July 1, 2003 (Vol 3, Issue, 9)

In This Issue:

UPCOMING EVENTS

1. Web Accessibility Training and Exchange
2. Acquiring Technology: What Every Federal Employee Needs to Know About Section 508
3. Watchfire Web Seminars Series: "Making Websites Click"

FCC TELECOMMUNICATIONS/REGULATIONS

1. TRS and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities
2. FCC Reminds State TRS Programs & Interstate TRS Providers of Obligations
3. Video Description Language

ARTICLES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Special Friend of People with Hearing Loss Award
2. President Names New Members to IT Advisory Committee
3. NCD Says Access to Electronic and Information Technology is a Civil Right
4. FY 2004 Appropriations level for the Assistive Technology Act
5. IBM Launches New Disability Services Team
6. Worcester Polytechnic Institute Study Finds Most Federal Websites Are Not Fully Accessible to the Disabled

FOR YOUR ACTION

1. FCC NECA Position for Interim Waiver and Rulemaking

RESOURCES

1. Video: Know Your Users: Web Accessibility From the User's Perspective
2. Verizon's Wireless Customers and ASL
3. Toll Free Hotline for Air Travelers with Disabilities

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

1. WEB ACCESSIBILITY TRAINING AND EXCHANGE
Palo Alto, CA
July 18, 2003

Are you interested in learning more about making the Web accessible for people with disabilities? Come join the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) for a Web Accessibility Training and Exchange on Friday 18 July 2003, at Hewlett Packard's Spyglass Auditorium in Palo Alto, California. This session is open to all, as long as space permits, and pre-registration is required.

The day will include presentations on "Web Accessibility: The Basics and the Latest" and "Evaluating Web Sites for Accessibility," as well as an exchange of information among individuals and organizations involved in promoting Web accessibility. Presenters will include Shawn Henry, WAI Outreach Coordinator, and Wendy Chisholm, Co-editor of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0 and 2.0. The training is hosted by Hewlett-Packard with additional support from Wells Fargo. Detailed information and required pre-registration is available at: http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/2003/0718-training.html.

For those interested in more detail on Web Accessibility training, there are two additional W3C/WAI meetings on preceding days, with specific participation criteria for each. On Wednesday 16 July there will be a meeting of the Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG), with a partial focus on training materials. For more information on the event on the 16th, access: http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/2003/07-eowg-agenda.html. On Thursday 17 July there will be an exchange of training demonstrations and approaches among experienced Web accessibility trainers. For more information on the event of the 17th, access: http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/2003/07-wai-training.html.

Please note that there are specific criteria for participation in the Wednesday and Thursday session, while the Friday session is open registration. Please consult the agenda and registration pages for additional details.

2. ACQUIRING TECHNOLOGY: WHAT EVERY FEDERAL EMPLOYEE NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT SECTION 508

July Trainings include:
July 8-9, 2003 in Atlanta, GA
July 16-17, 2003 in Denver, CO

The General Services Administration (GSA) is taking their procurement training on the road to select cities. Acquiring Technology: What Every Federal Employee Needs to Know About Section 508 is a free training on how to manage procurements to ensure compliance. It is being offered in coordination with the Federal Executive Board. Trainings were offered in Washington, D.C. and California in May and in Chicago in June.

The 508 Universe serves as a central hub for GSA's section 508 training and information resources. One can access each of the topic-specific courses that address 508 implementation as well as explore Web links and a glossary of 508-related terms. A first time visitor to the site will be asked to set up a username and password. No additional information is required in the registration process; no identifying or personal data is requested. The username is used to track progress in the courses so that participants can leave courses unfinished and return to complete them online at a later time. This eliminates any possible security risk of using cookies, and no files are written to a visitor's computer.

For more information and to register, access: http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=AcqTech.

3. WATCHFIRE WEB SEMINARS SERIES: "MAKING WEBSITES CLICK"

This web seminar series is designed to help web stakeholders deliver successful web interactions and take control of their websites. This series is for Chief Information Officers (CIOs), Chief Procurement Officials (CPOs), Vice Presidents (VPs), Directors or Managers of IT, Web Operations, Marketing or eBusiness. This is a free online seminar series.

Watchfire Seminars for the month of July include:

WEBQA QUICKSTART
July 10, 2002
2:00 - 3:00 PM EST

WebQA is a website quality testing tool designed for small, medium, and departmental websites, and is the next generation of Watchfire's popular Website testing tool, Linkbot™. WebQA assists with quality assurance by scanning and analyzing web content and producing detailed reports to help developers and quality assurance professionals pinpoint and fix content and interaction defects.

WebQA 2.0 adds support for accessibility testing by integrating the features of Bobby™, the leading accessibility tool recently acquired by Watchfire. Use these features to test your level of compliance with Section 508 or the W3C's WCAG accessibility standards. In addition to testing content, WebQA can also help you edit your site's metadata to optimize search engine ranking and internal site searchability.
Attend this seminar to learn:

• How to proactively manage website issues
• The benefits of using WebQA
• How to read and understand reports generated by WebQA
• What's new in this latest version

1. Alternative representations
2. Semantic markup
3. Proper use of markup
4. Links
5. Images
6. Image maps
7. Multimedia
8. Tables
9. Forms
10. Framesets
11. Scripts and plug-ins

 

FCC TELECOMMUNICATIONS/REGULATIONS

1. TRS AND SPEECH-TO-SPEECH SERVICES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH HEARING AND SPEECH DISABILITIES

In this "Second Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking," the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) promulgates new rules and amends existing rules (set forth in Appendix D of the report), further implementing Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), relating to telecommunications relay services (TRS). In this Order:

• The FCC concludes that it is in the interest of administrative efficiency to consolidate various pending rulemaking proceedings.
• It contains a "Report and Order" addressing issues arising from the "Improved TRS Order & FNPRM," and comments received in response thereto.
• It includes an "Order on Reconsideration," addressing several petitions for reconsideration and/or clarification (Petitions) of the "Improved TRS Order."
• It contains a "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)" seeking comment on various matters, including the applicability of certain technological advances to TRS, to further the goal of functional equivalency of TRS for persons with hearing and speech disabilities.

2. FCC REMINDS STATE TRS PROGRAMS & INTERSTATE TRS PROVIDERS OF OBLIGATIONS

The Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau Reminds State Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Programs and Interstate TRS Providers of their Obligations Regarding Contact Information and Substantive Changes in their TRS Program.

A Public Notice was released on May 30, 2003, by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to remind state Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) programs that they must submit to the FCC a contact person or office for TRS consumer information and complaints about intrastate service. The submission should include the name and address of the state office that receives complaints, grievances, inquiries and suggestions; the voice, TTY, and fax numbers for that office; the e-mail address; and the physical address to which correspondence should be sent. Similarly, interstate TRS providers are reminded that they must submit to the FCC a contact person or office for TRS consumer information and complaints about the provider's service. The submission should include the name and address of the office that receives complaints, grievances, inquiries and suggestions; the voice, TTY and fax numbers for that office; the e-mail address; and the physical address to which correspondence should be sent. The FCC must be notified each time there is a change in any of this required information.

The FCC also reminds state TRS programs that state TRS programs must notify the FCC of any substantive changes in their TRS programs within 60 days of when they occur, and must certify that the state TRS program continues to meet federal minimum standards after implementing the substantive change.

To read the full public notice, which includes information about how and where to file this information, access: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/trs.html, and link to the Notice under "TRS News."

3. VIDEO DESCRIPTION LANGUAGE

New Federal legislation reinstates FCC video description rules.

On June 13th, the FCC Reauthorization Act of 2003 (S. 1264) was introduced in the Senate. The purpose of this bill is to reauthorize the Federal Communications Commission, and for other purposes.

Section 9 of the bill includes language on Video Description Rules Authority (see excerpt below):

Notwithstanding the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Motion Picture Association of America, Inc., et al., v. Federal Communications Commission, et al. (309 F. 3d 796, November 8, 2002), the Federal Communications Commission-

1. shall, within 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, reinstate its video description rules contained in the report and order identified as Implementation of Video Description of Video Programming, Report and Order, 15 F.C.C.R. 15,230 (2000); and
2. may amend, repeal, or otherwise modify such rules.

 

ARTICLES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. SPECIAL FRIEND OF PEOPLE WITH HEARING LOSS AWARD

Key ITTATC Collaborator Jim Tobias of Inclusive Technologies to receive Award for long time work.

(Atlanta, GA) On June 29th, Jim Tobias, of Inclusive Technologies, received the "Special Friend of People with Hearing Loss" Award at the 18th International Self Help for Hard of Hearing People (SHHH) Convention held in Atlanta. The award is given, in the words of the citation, "to organizations or people who have worked diligently over time to improve the lives and circumstances of people with hearing loss." Jim Tobias is a key collaborator with ITTATC. He has served as Chair of the Education and Training team, and he is one of the lead collaborators on outreach to industry. SHHH is a national consumer organization representing people with hearing loss, their families and friends. Based in Bethesda, Maryland, SHHH has 13 state organizations and 250 chapters nationwide.

2. PRESIDENT NAMES NEW MEMBERS TO IT ADVISORY COMMITTEE

On May 8th, President Bush announced his intention to appoint 25 individuals to serve as Members of the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) for two-year terms: The PITAC was established by Executive Order and is chartered by Congress under the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 (P. L. 102-194) and the Next Generation Internet Act of 1998 (P. L. 105-305). PITAC will help guide the Administration's efforts to accelerate the development and adoption of information technologies vital for American prosperity in the 21st century.

The members of PITAC, who are leading IT experts from industry and academia, will provide the President with expert, independent advice on maintaining America's preeminence in advanced information technologies, including such important elements of the national IT infrastructure as high performance computing, large-scale networking, and high assurance software and systems design.

To view the names of the appointees, access: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/05/20030508-6.html.

3. NCD SAYS ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IS A CIVIL RIGHT

On June 16th, the National Council on Disability (NCD) released an excerpt on Section 508 and electronic and information technology (E&IT) from its soon-to-be-released report, National Disability Policy: A Progress Report for December 2001-2002. Among other things, NCD recommends that the 108th Congress act promptly to apply Section 508 to itself. To read the full NCD News Release, access: http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/news/r03-415.html.

4. FY 2004 APPROPRIATIONS LEVEL FOR THE ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY ACT

On June 19th, the House Appropriations Labor/HHS/Education Subcommittee marked up the FY 2004 spending bill and on June 25th, the Full Committee approved it. The amount included in the bill for the Assistive Technology Act (Tech Act) projects is $11.13 million, an amount calculated by the Department indicating how much money is necessary to fund the Tech Act under the provisions of current law. This amount would fund the projects not yet under the sunset provision. With only this much money and no waiver of the sunset, the following thirty-one (31) states will be eliminated from the program: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin. To view the House Committee on Appropriations News Release (June 25th), access: http://www.house.gov/appropriations/news/108_1/04lhfull.htm. To view the table amounts related to the House bill, access: http://www.house.gov/appropriations/news/108_1/04lhfull.pdf.

On June 25th, the Senate Appropriations Labor/HHS/Education Subcommittee marked up their version of the FY 2004 spending bill, and on June 26th there was a Full Committee mark up of the bill. To track the progress of the bill in the Senate, access the Senate Appropriations web page at: http://appropriations.senate.gov/.

5. IBM LAUNCHES NEW DISABILITY SERVICES TEAM

Voice-enabling of Websites among areas of focus.

IBM's Global Services division has created a team of 40 consultants and 100 IT professionals dedicated to developing and implementing services to make software and hardware accessible to people with disabilities. Along with the formation of the team, the company is introducing eight new services to help companies and government agencies make computer technology more accessible to people with disabilities, such as sight, hearing and mobility problems.

The services address areas such as tweaking Websites so their content can be read aloud by voice software and so that their design can be modified and adapted to better accommodate users with sight problems.

IBM was scheduled to demonstrate some of its accessibility services and products at the E-Gov 2003 Conference, which was held June 9-12th in Washington, D.C.

To read the full article in InfoWorld, access: http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/06/09/HNdisability_1.html.

To learn more about IBM's accessibility initiatives, access: http://www-3.ibm.com/able/.

6. WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE STUDY FINDS MOST FEDERAL WEB SITES ARE NOT FULLY ACCESSIBLE TO THE DISABLED

According to a new study by a team of researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts, most federal websites do not meet the government's own accessibility standards for citizens with disabilities. The WPI research team spent seven weeks in January and February analyzing 417 government websites to see how they complied with federal guidelines for accessibility in their investigation entitled "Freedom of Access: A Study of Federal Website Accessibility."

The WPI study examined the websites of 317 agencies and offices from all three federal branches, as well as those of the 100 largest federal contractors. Each site was analyzed using the Bobby software program. The study's results indicate that 67 percent of the federal sites do not provide fully accessible sites based on its own Section 508 criteria.

Furthermore, the study compared the 417 websites to industry-based standards from the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The WAI guidelines have three priority levels based upon the site's accessibility - 1 signifying the most serious accessibility obstacles, to 3 signifying the least. Using these standards, the study found that only 28 percent met the minimum Priority 1 level checklist. No site was completely free of Priority 2 and 3 access barriers. The most common error to Priority 1 access was the failure to provide alternative text for all images (63 percent of the sites).

To read the full news release, access: http://www.wpi.edu/News/Releases/20023/accessibility.html.

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FOR YOUR ACTION

1. FCC NECA POSITION FOR INTERIM WAIVER AND RULEMAKING

Comments Due: July 14, 2003
Reply Comments Due: July 30, 2003

On July 22, 2002, the National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc. (NECA), on behalf of the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Service Fund Advisory Council, filed a petition for interim waiver requesting that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) waive section 64.604 of its rules to the extent necessary to permit compensation from the Interstate Telecommunication Relay Service ("TRS") Fund to relay service providers for all TRS calls placed from wireless telecommunications devices (See Petition for Interim Waiver and Rulemaking, CC Docket No. 98-67, filed July 22, 2002.). The petition also requests that the FCC initiate a rulemaking to decide how relay calls should be reimbursed where the jurisdiction of the call cannot be determined from the automatic number identification system.

Interested parties may file comments in this proceeding on or before July 14, 2003 and reply comments may be filed on or before July 30, 2003. Parties that may have already submitted comments in this proceeding need not resubmit those comments unless they choose to update them. When filing comments, please reference "CC Docket No. 98-67." Comments may be filed using the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) or by filing paper copies. Comments filed through the ECFS can be sent as an electronic file via the Internet to: http://www.fcc.gov/e-file/ecfs.html. Parties may also submit an electronic comment by e-mail. To get filing instructions for e-mail comments, commenters should send an e-mail to ecfs@fcc.gov, and should include the following words in the body of the message, "get form <your e-mail address>." A sample form and directions will be sent in reply.

To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0531 (voice), 202-418-7365 (tty). This Public Notice can also be downloaded in Text and ASCII formats at: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro.

For further information, please contact Erica Myers, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau, Disability Rights Office, at (202) 418-2429 (voice), (202) 418-0464 (TTY), or e-mail at Erica.Myers@fcc.gov.

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RESOURCES

1. KNOW YOUR USERS: WEB ACCESSIBILITY FROM THE USER'S PERSPECTIVE

"Know Your Users: Web Accessibility From the User's Perspective" is a 27 minute video created by Fresno State. It features computer users with disabilities discussing and demonstrating the tools they use to access the Web -- Dragon Naturally Speaking, WindowEyes, Zoom Text, JAWS, and a refreshable Braille display -- as well as the common problems these users with disabilities encounter when they try to access different Web pages. The video may be ordered from http://www.fresnostate.edu/webaccess/video/order.htm.

A video clip with excerpts of the video is also available at http://www.fresnostate.edu/webaccess/users/default.html.

2. VERIZON'S WIRELESS CUSTOMERS AND ASL

On June 12th, Verizon Wireless and Mobile-Mind announced the launch of Mobile-Mind's ASL (American Sign Language) Fingerspelling application on Verizon Wireless Get It NowSM -enabled phones.

ASL Fingerspelling presents the 26 letters of the American Sign Language alphabet, the basic building blocks for learning Sign Language, as a one-time application download. Customers can study and quiz themselves on the Fingerspelling alphabet using high-contrast, easy-to-see images right on their phone. They can also instantly view the animated Fingerspelling of any word up to 32 characters and use what they learn to communicate with anyone who knows Fingerspelling.

ASL Fingerspelling was developed by Mobile-Mind as part of its mobile learning suite of products, which includes XAP apps for SAT® test preparation and English and foreign language learning applications. Mobile-Mind is currently developing ASL Basic Signs, which will feature animated American Sign Language words and phrases.

To read the full announcement, access: http://www.mobile-mind.com/htm/fingerspelling.php.

3. TOLL FREE HOTLINE FOR AIR TRAVELERS WITH DISABILITIES

The Toll Free Hotline for air travelers with disabilities has been in operation since August 2002 and is available for callers from 7 AM to 11 PM ET, seven days a week. The Hotline serves two main purposes: (1) education and (2) assistance in resolving disability-related air travel problems.

1. Many air travelers with disabilities are not aware of their rights and the Hotline, in part, exists as an educational service to inform air travelers with disabilities about their rights under the Air Carrier Access Act and the Department's implementing regulations 14 CFR Part 382 (Part 382). Hotline operators are well versed in the ACAA and Part 382 and can provide callers with on the spot general information about the rights of air travelers with disabilities. The Hotline operators also respond to requests for printed consumer information about air travel rights of the disabled.
   
2. The Hotline can also assist air travelers with disabilities in resolving real time or upcoming issues with air carriers. The purpose of "real-time" assistance is to facilitate airline compliance with DOT's rules by suggesting to the passenger and the airline involved alternative customer-service solutions to the problem. The airline remains responsible for deciding what action will be taken to resolve the issue in accordance with the ACAA and Part 382. Generally, if a caller has a real time problem or an upcoming issue with an air carrier, a Hotline Duty Officer will contact that air carrier and attempt to resolve the issue. For example, there have been a number of incidents in which Hotline Duty Officers have contacted air carriers and convinced them to accept service animals and electric wheelchairs on board flights, to stow folding wheelchairs in the cabin, and to provide requested wheelchair assistance.
   
   Air travelers who want information about the rights of persons with disabilities in air travel or who experience disability-related air travel service problems may call the Hotline to obtain assistance at: 1-800-778-4838 (voice) or 1-800-455-9880 (TTY).
   
   Air travelers who want DOT to investigate a complaint about a disability-related issue still must submit their complaint in writing via e-mail at airconsumer@ost.dot.gov or postal mail to:
          Aviation Consumer Protection Division
          U.S. Department of Transportation
          400 7th Street, S.W.
          Washington, D.C. 20590