http://www.fpmi.com/FedNews/DailyNews.html FINAL RULE OUT ON ELECTRONIC ACCESS FOR FEDS WITH DISABILITIES The Civilian Acquisition Council and the Defense Regulations Council have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. These regulations were published in the Federal Register of April 25 with an effective date of 60 days after publication. Subsection 508(a)(3) requires the FAR to be revised to incorporate standards developed by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board. For other than indefinite-quantity contracts, this amendment applies to contracts awarded on or after the effective date. For indefinite-quantity contracts, it is applicable to delivery orders or task orders on or after the effective date. For background on this rule, Subsection 508(a)(1) requires that when federal departments or agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology (EIT), they must ensure that the EIT allows federal employees with disabilities to have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access to and use of information and data by other federal employees. Section 508 also requires that individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public and who are seeking services or information from a federal department of agency, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public without disabilities. Topics covered in the final rule include applicability of the regulations, exceptions to the regulations, what is meant by an undue burden, and related issues. For more information, interested parties should contact the FAR Secretariat at (202) 501-4755 for information pertaining to status or publication schedules. For clarification of the content of the rule, interested parties should contact Linda Nelson, Procurement Analyst, at (202) _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com