From http://www.fcw.com/blogs/editor/154412-1.html

So how does Section 508 fit into the world of social networking?

That is not a question we have considered in the past, despite all the
articles we have written about Web 2.0. But it is definitely worth
exploring.

On Friday, FCW (and everyone else who has an Internet connection) ran a
story about President-elect Barack Obama announcing that he would turn
his weekly Democratic addresses into YouTube videos and post them on his
Change.gov Web transition Web site.

This is clearly a sign of things to come from the Obama administration,
which also plans to record video interviews and to conduct online
question-and-answer sessions.

But what about Section 508? This requires agencies to ensure that
government electronics and equipment (including Web sites) are
accessible to people with disabilities. 

"When is the Obama transition team going to realize that the web site
Change.gov and YouTube are not in compliance" one reader wrote this
morning in a letter to the editor. "Either the Obama team is unaware or
they just don't care."

Which makes me wonder: How difficult is it for agencies to keep in line
with Section 508 rules while venturing into YouTube and other social
networking applications?

But Section 508 is not the only obstacle to Obama's current and future
YouTube projects. We also got this note from a reader: 

"This is just great. As an SSA employee we are blocked from viewing
YouTube so we can't see the president's weekly message.  Isn't this
ironic?"


    VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
Archived on the World Wide Web at
    http://listserv.icors.org/archives/vicug-l.html
    Signoff: [log in to unmask]
    Subscribe: [log in to unmask]