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Delaware Assistive Technology Initiative

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Vol. 9, No. 4 Fall 2001

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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Section 508, But Were Afraid to Ask

by Dan Fendler, AT Specialist, Kent & Sussex ATRCs

Effective June 21, 2001, the guidelines of the Section 508 regulations became enforceable.

What, you may ask, is Section 508? The purpose of Section 508 is to ensure that Federal employees and members of the public with disabilities have access to and use of information and data, comparable to that of employees and members of the public without disabilities.

Let's cover a few definitions that may help explain the implication of the new laws.

What is covered?

First off, what do the new regulations cover? Included are electronic and information technology (EIT) products procured, developed, maintained or used by a Federal agency. EIT is information technology (IT) and any system that is used in the creation, conversion, or duplication of data or information, including:

Who is affected?

Second, who must comply with these laws? Federal departments and agencies, including the U.S. Postal Service and contractors providing products or services to Federal agencies, must comply. There are some exemptions to Section 508. Exemptions include:

The intent of the law is to make sure that everyone has access to EIT used by a Federal agency. The intent is good, and in the long run, many EIT products and services will probably be easier for all to use. But it may take some time until you see the improvements in the products you use.

One of the biggest challenges facing the technology industry is making a product accessible, not in terms of changing how it may look and feel, but in terms of how you measure its accessibility. For instance, how do you determine if a product or service is accessible? What might be accessible for someone who is blind may not be as accessible for someone who is quadriplegic.

Section 508 and Universal Design

A phrase you might hear related to the design of EIT products is "universal design." Simply put, the goal of universal design in EIT is to create technology that we can all use. No barriers.

To illustrate how universal design may affect your life, let's take a look at a simple, but oftentimes frustrating, example. Think for a moment of all the remote controls you may have at home: television, cable converter, VCR, computer, stereo receiver, and CD player. Lots of buttons, right? (Especially if you have a home entertainment unit that combines several different components!) The remotes may get very complicated. If you have mastered all of your controls and have not purchased one of the universal controls, take a look at the layout of the universal remote the next time you are in a store. It's designed for ease-of-use. The buttons you use most frequently are usually easy to see (volume, channel, power). Generally, people find that the universal remote simplifies their lives.

In a similar manner, it is the intent of Section 508 to make websites and other EIT technology easier to use for everyone. But since the technologies associated with EIT are much more complicated than the typical remote, the solutions to make them simpler to use may take more time and effort.

There is a great website that provides a good list of principles to consider when evaluating existing designs (or to guide the design process): www.design.ncsu.edu:8120/cud/univ_design/princ_overview.htm

For more in-depth information

If you are interested in learning more about Section 508 and universal design, here are a few websites to get you started:

www.section508.gov - The Federal Information Technology Accessibility Initiative website. This is the best place to get started.

www.access-board.gov - The Access Board developed accessibility standards for the various technologies covered by the law. The Access Board has published standards for Federal agencies related to EIT procurement and design.

www.trace.wisc.edu - The Trace Center is a good source of information regarding universal design. Its mission statement is great: "To prevent the barriers and capitalize on the opportunities presented by current and emerging information and telecommunication technologies, in order to create a world that is as accessible and usable as possible for as many people as possible."

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