Welcome to Apple Computer, Inc'

1
Welcome to Apple Computer, Inc.

• Cupertino, California
• February 24-26, 2003

2
Agenda Overview Plenary Session

• Monday, February 24
• 830 AM 1130 AM
• Welcome and Agenda Review
• Welcome Comments from Apple
• Vendor approaches to 508 Apple
• Guest Speaker
• Loretta Guarino Reid, Adobe
• Break
• ATIA/Interop Update
• Dept. of Justice Update
• Ken Nakata

3
Agenda Overview Plenary Session

• Monday, February 24
• 1130 AM 330 PM
• Review of 508 Activity in Various States
• Cynthia Waddell, Int'l Center for Disability
  Resources on the Internet
• LUNCH
• PANEL Accessibility and Application Building
  Tools
• Project Teams Close-out Report
• Bill Hetzner and Jim Kindrick, Staff
• Break

4
Agenda Overview Plenary Session

• Monday, February 24
• 330 PM 500 PM
• Government Experience and Need for Tools
• Harry Leibowitz, Social Security Administration
• Review of Government Agency Interviews (Survey)
• Terry Weaver, GSA
• Joy Gatewood-Fulton, Staff
• Wrap up / Plan for Tuesday

5
Agenda Overview Plenary Session

• Tuesday, February 25
• 830 AM 1200 PM
• Welcome and Agenda Review
• Understanding Requirements for Procurement
• Lesley Field, Office of Federal Procurement
  Policy
• Proof-of-Concept Presentation
• Bill Hetzner and Jim Kindrick, Staff
• Break
• Open QA Session on Proof-of-Concept Presentation
• Lunch

6
Agenda Overview Plenary Session

• Tuesday, February 25
• 100 PM 500 PM
• Maintaining the Information Base
• Skip Crane, Staff
• Vendor approaches to 508 SUN
• Marney Beard, Sun Microsystems
• Break
• ITTATC
• Mimi Kessler, ITTATC
• Council Activity Update
• Mary Beth Janes, Apple, Council Chair
• Wrap up / Plan for Wednesday

7
Agenda Overview Plenary Session and Workshops

• Wednesday, February 26
• 830 AM 430 PM
• Welcome and Agenda Review
• Guest Speaker
• Mary Mitchell, GSA
• Break Out Groups
• Lunch
• Reconvene for Work Group presentations
• Break
• General Discussion / Open Issues

8
Vendor Approach to Section 508

• Apple Computer, Inc.

9
Section 508 An Application Vendors Perspective
The Accessibility Eco-system

• Loretta Guarino ReidSenior Computer Scientist
• Adobe Systems, Inc.

10
Presentation Agenda

• Introduction
• Section 508
• Section 508 Compliance vs. Accessibility
• Accessibility Eco-system
• Summary

11
Introduction

• 25 Years in Software Development
• Xerox, Digital Equipment Company, MicroUnity
  Systems Engineering
• 7 years at Adobe
• 3.5 years working on Accessibility in Acrobat and
  PDF

12
Section 508 Standards

• Outlines vendor, author responsibilities
• Educates on accessibility issues
• Allows for continuing technology development
• But evaluating for compliance is difficult

13
508 Compliance vs. Accessibility

• Compatibility does NOT equal Accessibility
• Users want accessibility
• Application vendors only part of solution

14
Accessibility Eco-system

• Application Vendors
• Assistive Technology Vendors
• Operating System Vendors
• Content Authors

15
Eco-system Challenges

• Requires cooperation among companies
• Asynchronous product release schedules
• Long development cycles
• Varied levels of knowledge and experience

16
Summary

• Section 508 provides accessibility guidance
• Users want accessibility, not 508 compliance
• Accessibility is an eco-system
• Application vendors
• Assistive Technology vendors
• Operating System vendors
• Content Authors
• Real progress being made

17
ATIA/Interoperability Update

• Mary Beth Janes, Apple
• Marney Beard, Sun Microsystems
• Chris Hofstader, Freedom Scientific

18
US Department of Justice Update

• Ken Nakata
• US Department of Justice

19
508 Activities in the States

• Cynthia D. Waddell, JDExecutive
  DirectorInternational Center for Disability
  Resources on the Internet

?2003 ICDRI
20
Overview

• Section 508 Impact on the States
• State Laws and Accessibility Drivers
• NASCIO and State Issues
• California and State Observations
• ITTATC State Reports

21
Section 508 - Impact

• Provides a private right of action against
  federal agencies
• Provides a marketplace incentive for designing
  accessibly
• Informs entities covered under ADA and Section
  504 of Rehabilitation Act on accessible IT

22
State Laws

• States are subject to federal laws prohibiting
  discrimination against people with disabilities
• Every state also has state statutes prohibiting
  discrimination
• Every state is unique in structure and system

23
State Accessibility Drivers

• E-commerce Gov't initiatives require every
  citizen access
• Workforce Investment Act requires accessible
  information technology at one-stop centers
• Help America Vote Act requires accessible voting
  machines

24
State Profiles

• National Association of State Chief Information
  Officers (NASCIO)
• Accessibility is criteria in annual recognition
  awards (2000)
• Events of 9/11 have shifted focus to security and
  privacy

25
NASCIO AWARDS-2002

• Wisconsin- Fast Transcription and Captioned
  Telephone

26
State Issues

• Adoption of IT accessibility standards, policies,
  and implementation plans
• Contracts and procurement
• IT testing and verification strategies
• Administrative complaint procedures and/or
  civil action

27
State Observations

• Interagency collaboration is key factor in
  development of EIT policies and implementation
• Education and training is probably most needed
  from cabinet level to trenches

28
California

• Amended CA Government Code 11135 prohibiting
  discrimination against disability
• Requires all recipients of state funding to
  develop, procure, maintain, or use EIT complying
  with Section 508
• Existing private right of action now also
  requires contractor resolution of EIT complaints

29
State Observations

• Trend for states to have web accessibility
  policies based on W3C WCAG or Section 508 or a
  hybrid
• Balance of Section 508 technical standards for
  accessibility have not appeared to advance as
  quickly in application development and IT
  procurement

30
State Observations

• A number of states have access procurement
  clauses (Maine, Minnesota, Maryland, Texas,
  Kentucky, Nebraska, Arkansas)
• Some states only require accessibility for
  software
• Some states limit IT accessibility to visual
  disabilities rather than cross-disability

31
State Observations

• Some states have administrative complaint
  procedures and authorize civil action (Missouri,
  Kentucky,N. Carolina, Arkansas)
• One state requires vendor to take a state
  web accessibility course based on state standards
  for entry into RFP process (Connecticut)

32
Resource

• Information Technology Technical Assistance and
  Training Center
• State IT Initiatives Reports
• State IT Initiatives Resources
• State IT Initiatives Training
• www.ittatc.org/stateDocs/state.cfm

33
ITTATC State Initiative Reports

• 2002 needs and barriers to achieving IT
  accessibility
• 2002 state IT accessibility standards,
  laws/policies and resources
• 2002 state web site IT accessibility standards

34

• For further information about ICDRI
  accessibility oversight consulting services
  contact
• Cynthia.Waddell_at_icdri.org
• Clients Include Government Agencies,
  Vendors-Including Voting Machines, Universities,
  European Commission, and the United Nations

35
Panel Accessibility and Application Building
Tools

• Keith Elliott, Director--Accessibility Competence
  Center, SAP
• Preety Kumar, CTO, Deque Systems
• Connie Myers, Accessibility Program Manager,
  Oracle
• Bob Regan, Accessibility Product Manager,
  Macromedia
• Skip Crane, Accessibility Forum Staff, Moderator

36
Project Team Close-Out Report

• Bill Hetzner, Accessibility Forum Staff
• Jim Kindrick, Accessibility Forum Staff

37
Projects

• Project Process
• Resource Documents
• AT-EIT Interoperability
• Objective Measures

38
Project Process

• Project Teams began in August 2001
• Work conducted by
• Bi-weekly or so teleconferences
• Email discussions and message board
• Working sessions at the Forum Meetings
• Deliverables defined as Resource Documents in
  September of 2002
• Background material of technology and
  accessibility information directly related to the
  508 standard

39
Resource Documents

• Released late October for review by Forum members
• Comments received by 11/15/02
• Comments reviewed by project teams and final
  documents released in December 2002 and January
  2003

40
AT-EIT Interoperability Resource Document

• Applicable interoperability provisions
• Interoperability as it applies to EIT products
• How current Assistive Technology products work
  with EIT Products
• How EIT Products are evolving
• Suggestions for realizing interoperability
  between current AT and EIT products

41
AT-EIT Interoperability Comments

• Received 133 separate comments that related to 86
  individual issues
• From all stakeholder groups
• 84 issues have been resolved
• Two are waiting comment by the Access Board Staff

42
AT-EIT Interoperability Next Steps

• Two additional inputs from team member to
  Software and Operating Systems.
• Government review
• Deliver information to users to assist at
  appropriate points in the procurement process
• Develop mechanism to keep information current and
  accurate

43
Objective Measures Resource Document

• Structured analysis of technical provisions
• Terms and Definitions
• Assumptions
• Clarifications
• Measurement Preconditions
• Data Collection or Measurement Methods
• Related Resources
• Comments and Suggestions

44
Objective Measures Comments

• Received over 400 individual comments
• Some on the same issue
• Over 200 unique issues have been resolved
• 13 conference calls from late Nov - Jan
• Generated 14 additional questions for
  clarification

45
Objective Measures Next Steps

• Some topics not included in resource documents
• Subpart C Functional performance criteria
• Subpart D Information, Documentation, and Support

46
Government Experience and Need for Tools

• Harry Leibowitz
• Social Security Administration

47
Government Experience and Need for Tools

• In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act
  to legally mandate Federal Agencies to require
  their electronic and Information technology
  (EIT) to be accessible to people with
  disabilities.
• Inaccessible technology interferes with an
  individual's ability to obtain and use
  information easily.

48
Government Experience and Need for Tools

• Section 508 was enacted to
• Eliminate barriers in information technology
• Make new opportunities available for people with
  disabilities
• Encourage development of technologies that will
  help achieve these goals.
• The law applies to all Federal agencies when they
  develop, procure, maintain, or use EIT.

49
Government Experience and Need for Tools

• Successful implementation of Section 508 requires
  the support of each and every Federal employee
  who is involved in the design, development,
  procurement, or use of EIT.
• This includes any time a Federal employee
• Requests the purchase of any EIT
• Is involved in the design of systems
  requirements or,
• Is involved in the development of Internet or
  Intranet pages and their content.

50
SSA Touches Every Person In America

• In addition to a large central office complex in
  Baltimore, there are
• 1350 field offices
• 10 Regional Offices
• 6 Programmatic Service centers
• 65,000 employees of which almost 2,000 are
  severely disabled
• There are also 120 State Disability Determination
  Staffs (DDS's) that have their
• EIT funded by SSA
• 10,000 employees

51
Government Experience and Need for Tools

• In Fiscal 2002, SSA's Office of Acquisition
  Grants processed just under 2,000 contracts.
• Total spent was just over 500 million.
• 90 of these purchases were EIT.
• Of the 26 largest Federal Agencies, SSA placed
  23 out of the 26 for EIT expenditures.

52
SSA Is Committed To Section 508

• Last Year SSA's Deputy commissar for Systems
  relocated the Section 508 team into SSA's
  Usability Center so that both Usability and
  Accessibility are part of the development
  process.
• Each procurement solicitation has Section 508 in
  the requirements section just like Energy Star.
• SSA's procurement shop WILL NOT process an EIT
  procurement to award without Section 508
  documentation.

53
Government Experience and Need for Tools

• In FY 2002, SSA had 134 Section 508 exceptions
  (less than 8).
• ABOUT 80 WERE back office exceptions due to
  SSA's large in-house IT infrastructure.
• ABOUT 20 WERE fundamental alteration exceptions
  for devices that by their nature are not 508
  Compliant nor can they be made compliant without
  a fundamental alteration.
• THERE WERE NO EXTERNAL UNDUE BURDON EXCEPTIONS
  since the passage of Section 508.
• SSA's DEPUTY COMMISSIONER FOR SYSTEMS AND Deputy
  CIO HAVE STATED THAT THEY WILL NOT SIGN UNDUE
  BURDON EXCEPTIONS the Deputy CIO reviews each
  exception on a quarterly basis.

54
Government Experience and Need for Tools

• SSA has created a Section 508 Procurement Wizard
  on our Intranet.
• Provides the Project officer with "a resource for
  compliance determinations but a listing of all
  previously approved section 508 exceptions.
• In addition, a Section 508 Testing Wizard was
  created to identify and categorize all software
  submitted to the Accessible Solution Branch for
  testing.

55
SSA Is Committed To Section 508 Education

• SSA has provided in-depth training for all
  procurement specialists in central office.
• Many of the regional procurement specialists have
  been trained and acted as Train-the-trainer.
• During the first year after enactment, SSA
  invited 10 other federal agencies to tour our
  Section 508 accessibility lab.
• We showed them our compliance testing
  procedures and offered advice on making buying
  compliant products.

56
SSA IS Committed To Section 508 Education(1 of 2)

• Because almost anyone at SSA can initiate a
  requisition and thus become a project Officer, we
  created a Section 508 Desk Guide.
• Approximately 4,000 of these have been
  distributed nationally to SSA employees.
• Samples have been provided, upon request, to
  other Federal agencies, State Agencies adopting
  Section 508, and other interested parties.

57
SSA IS Committed To Section 508 Education(2 of 2)

• SSA created a formal, published Section 508
  Implementation Plan.
• Distributed in hard copy
• Available on SSA's Intranet site
• Copies are also available to other Federal
  Agencies.
• The SSA Usability Center promotes both usability
  and Accessibility at various SSA meetings and
  other national conferences such as IPIC (the
  Information Processing Interagency Conference for
  Agency executives).

58
SSA Is Committed To Section 508 Education

• As funds permit, we provide current accessibility
  fundamentals textbooks to SSA managers and
  employees alike.
• Speaking of funds, there are numerous
  accessibility aids available on the WEB and from
  various sources such as GSA and the World Wide
  Web Consortium (W3C) at little or no cost.
• We have sponsored nation-wide training for all
  SSA Webmasters by our Section 508 WEB Remediation
  and Design vendor. Plans are to make this an
  annual cycle.
• An entire Section 508 guide, including VPAT
  template, is available under SSA.GOV in the
  Selling to SSA" section.
• Vendors with questions may call our procurement
  shop that will refer any Section 508 issues or
  questions to the Accessible Solutions Branch.

59
SSA Is Committed To Section 508 Compliance

• SSA has met with numerous hardware and software
  vendors and worked with them to explain Section
  508 and to offer suggestions to make the products
  accessible. In some cases, minor changes to
  hardware and a handful of code changes were all
  that was needed to be Section 508 compliant.
• SSA has provided almost 800 licenses for our WEB
  remediation and design tool to our webmasters
  around the country. Anyone who touches a web
  page at SSA has access to the tool.
• SSA provides assistance to vendors for testing of
  products that are proposed to SSA and other
  agencies through contract vehicles. In many
  cases, compliance issues are related to
  misunderstanding of template language.

60
SSA Is Committed To Section 508 Compliance(1 of
2)

• Comments in Federal Computer Week by Craig
  Luigart, CIO, Dept. of Education--
• Although height and reach were important, the
  digital displays that require a direct downward
  line-of-sight were a hindrance to people in
  chairs.
• Working with a copier vendor and a European
  design firm, there is now a solution sure to be
  copied throughout the industry.
• The simple, easy access module provides almost
  full printer functionality without looking
  through the digital screen.

61
SSA Is Committed To Section 508 Compliance(2 of
2)

• Craig Luigart comments (contd)
• This device provides eye-level, one-touch
  printing for persons in chairs and with visual
  impairments.
• There is no change in copier function for walk-up
  users. Even those of us that are confused or
  intimidated by inputting 4 or 5 commands to make
  a single copy will love this device.

62
SSA Is Committed To Section 508 Compliance

• Finally, SSA has pursued some imaginative
  procurement vehicles to have Section 508
  compliance software tools written for us. These
  products will be commercially available to all
  federal agencies later this year.
• Software tool to convert inaccessible PDF
  documents to XML so that they may be made
  accessible by any number of means.
• Software tool to check for accessibility errors
  and provide suggested solutions for native Java
  and Visual Basic code.

63
Accessibility and Section 508 Compliance

• Because Its The Right Thing To Do!

64
Survey of Federal Requiring OfficialsA Wrap-Up
from October 2002 Report

• Terry Weaver, General Services Administration
• Joy Fulton, Accessibility Forum Staff

65
Outline

• History
• Approach
• Survey Results
• Further Analysis
• List of Potential Needs
• Top 20 Needs

66
History

• Analysis of published information about EIT
  procurement practices from 15 Federal Agencies
• How Section 508 was implemented
• Poster board illustrating research results
  available
• Interviews with requiring officials from 10
  federal agencies
• Major customers for EIT
• Paper describing interview results available

67
Approach

• Develop confidential questionnaire/survey to
  identify problems and issues in implementing
  Section 508
• Analyze how these agencies describe their process
  and procedures to
• Determine Applicability of Section 508 to
  procurements
• Consider Section 508 in source selection
• Train requiring officials
• Provide documentation

68
Survey Results

• Reported in detail in September
• Generally found that
• Federal agencies are committed to implementing
  Section 508
• They need further guidance and assistance on how
  to implement
• Many agencies were unclear on the official
  guidance and on what further assistance is needed.

69
Further Analysis

• Content analysis of survey results(done)
• Developed a list of 20 potential needs
• Provided feedback to survey respondents(done)
• Review by the Section 508 Working Group(in
  process)
• Prioritizing of the top 20 potential needs

70
List of Potential Needs

• What follows are survey results, a compendium of
  interview comments
• Comments were made and noted during confidential
  interviews, then analyzed later
• Potential needs are not government or Forum
  approved requirements
• Some are beyond what can or should be provided as
  guidance or help

71
List of Potential Needs(1 of 2)

• Standard 508 agency-wide training program for
  everyone in the agency
• Standard 508 government-wide training program for
  everyone in the government
• Additional funding for 508 compliant technologies
• Tool for determining the provisions that apply
• Better understanding of applicability across
  state and international boundaries, including US
  government facilities overseas
• Means of communicating 508 requirements to
  vendors
• Government wide market research information
  repository for 508-related technologies

72
List of Potential Needs(2 of 2)

• Qualified bidders list of compliant vendors
• Database of tested, certified products maintained
  by the Agency
• Database of tested, certified products maintained
  government wide
• Logo or icon or other labeling program to confirm
  product compliance
• Standard RFP language for 508 documentation
  including 508 requirements, applicable provisions
  and exceptions
• Tool for determining which provisions apply to a
  particular product and product features, in
  addition to those required by the acquisition
• Means of communicating additional accessibility
  requirements because of their products features
  to vendors

73
Your Questions and Comments

• Floor open for questions and discussion

74
Agenda OverviewTuesday, February 24

• Welcome and Agenda Review
• Understanding Requirements for Procurement
• Proof-of-Concept Presentation
• Open QA Session on Proof-of-Concept Presentation
• Maintaining the Information Base
• Vendor approaches to 508 SUN
• ITTATC
• Council Activity Update / Status Reports

75
Understanding Requirements for Procurement

• Lesley Field, Office of Federal Procurement
  Policy

76
Overview

• Activity of the Section 508 Working Group
• Review of the project team Resource Documents
• Process for federal EIT procurement
• A process framework for Section 508 requirements

77
Section 508 Working Group Review of Project
Resource Documents

• Some material isnt necessary
• Focus on the provisions
• Some material is too technical
• Layman understanding
• Unlikely to use measurement methods
• Lack of time and expertise
• Some material is helpful
• Assumptions, clarifications, related resources,
  comments and suggestions
• Wish list
• Need help on how to implement requirements
  within the procurement process

78
Overview

• Activity of the Section 508 Working Group
• Review of the project team Resource Documents
• Process for federal EIT procurement
• A process framework for Section 508 requirements

79
Some Sources of Information About Federal EIT
Procurement Processes

• Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR)
• Research on current Federal Agency practices
• Interviews with Federal Agencies
• Review of tools to support EIT procurement
• Section508.gov, FAQs, IAE, etc.

80
Some Observations

• There are multiple processes in place for EIT
  procurement
• There is variation from agency to agency in the
  implementation of Section 508 requirements
• Responsibility for EIT requirements is becoming
  more distributed throughout the federal
  government
• The process must address basic procurement
  requirements
• Can we abstract a process framework for Section
  508 requirements?

81
A Process Framework for Federal EIT Procurement

• Needs Assessment
• Determine program requirements for EIT
• Solicitation
• Produce RFP
• Source Selection
• Evaluate RFP responses and select proposal
• Delivery
• Inspection and acceptance evaluation of purchased
  products

82
Proof of Concept Presentation

• Jim Kindrick and Bill HetznerAccessibility
  Forum Staff

83
Overview

• Federal EIT procurement and Section 508
• Procurement process and derived functional
  requirements
• A closer look at the requirements
• User needs and existing practice
• The concept
• Apply resource documents to help

84
Section 508 Requirements in the Procurement
Process

• Needs Assessment
• Intended need what is the agency requirement
  and technical environment?
• General exceptions who must comply with Section
  508?
• Applicability specifically which Section 508
  requirements apply?
• Market research how do available EIT products
  meet the requirements?
• More exceptions what if specific requirements
  cannot be met?
• Solicitation
• More market research what specific functions of
  EIT are needed/implied?
• RFP process - what standard language is needed?

85
Section 508 Requirements in the Procurement
Process

• Source Selection
• Even more market research how to interpret
  information from vendors?
• Proposal evaluation how to assess for source
  selection?
• Delivery
• Inspection and acceptance what are appropriate
  criteria?
• Contract lifecycle what is the plan for EIT
  evolution/upgrades?

86
Needs Assessment - Intended Need

• Need to understand if agency needs EIT products
  or services
• Does Section 508 apply at all?
• Need to know how a product will be used, not who
  will use it
• Section 508, not Section 504
• Need to understand the intended technical
  environment for EIT
• FAR state Technical specifications and minimum
  requirements would be developed based on the
  market research results and agency needs.
• What about products purchased as components of an
  existing system?
• Need to produce documentation for intended need?

87
Need Assessment - General Exceptions

• Need to determine if an exception applies to an
  EIT procurement
• Many different general exceptions are possible
• Micro-purchase
• National security system
• Acquired by a contractor incidental to a contract
• Located in spaces frequented by service personnel
  for maintenance, repair, or occasional monitoring
  of equipment
• Determining if and which exceptions apply is not
  easy
• Need to produce documentation for exceptions

88
Needs Assessment - Applicability

• Need to determine which parts of Section 508
  apply to EIT procurements for specific products
• Many multi-functional products cross the
  boundaries of the technical sections of the
  Section 508 standard
• Requires detailed knowledge of the standard and
  EIT accessibility
• Functional characteristics of certain products
  might exceed requirements of agency
• Need to produce documentation for applicable
  requirements
• Required later for producing the RFP

89
Needs Assessment - Market Research

• Need to gather information about available
  products and services
• Requiring officials have diverse levels of market
  research expertise.
• Variety of capabilities are available for
  products and services
• Information from industry about the accessibility
  of their products is not always consistent or
  comparable
• Lots of time is required to do market research on
  product
• Need to produce documentation for market research
• Exceptions for specific requirements on products
  and services
• Is there time and resource for market research on
  micro-purchases?

90
Need Assessment More Exceptions

• Need to determine if appropriate exceptions apply
  for a specific requirement
• Many different exceptions are possible
• Undue burden
• Fundamental alteration in the nature of a product
  or service or its components
• Commercial non-availability
• Determining if and which exceptions apply is not
  easy
• Need to determine if a product provides
  equivalent facilitation for a requirement
• Need to produce documentation for specific
  exceptions and equivalent facilitation

91
Section 508 Requirements in the Procurement
Process

• Needs Assessment
• Solicitation how to support the RFP process?
• More market research what specific functions of
  EIT are needed/implied?
• RFP process - what standard language is needed?

92
Solicitation More Market Research

• Need more detailed product information on
  specific capabilities and functionality of
  available products
• Market research is an iterative process
  throughout procurement
• Product functional characteristics might exceed
  specific agency requirements, which may result in
  more applicable provisions
• Need to document results of market research
• Additional requirements based on product
  functions
• Equivalent facilitation for certain requirements
  by specific products

93
Solicitation RFP Process

• Need Section 508 language for the Standard
  Uniform Contract (Solicitation) Format
• Section C Description/Specification/Work
  Statement
• Section E Inspection and Acceptance
• Section F Deliveries or Performance
• Government Cost Estimate (which helps to generate
  section B)
• As well as sub-sections of
• Section B Supplies or Services and Price/Costs
• Section D Packaging and Marking
• Section G Contract Administration Data
• Section H Special Contract Requirements
• Section L Instructions, Conditions, and Notices
  to Offerors or Quoters
• Section M Evaluation Factors for Award
• Source Selection Plan
• Contract Administration Plan

94
Section 508 Requirements in the Procurement
Process

• Needs Assessment
• Solicitation
• Source Selection how to evaluate RFP responses?
• Even more market research how to interpret
  information from vendors?
• Proposal evaluation how to assess for source
  selection?

95
Source Selection Even More Market Research

• Need to interpret and verify market research data
  to understand and evaluate product information
  from vendors
• Dialogue with certain vendors regarding their
  proposed products and services
• Sometimes difficult to interpret vendor responses
  to RFP due to highly technical or inconsistent
  language
• Need to document results of detailed market
  research
• Characterize how available EIT meets Section 508
  requirements

96
Source Selection Proposal Evaluation

• Need to evaluate products and services against
  the applicable requirements of the 508 Standard
• No generally accepted measurement/data collection
  methods
• VPAT information an important resource
• Need to assess products and services in relation
  to each other based on their relative
  satisfaction of the 508 requirements
• Driven by Solicitation Section M Evaluation
  Factors for Award?
• How is this related to the Source Selection Plan?
• Need to select most appropriate proposal
• No consistent way to compare evaluation results
• No consistent way do document selection

97
Section 508 Requirements in the Procurement
Process

• Needs Assessment
• Solicitation
• Source Selection
• Delivery - what are conditions for receipt?
• Inspection and acceptance what are appropriate
  criteria?
• Contract lifecycle what is the plan for product
  evolution/upgrades?

98
Delivery - Inspection and Acceptance

• Need techniques for inspection and acceptance
• Difficult to evaluate purchased products and
  services against the applicable requirements of
  the Standard
• No clear, easy to use, and consistent process for
  evaluation.
• No clear way to verify evaluation results
• No consistent documentation of evaluation results
  for re-use
• Need to document results of product acceptance

99
Delivery - Contract Lifecycle

• What is the plan for EIT evolution/upgrades?
• Need to do continuing market research?
• Evaluation of EIT utility of a continuing basis?
• Need to do continuing needs assessment?

100
Overview

• Federal EIT procurement and Section 508
• Procurement process and derived functional
  requirements
• A closer look at the requirements
• User needs and existing practice
• The concept
• Apply resource documents to help

101
A Closer Look at the Requirements

• Federal Agency needs and the functional
  requirements
• Making sure perceived needs are met by the
  functions
• Existing pieces of the solution for some
  requirements
• Procedures, methods, and tools currently
  available to help

102
Federal Agency Needs and the Functional
Requirements

• Making sure perceived needs are met by the
  functions
• QFD-like analysis of the top 20 needs derived
  from procurement interviews
• Matrix describing how the top 20 needs derived
  from procurement interviews are addressed by the
  various Section 508 requirements
• Conclusion the matrix is dense gt every user
  need is addressed by at least one proposed
  functional requirement
• Requirements are validated against perceived user
  needs

103
Federal Agency Needs and the Functional
Requirements

• Placeholder for graphic slide that shows the
  matrix and indicates cells that are populated
  illustrating
• The dense population of the matrix
• Each user need (column) has at least one cell
  which is populated

104
Existing Pieces of the Solution for Some
Requirements

• Examination of existing procedures, methods, and
  tools currently available to help
• What do the existing methods and support tools
  do?
• What requirements are currently being addressed?
• Pieces of the solution include
• Federal agency Section 508 specific tool
• EIT industry product/service vendor Section 508
  specific tool
• International government EIT accessibility tool
• Web site accessibility validation tools
• Standard Operating Procedures for some agencies
• E-commerce or SBA tools??
• Automated RFP generation tools
• Currently do not address Section 508 issues

105
Existing Pieces of the Solution for Some
Requirements

• Matrix analysis of various current resources
  against the Section 508 requirements
• Matrix describing how existing elements of the
  solution address the various Section 508
  requirements
• Conclusion the matrix is sparse gt need
  additional and more Section 508 specific tools
• Requirements are not all met with current
  available resources

106
Existing Pieces of the Solution for Some
Requirements

• Placeholder for graphic slide that shows the
  matrix and indicates cells that are populated
  illustrating
• The sparse population of the matrix

107
Overview

• Federal EIT procurement and Section 508
• Procurement process and derived functional
  requirements
• A closer look at the requirements
• User needs and existing practice
• The concept
• Apply resource documents to help

108
The Concept

• Information resources that apply to meet some
  requirements
• Relating Forum resource documents to the
  requirements
• Delivering information and assistance as needed
  during the process
• Description and example scenario to prove the
  concept of a federal EIT Section 508 procurement
  assistance portal

109
Information Resources That Apply to Meet Some
Requirements

• Accessibility Forum Project teams resource
  documents
• Available, extensive, manual and hard to use,
  requires structure,
• Matrix analysis of various kinds of information
  from resource documents against the Section 508
  requirements
• Matrix describing how existing work of projects
  address the various Section 508 requirements
• Conclusion the matrix is dense gt every kind of
  information addresses at least one proposed
  functional requirement
• Resource documents apply to EIT procurement
  requirements

110
Information Resources That Apply to Meet Some
Requirements

• Placeholder for graphic slide that shows the
  matrix and indicates cells that are populated
  illustrating
• The relatively dense population of the matrix
• Each information type (column) has at least one
  cell which is populated

111
Delivering Assistance As Needed During the
Process

• Some concepts illustrating use cases for
  assistance deliveryFor example, an interface --
• Presenting a taxonomy of product types and to
  produce identify applicability of Section 508
  requirements, and perhaps also followed by a
  screen illustrating inputs and controls to
  produce some standard requirement text for the
  RFP
• Presenting definition, clarification, or tutorial
  information to the user to explain an applicable
  requirement
• Presenting definition, clarification, or tutorial
  information to help interpret vendor information
• Illustrating input and controls to produce
  additional standard language for the RFP

112
Delivering Assistance As Needed During the Process

• Users actively engaged in a procurement and using
  the tool to help manage the process
• Navigation through a standard process under
  user control
• Modules corresponding to steps in the process
• Consistent presentation of explanatory and
  clarifying information
• Some decision logic to focus on requirements
• Collection, storage, and management of
  procurement data
• Use of gathered data to support required
  documentation
• Users just visiting browsing for general
  information and help about EIT procurement and
  Section 508
• Depending upon security, maybe browse agency-wide
  or beyond
• Reuse of previous procurement experience from
  others

113
Delivering Assistance As Needed During the Process

• Placeholder for graphic slides that show a series
  of mock-up screen images walking a thread through
  (a part of) the process

114
Conclusions

• Valid Section 508 requirements from the
  procurement process map to information content in
  'resource documents'
• Delivering the right content as an information
  service through appropriate tools at the right
  point in the procurement process can help meet
  the requirements

115
Maintaining an Information Base

• Skip CraneAccessibility Forum Staff

116
Elements of an Information Base

• Kinds of information
• Process for maintaining
• Participants in the process
• Application to broader needs and interests

117
What Information?

• EXAMPLES --
• Access Board Standard (including additions and
  updates as they occur)
• Resource Documents
• Data on Product Features and Functions
• RFP Language
• Inspection / Acceptance testing methods and
  evaluation criteria

118
For What Purpose?

• The Information Base is intended to grow over
  time as a living, relevant, and useful
  information resource that
• Supports a broad-based constituency
• Meets the needs of varied objectives, interests,
  and applications
• Supports change
• New technologies, product data, accessibility
  features
• New Inspection / Acceptance testing methods and
  evaluation criteria

119
Process for Maintaining Information Base

• Supports relevance, timeliness, and utility of
  information
• Addresses
• Content (What to include)
• Currency (How to accommodate change)
• Process (How that will be decided)
• Participants (Who to include in the process)
• Capitalizes on a network of communication and
  cooperation
• Stakeholder community of knowledge, experience,
  and expertise
• Proven process for reaching consensus

120
Participants in the Maintenance Process

• The stakeholder community is already in place
  (industry, end-users, government, academia, and
  experts and researchers)
• Significantly, the stakeholder community also
  represents the primary SOURCE of content
• The interaction has to be managed

121
Structure of the Maintenance Process Supports
(1 of 2)

• A need that must be addressed
• If we build it, they will come but if we
  DONT build it, some one WILL
• A collaborative community because
• The Process
• Is beyond the resources of any one stakeholder
  group within the community
• Requires cooperative, consensus strategy
• Should be driven from WITHIN, not imposed from
  outside

122
Structure of the Maintenance Process Supports
(2 of 2)

• Combined interests of the community members
• Everyone should realize Whats in it for me?
• A compelling mission and business case
• Flexibility

123
Benefits for the Stakeholder Community Whats
In It for Me? (1 of 2)

• Advocacy and consumer groups can voice their
  requirements
• Industry can interact with agencies and users on
  best practices for compliance
• Government can gain valuable insight into product
  information for consistent
• Needs assessment and market research
• Product feature mapping to Section 508
• Methods for evaluation as part of inspection /
  acceptance step

124
Benefits for the Stakeholder Community Whats
In It for Me? (2 of 2)

• All stakeholders can
• Understand issues from a wide range of
  perspectives
• Contribute to the value of the information
• Identify and resolve issues and opportunities

125
Flexibility of a Structure for the Maintenance
Process

• Examples of structure form
• Consortium
• Subscription Services
• Common characteristics of each form
• Member driven
• Member managed
• Member supported
• Resource leverage

126
Linking Efforts to Other Interests

• Information Base should support other
  applications as part of the same Process
• E-Gov / Integrated Acquisition Environment
• Unify and Simplify Through Shared Services
• Uses common building blocks
• Integrated Vendor Profile Network Single point
  of vendor registration, initial capability
• Consolidated eCatalog a directory of GWAC and
  MAC contracts to simplify selection and
  facilitate leverage of Government buying

127
Summary Information Base Should

• Meet the needs of varied objectives, interests,
  and applications
• Grow over time as a living, relevant, and useful
  resource
• Be maintained using a process that capitalizes on
  a network of communication and cooperation
• Support other applications as part of the same
  Process

128
Sun's Approach toDesktop Accessibility

• Marney Beard
• Sun Microsystems 

129
Overview

• Assistive Technologies acquire information from
  desktop applications . . . by one means or
  another. It's inefficient for AT to gain
  information by guesswork.
• The key to Sun's approach is a comprehensive and
  reliable interface, making a clear division of
  labor among the platform, the application, and
  the AT. This is the heart of the Java
  Accessibility API, and now the GNOME
  Accessibility Framework as well.
• With GNOME, we have the first open source user
  environment to enable accessibility for diverse
  applications.
• For the customer, these recent developments
  signal alternatives and opportunities in lower
  costs, more flexible development of AT, a wider
  development community, and broader support for
  accessibility.

130
At The Core Formal Division of Responsibility

• Platform Define the Accessibility API implement
  it on the user-interface primitives supply AT
  building blocks (e.g., speech engines).
• Application Fully implement platform
  accessibility API (e.g., provide labels, identify
  relationships among UI components), keyboard
  accessibility, etc.
• Assistive Technology Focus on user interface
  fully use the platform accessibility API.

131
Benefits to the AT Vendor

• Legacy approaches are very brittle Significant
  changes to the operating system lead to
  significant breakage in the information needed by
  AT.
• The Accessibility API is a contract Assistive
  Technology Vendors can rely on it from one
  release of the platform to the next. Common
  properties are provided in common ways.
• Development is faster and less error-prone It's
  easier to build new AT, adapt an existing
  product, and make enhancements over time.

132
Benefits to the Application Developer

• Just as AT needs information, the application
  must provide it. A reliable API does this almost
  for free, with no compromises in functionality or
  performance.
• Sun and other companies have built toolkits that
  implement the Java and GNOME Accessibility APIs,
  making components accessible by default.
• With source code available for standard
  components, developers can easily copy common
  elements and build accessibility into custom
  components.

133
Expanding the Options Open Source Accessibility

• All source code is available for examination.
  Interfaces and applications can be studied and
  understood.
• AT developers can fix bugs and release their own
  patches. Contributions can go back into the
  common source, improving the base for all.
• AT may be open source too. Acting as the
  "maintainer," an ATV can choose to accept code
  contributions from others.
• Interest among more mainstream developers in the
  GNOME community is growing. Good ideas and
  constructive criticism abound.

134
Designed In From The Start GNOME Accessibility

• Open source, like the GNOME desktop user
  environment itself. Project led by Sun, with many
  contributions from others (notably people from
  Ximian and RedHat).
• Core accessibility features
• Full keyboard accessibility, plus AccessX
  functionality built in
• Full theme support - with a variety of themes
• Comprehensive and extensible accessibility
  architecture

135
Designed In From The Start GNOME Accessibility  

• Included assistive technology - also open source
• Gnopernicus screen reader/magnifier with Braille
  support
• GOK dynamic on-screen keyboard with switch
  support
• Award-winning approach to accessibility Sun and
  the GNOME community were honored by the American
  Foundation of the Blind with the Helen Keller
  Achievement Award.

136
Benefits to the "508-Sensitive" Customer

• You acquire and build a wide variety of
  applications. Section 508 requires you to be
  prepared to meet a wide variety of users' needs.
• Open source provides options and alternatives to
  proprietary solutions. Development of AT will
  become more flexible, taking advantage of the
  wider development community.
• Standard interfaces, common implementations,
  predictable access to information ... all reduce
  complexity, reduce error, reduce cost.
• Ask about the architecture, not the
  accommodations in specific applications.
  Criticize and contribute!

137
Information Technology Technical Assistance and
Training Center

• Promoting Accessibility Through Training and
  Assistance
• Mimi Kessler
• ITTATC

138
ITTATCs Mission
National Institute on Disability
and Rehabilitation Research H133A000405
139
ITTATC
In Collaboration With

• Southeast DBTAC
• Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental
  Access (CATEA)Georgia Institute of Technology,
  College of Architecture
• World Institute on Disability
• Inclusive Technologies
• Law, Health Policy Disability CenterUniversity
  of Iowa College of LawWashington D.C. Office
• Trace Research Development CenterUniversity of
  Wisconsin-Madison
• Georgia Tech Research Institute
• Information Technology Association of America
• Jim Thatcher, Independent Consultant

140
Year 3 Goals

• Increase contact with industry
• Increase outreach to consumers
• Increase training to underserved 508/255
  audiences
• Provide more access to quality Technical
  Assistance
• Provide more tools for TA and training
• Increase collaboration with other groups with
  similar mission (GSA, DOL, FCC)

141
Methods to Achieve Goal 1

• Increase Contact with Industry
• Accessibility Training Preview presentation
• Conducting train-the-trainer sessions
• Business case / economic drivers for
  accessibility
• Presentation for trainers
• On-line presentation
• On-line full course via EASI
• Attending ITIs State IT Initiatives
• Presentations for local IT organizations
• To reach small and medium sized companies
• Increased participation in industry standards
  organizations

142
Methods to Achieve Goal 2

• Increase Outreach to Consumers
• Toolkit presentation and demos for general
  audiences
• Consumer trainings across the country starting in
  Spring 2003
• Outreach to consumer organizations to train
  trainers
• Added a full time Director of Consumer Training
  in DC

143
Methods to Achieve Goal 3(1 of 3)

• Increase Training to Underserved 508/255
  Audiences
• State officials IT, disability rights officers,
  and procurement
• Assist with sharing information between states
• Gain insight from Federal agencies and from
  others
• Consumers with disabilities and their networked
  communities
• Help them understand how to participate in the
  design process
• Help them understand how industry works

144
Methods to Achieve Goal 3(2 of 3)

• Increase Training to Underserved 508/255
  Audiences
• Industry segments
• Usability and Marketing
• Small to medium sized companies
• System Integrators
• Application Service Providers
• Knowledge Brokers (ex META/ Gartner)

145
Methods to Achieve Goal 3(3 of 3)

• How to Reach These Audiences
• Recruiting a Training Network of trainers across
  the country to match-make requests for training
  with people who train
• Providing trainers with high quality training
  materials that are tailored to audiences
• Providing incentive monies depending
• On the right presentation
• Given to the right audience
• By the right presenter

146
Methods to Achieve Goal 4

• Provide More Access to Quality TA
• TA knowledgebase
• Resource for a wide range of people
• Will be able to query it and 4 other sites on our
  site
• TA resource network
• Increasing the technical expertise of the
  accessibility community
• List of consultants and accessibility
  professionals
• TA reports, pamphlets, and brochures

147
Methods to Achieve Goal 5

• Provide More Tools for TA and Training
• Customized training programs
• Provided by phone or by Wizard on the web
• Knowledgebase as resource to trainers, technical
  people and consumers
• Tools to experience barriers to EIT
• On-line and telephone assistance
• Search feature added to redesigned web site

148
Methods to Achieve Goal 6

• Increase Collaboration with Other Groups
• GSA and other Federal Agencies
• No reinventing the wheel
• Linked search results from 4 other authoritative
  sites
• Section508.gov (GSA)
• Assistivetech.net (NIDRR)
• AccessIT (NIDRR)
• Disabilityinfo.gov (DOL)

149
New Resources Added

• Redesigned web site for easier access to
  information including search results from othe