This is just the first of a likely series of scary stories of what will
happen when Section 508 takes effect.  Get ready for th e onslaught.

kelly



   Monday March 26 02:00 PM EST

Billions in telecom sales may be on hold

   By Patrick Ross CNET News.com

   WASHINGTON--New regulations are forcing companies that sell to the
   federal government to meet disability guidelines or risk losing a shot
   at future contracts.

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      Telecom and information technology (IT) companies sell about $38
     billion worth of goods and services to the federal government each
   year. Many companies may find themselves ineligible to bid for future
       contracts after June 21, however, if they cannot offer federal
     agencies equipment, such as phones capable of higher volumes, that
   meets the needs of disabled workers. The issue will be the subject of
     an Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) forum here
                                  Monday.

     The equipment that must be disability-compliant under new federal
        rules makes up anywhere from 25 percent to 50 percent of all
   telecommunications goods sold to the federal government each year, the
   General Services Administration (GSA) estimates. This could especially
        affect the largest telecommunications and IT sellers to the
     government, including telecom companies AT&T, Sprint and WorldCom,
   hardware manufacturers Lucent Technologies and Motorola, data manager
     Electronic Data Systems, and computer manufacturers Dell Computer,
    Compaq Computer and Gateway. Those nine companies combined sold more
   than $3 billion worth of goods and services to the federal government
                                 last year.

    "I don't have any members that are confident their products will be
     100 percent compatible" by June 21, said ITAA's Bartlett Cleland.

                              What is covered
     Section 508 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 called for all
    federal agencies to accommodate the needs of disabled workers. This
   was meant not only to benefit those already working in the government
           but to recruit new talent, particularly in high-tech.

   "The impending workplace shortage of the federal government threatens
   to seriously cripple our ability to provide service to our citizens,"
      Rep. James Moran, D-Va., said March 22 at a hearing in the House
                 Government Reform Technology Subcommittee.

     Others have suggested that bringing more disabled workers into the
       workplace--studies show a 70 percent unemployment rate in that
     population--could also be an element to reducing the need for H-1B
                   visas for foreign technology workers.

   In rules completed Dec. 21, 2000, the federal agency Architectural and
   Transportation Barriers Compliance Board--or Access Board--produced a
       long list of accessibility guidelines. For telecommunications
   equipment and services its list included data reception, transmission
   and storage. The language is written broadly to include "any equipment
        or interconnection system" that fits one of its definitions.

      The focus of the rules seems to be on equipment that the average
   worker would come in contact with, including phones and computers, as
      well as related services such as DSL connections. Equipment most
    likely tended only by trained personnel, such as servers, is exempt.

   The Access Board estimated the cost to the industry to comply with the
      new rules would be no more than $1 billion annually, but Cleland
    suspects it will be much higher. "You could take two or three of our
             companies and rack up $1 billion easily," he said.

                        Other requirements include:

   o  All phones must be capable of a volume of 20 decibels, even though
     the Federal Communications Commission has recommended a maximum of
                                   18dB.

   o  Every phone must be able to be connected to a TTY or teletypewriter
   device, although the board gave manufacturers some flexibility in how
                   the connection could be accomplished.

   o  Every federal Web site must be accessible to the disabled, meaning
     federal Web masters must be able to purchase the appropriate tools
                               from vendors.

      o  There are a wide variety of computer-related requirements for
      compliance, getting to a level of specificity where the computer
   vendor is instructed how to design, for example, the Caps Lock key on
                                a keyboard.

    "I have some concerns that the rules are overly prescriptive, rather
   than allowing the marketplace to decide," Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., said.

   Cleland agreed. "We always will be frozen in that year" when standards
     were developed, he said. The narrow focus of some rules also mean
           longer production cycles for custom products, he said.

    However, at a breakfast sponsored by Adobe Systems last week, David
    Capozzi of the Access Board defended the rules, saying the board had
       hewn to a middle ground between strict definitions and market
                                flexibility.

   "We're told (by the industry), 'Be specific so we know when we've done
    enough,' and also, 'Let us do it our own way,'" he said. "We try to
                             strike a balance."

                             The Ticking Clock
    Businesses are scrambling to meet the June deadline for compliance,
             and there's no secret that they'd like more time.

    "We would have liked a longer window," Cleland said. While companies
   so far have been reluctant to openly criticize the six-month deadline,
   Cleland said he knows of at least one meeting of a number of prominent
   companies where leaders discussed ways they could delay the deadline.

   "They're in a very tricky political position," he said, but "I will be
   stunned if we don't see some companies coming forward (to protest) as
                         the deadline approaches."

      Among the companies that have publicly committed to provide full
      accessibility are 3Com, Adobe, AOL Time Warner, AT&T, BellSouth,
        Compaq, eBay, Global Crossing, Handspring, Hewlett-Packard,
    Macromedia, Microsoft, NCR, Qualcomm, Red Hat and Sun Microsystems.

    Still, when all is said and done, it's possible companies could fall
     short of compliance but not necessarily lose all of their bidding
                                privileges.

    Companies could also gain a reprieve from the current administration
   of President George W. Bush, who has made no secret of his bent toward
                  laissez-faire regulation of businesses.

     "It's really gray, a huge open question" to what extent a federal
     agency would be free to continue purchasing from a company if its
      product was not 100 percent compliant with the rules but met the
     agency's needs. It gets more complicated given the fact that each
         agency makes its own determinations regarding compliance.

    The Justice Department, which is the legal authority overseeing the
   new rules, has given "a lot of squishy answers" on the topic, Cleland
w                                   said.


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