Department of Veterans Affairs Section 508 Program Office

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Department of Veterans AffairsSection 508
Program Office

• Access for Everyone!

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Office of Enterprise Development

• VAs Section 508 Program Office
• Jacqueline Washington Program Manager/COTR
• Terri Bean Test Manager
• Patrick Sheehan VAs Section 508 Coordinator
• Robert Volck Facility Manager
• Fred Royer Section 504/508 Accessibility
  Consultant
• Matthew Greener, Thomas McKeithan,
• Frank Pierce, Alan Schlank Test Engineers

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Section 508 Accessibility Goals FY 09

• To support the Secretarys goals in the
  employment and advancement of people with
  disabilities
• To fully integrate 508 requirements into the
  development life-cycle and VAs EIT procurement
  and review processes
• To increase awareness of accessibility issues and
  programs to internal and external VA stakeholders
  by providing outreach services

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SECTION 508

• ITS THE LAW

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THE LAW

• The Rehabilitation Act 1973, Section 508
  Amendment (1998)
• Requires that any electronic and information
  technology (EIT) procured, developed, used or
  maintained by Federal agencies must be accessible
  to employees and members of the public with
  disabilities, unless an undue burden would be
  imposed on the agency.
• Section 508 was enacted to
• eliminate barriers in information technology
• make available new opportunities for people with
  disabilities
• encourage development of technologies that will
  help achieve these goals.

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Definition of EIT

• Electronic and information technology
  Includes information technology and any equipment
  or interconnected system or subsystem of
  equipment, which is used in the creation,
  conversion, or duplication of data or
  information.
• The term electronic and information technology
  includes, but is not limited to,
  telecommunications products (such as telephones),
  information kiosks and transaction machines,
  World Wide Web sites, multimedia, and office
  equipment such as copiers and fax machines.

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Section 508 Standards

• 1194.21 Software Applications and Operating
  Systems
• 1194.22 Web-Based Intranet and Internet
  Information and Applications
• 1194.23 Telecommunications Products (If it is a
  Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) or software
  then it may also include 1194.21 and/or 1194.22)
• 1194.24 Video and Multimedia Products (If
  implemented on the web will also require 1194.22)

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Section 508 Standards Continued

• 1194.25 Self Contained and Closed Products (Ex
  Copiers, Fax and Kiosks)
• 1194.26 Desktop and Portable Computers
• 1194.31 Functional Performance Criteria (Must be
  accessible with assistive technology)
• 1194.41 Information, Documentation and Support
  (Must also be accessible)

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Governing VA Policy

• VA Directive and Handbook 6221, Accessible
  Electronic and Information Technology (EIT)
• VA Directive and Handbook 6201, Internet/Intranet
  Services

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Roles and Responsibilities

• Contracting Officers or Specialists
• Ensure that the accessibility requirements are
  included in the proposal
• GSA Buy Accessible Wizard
• Ensure that a completed Determination and
  Findings and Section 508 Exemptions Certification
  Documents are part of the procurement package
• Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)
  is a vendor tool

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Roles and Responsibilities

• Web Masters, Content Managers, Vendors and
  Internal/External Developers
• Illinois Accessible Web Publishing Wizard for
  Microsoft Office
• Adobe Acrobat Professional v. 7.0 or higher
• Corda (Charts)
• HiSoftware AccMonitor Accessibility Module
• Deque - WorldSpace

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Making Documents Accessible

• MS Word Protocols for successful conversion.
  How to make a Section 508 compliant MS Word file
  and convert to Adobe Acrobat PDF.
• Tables, Images, Use of Color Overview of the
  desired Section 508 qualities in Word and PDF.

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Making Documents Accessible Continued

• Excel Conversion tips for tables.
• Text Alternatives How to make a text file (MS
  Word) out of a PDF file. Accessible textual
  alternatives are acceptable as alternatives to
  Excel and PDF.

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Questions and Answers

• Department of Veterans Affairs Section 508
  Program Office
• VAs Section 508 Program Manager Jacqueline
  Washington 202-461-5197 or Jacqueline.Washington
  _at_va.gov
• VAs Test Manager Terri Bean 202-461-6350 or
• Terri.Bean_at_va.gov
• Room C10A
• 810 Vermont Ave. NW
• Washington, DC 20420
• Email Section508_at_va.gov
• http//www.va.gov/accessible/