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National Assessment of State E&IT Accessibility Initiatives
ACCESSIBILITY LAWS, POLICIES, STANDARDS AND OTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE ON-LINE
Related to Websites
April 2003
This is a publication of the Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center which is funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education under cooperative agreement #H133A000405. The opinions contained in this publication are those of the grantee and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Education. For questions or comments, please contact Laura Farah at: Lfarah@mail.law.uiowa.edu.
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Skip to: Executive Summary | Background | Methodology | Findings | Conclusion | Authors |
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
During the months of September 2001 through May 2002, the Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center (ITTATC) conducted a survey to gain a better sense of what states are doing to promote electronic and information technology (E&IT) accessibility. While the results of that survey were being compiled, stakeholders expressed a desire to see tangible examples of current laws, policies, standards, and resources related to state E&IT accessibility practices that are available on-line. Consequently, an in-depth search was conducted during the months of January through April 2003. The results of that on-line search are documented in this report for the core area of website accessibility. (Accessibility laws, policies, standards, and other resources related to application development, IT procurement, and public access to hardware are documented in a separate report.)
Information from this survey suggests that most activities currently underway to improve IT accessibility at a state level focus on improving website accessibility. Some states have adopted standards as defined in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG); a hybrid of Section 508 and WCAG; and/or they have developed their own state standards. While procedures to implement laws, policies and standards to make E&IT accessible at the federal level are already in place, the survey reveals that it is still an area of uncertainty at the state level. The identified differences in approaches among the states to full or partial adoption of Section 508 standards emphasize the need for increased state-federal coordination.
Future training and technical assistance activities must expand beyond the development of standards to include effective strategies for compliance. This report provides a basis from which ITTATC can further develop and implement training and technical assistance activities at the state level.
BACKGROUND
The National Assessment of State E&IT Accessibility Initiatives is a project of the Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center (ITTATC), which is funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) of the U.S. Department of Education. ITTATC promotes the development of accessible electronic and information technology (E&IT) products and services related to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act by providing information, training, and technical assistance to state officials, industry, and persons with disabilities. E&IT is defined by federal regulations as any equipment or interconnected system of equipment that is used in the creation, conversion, or duplication of data or information. In addition to information technology (IT)--which includes computer hardware, operating systems, and application software--E&IT includes: information kiosks, transaction machines, World Wide Websites, multimedia, and office equipment such as copiers and fax machines.
During the months of September 2001 through May 2002, ITTATC, directed by the Georgia Institute of Technology's Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access (CATEA), in collaboration with the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America's Technical Assistance Project (RESNA TA), the Association of Tech Act Projects (ATAP), and the New York State Office for Technology, conducted a study to gain a better sense of what states are doing to promote E&IT accessibility and what the barriers are to improved accessibility for individuals with disabilities. The ITTATC State IT Accessibility Initiatives Workgroup developed a survey to collect information from key stakeholders in each state.
The purpose of the survey was to document state initiatives aimed towards achieving IT accessibility relative to four core areas listed below:
- Websites
- Application Development
- Procurement (Hardware/Software/IT Services)
- Public Access to Hardware (Kiosks, Public Use Computer Labs, e.g., One-Stops)
METHODOLOGY
The process of identifying on-line resources utilized data reported in the survey as well as information obtained by examining state government Web page(s) for each state, plus the District of Columbia. The authors referred to the "State Search" section on the NASCIO Website to obtain links to state IT departments (https://www.nascio.org/stateSearch/). NASCIO represents state Chief Information Officers and information resource executives and managers from each state, six U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. State Search is a service of NASCIO and is designed to serve as a topical clearinghouse to state government information on the Internet.
FINDINGS
The information in the "Overview of State Accessibility Laws, Policies, Standards and Other Resources Available On-line" represents a listing of current laws, policies, standards or guidelines, and other on-line resources for the core areas of websites, application development, IT procurement, and public hardware. The information is current as of April 2003. While the sites for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia were searched, only the sites that include information pertinent to the topic and core area are included in the overview. The details contained in the overview are not meant to be all-inclusive.
The authors recognize that other on-line resources may exist, that information links change, and that state departments move and/or shift responsibility. As a result, this information will be updated on a regular basis. Readers who know of existing links that do not appear in the document are asked to inform ITTATC so that accurate and usable information can be maintained.
In conducting the on-line search, the authors found that there are more on-line resources available for the core area of Website Accessibility than for any other core area; a discussion of the website-related resources is documented in this report. A separate report called "Accessibility Laws, Policies, Standards and Other Resources Available On-line: Related to Application Development, IT Procurement, and Public Hardware" was published in April 2003, and it discussed the practices pertinent to the other three core areas.
CONCLUSION
Information from this survey suggests that most activities currently underway to improve IT accessibility at a state level focus on improving website accessibility. Some states have adopted standards as defined in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG); a hybrid of Section 508 and WCAG; and/or they have developed their own state standards. The extent and meaning of some on-line documentation regarding state IT accessibility laws, policies, and standards, however, were not always clear to the authors. In some cases, on-line documentation was too general; in others, it was too brief or vague; and in others, it did not provide enough description to determine the scope of the law, policy, or standard. For instance, a document might mention Section 508 and/or WCAG, but it was unclear to what extent these standards/guidelines are being implemented or mandated.
While procedures to implement laws, policies and standards to make E&IT accessible at the federal level are already in place, the survey reveals that it is still an area of uncertainty at the state level. The identified differences in approaches among the states to full or partial adoption of Section 508 standards emphasize the need for increased state-federal coordination.
Future training and technical assistance activities must expand beyond the development of standards to include effective strategies for compliance. Compliance activities should include an emphasis on continuing training and education of Web designers and developers so they better understand and more fully meet the requirements of website accessibility standards.
The information in this report represents only a point-in-time in an extremely fluid and evolving field. Nevertheless, it presents a framework from which we begin to gain a perspective of the laws, policies, and standards being implemented and developed by states towards achieving website accessibility. It highlights the need, in future ITTATC reports, for more in-depth state-by-state analysis to learn what processes and supports exist at the state level to achieve website accessibility. Further in-depth analysis is needed to understand the terminology and meaning of the laws, policies, and standards.
This report, combined with the other reports in the ITTATC National Assessment of State E&IT Accessibility Initiatives series, can serve as a guidepost to understanding the current status of state efforts to make information technology accessible at a state level. It provides a basis from which ITTATC can further develop and implement training and technical assistance initiatives at the state level.
AUTHORS
This is a report of the Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center (ITTATC, http://www.ittatc.org). The ITTATC Project Director is Mimi Kessler. Michael Morris and Laura Farah, Principal Investigators of the Law, Health Policy & Disability Center of the University of Iowa College of Law, Washington, D.C. Office, and Deborah Buck and Deborah Bursa of ITTATC, produced the report. The report was produced in collaboration with Nell Bailey, Project Director of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America's Technical Assistance Project and Diane Golden of the Association of Tech Act Projects.
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Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center
Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access
Georgia Institute of Technology
490 10th Street NW · Atlanta, GA 30318
Telephone: 1-800-726-9119 (Voice/TTY) · Fax: 404-894-9320 · Email: ittatc@ittatc.org
Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center
Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access
Georgia Institute of Technology
490 10th Street NW · Atlanta, GA 30318
Telephone: 1-800-726-9119 (Voice/TTY) · Fax: 404-894-9320 · Email: ittatc@ittatc.org