Hello from Chicago!

To learn more about what's going on in Briton, consider subscribing to the
e-mail list of the blind computing division of the British computer
Society.  You can find out more about it on blist at
http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/blist.html   Also, visit the newsgroup
alt.comp.blind-users.  A lot of uk people hang out there as the entire
contents of that newsgroup is ported to Demon, a blind friendly Internet
service provider.

In the United States, there are two main laws regarding online access to
government service.  The ADA covers all units of government except the
federal government.  The federal government is covered by the civil rights
provisions in the Rehabilitation Act, which require communications with
people with disabilities to be "effective."  This could include making a
web site accessible or downloading the info and sending it to someone.
The recent changes to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act will likely
require web sites of the federal government or produced under federal
contract to be accessible.  Proposed guidelines have been released.  A
final rule is expected next year.  If you are interested in 508 issues,
the Justice Department produced a nice kit on access and how agencies can
meet this policy with little burden.

I just looked up your country and discovered that there are slightly more
people there than in Chicago.  I suppose with hundreds of millions of
people, things can be more layered and complicated.  If you want more info,
tell us which paths you wish to explore.

kelly


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