rights provision has sensitized dozens of companies to a
> new market.
> "Many companies have suddenly realized 'Oh, no, in order for us to sell to
> customers or keep contracts with the government, we've got to address this
> right away,' " said Laura Ruby, a manager in Microsoft's 40-person
> Accessible Technology Group.
> "Section 508 has done a wonderful job of crystallizing industry awareness
> about disability," said Denice Gant, director of the Accessibility
> Solutions program at Hewlett-Packard.
> Some advocates worry that their field could fall prey to economic rather
> than altruistic, interests.
> "People are getting into this because all of a sudden you can make money
> on it, without understanding the real issues," said Shawn Lawton Henry, an
> executive at Optavia Corp., a Madison, Wis., consulting firmthat she said
> spent three years working to improve technology for the disabled without
> making a profit. More than half of Optavia's revenue comes from training
> and consulting work related to Section 508.
> John Williams, who writes a column about assistive technology for
> BusinessWeek Online, predicted the interest from the business world will
> make life easier for all disabled Americans. But he added: "Let's be clear
> about this. [Companies] did it for economic reasons, not out of any
> motivation that this is the right thing to do."
> Even with the rush of activity to meet the standard, analysts said it
> could take a year to 18 months before agencies and their contractors fully
> comply with the new rule.
> Some experts think the flurry of sales will be relatively short-lived. "I
> think people are overstating the potential here," said Ken Salaets, a
> lobbyist with the Information Technology Industry Council. "Within three
> years' time, you'll have gone through a number of different product cycles
> and the like, so that information technology and accessible technology
> will talk without any problem. This will be just another feature that's
> offered, plug and play."
> Marco Sorani, president of SSB Technologies Inc., a San Francisco company
> that competes with Crunchy and takes in three-quarters of its revenue from
> Section 508-related work, disagrees. He predicts the interest in how
> people with impairments use technology will eventually trickle down into
> state workplaces and other sectors. Severalstates have passed laws with
> requirements similar to those of the federal rule.
> And the Justice Departmentruled in a legal opinion that the Americans With
> Disabilities Act applies to the Internet, a move that could force private
> employersto comply as well.
> "Corporate America is quickly following suit," said Dana Simberkoff, vice
> president of business development for Hiawatha Island Software Co., a
> Concord, N.H., firm that recently moved into the disability software
> market. Its products include electronic tools to test the
> user-friendliness of Web sites.
> "People are fairly confident that within the next couple of years this
> will be an issue for the private sector," she said.
> © 2001 The Washington Post Company
> 
> 
>  -----Original Message-----
> From:  Davey John
> Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2001 12:26 PM
> To: Cheryl Klein; Christopher Button; clarence griffin; Debra Al-Salam;
> John Davey; Julie Clark; karen saba; Kathy Ladipo; Latoya Plater; linda
> kontnier; Michael Reardon; Minerva Woodard; Paul Bennett; Randy Cooper;
> Rhonda Basha; Richard Horne; robert goldstraw; Steven Hill; william
> mckinnon
> Subject: Disability-Friendly Web Story
> 
> That was a pretty nice "More Accessible Web" story in today's Washington
> Post business section.
> 
> John D. 

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