June 4, 2004 (Vol 4, Issue 8)

In This Issue:

UPCOMING EVENTS

1. Show and Tell on Accessible Telecommunications in Education and Government: Bridging the Gaps Conference
2. Low Tech Computer Applications for Learners with Disabilities Web Clinics
3. Seventh Annual Accessing Higher Ground's "Assistive Technology and Accessible Media in Higher Education" Conference
4. Disabled Peoples' International World Summit 2004: Diversity Within
5. Twenty-seventh Annual Association on Higher Education and Disability 2004
6. "Making the GRADE: Improving Access to E-Learning," Webcast by the Disability Law Resource Project (DLRP)

FCC TELECOMMUNICATIONS/REGULATIONS

1. Next meeting of the Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC)
2. NECA Submits July 2004 - June 2005 Payment Formula and Fund Size Estimate for the TRS Fund
3. The Commission Seeks Public Comment in the 2004 Biennial Review of Telecommunications Regulations

FEDERAL ACTIVITIES

1. Section 508 Working Group meeting
2. Micropurchases required to conform to 508
3. Access of Persons with Disabilities to FDIC Programs, Activities, Facilities, and Electronic Information Technology
4. Section 508 Survey deadline extended

FOR YOUR ACTION/INFORMATION

1. Big Imaging Software Contrat Hinges on Disability Access
2. Georgia Accessibility Rally Announces Winners
3. High-Tech Voting System is Banned in California
4. Who Hacked the Voting System?
5. Study Reveals Government Websites Are Unusable To a Growing Number of Californians
6. Federal Relay Service program: Federal Relay Conference Captioning
7. Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) Announces New Director

ARTICLES/PUBLICATIONS

1. The Web: Access and Inclusion for Disabled People
2. The Americans with Disabilities Act in Cyberspace: Applying the "Nexus" Approach to Private Internet Websites
3. Website Access for Customers with Disabilities: Can We Get There from Here?
4. How Americans Get in Touch with Government

PAST EVENTS

1. Accessibility Internet Rally Training Conference

RESOURCES

1. Tongue Controlled Game Boy Advance SP
2. Voice Recognition Without the Voice

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

1. SHOW AND TELL ON ACCESSIBLE TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN EDUCATION AND GOVERNMENT: BRIDGING THE GAPS
June 8, 2004 Seminar, Washington, DC.

This free, half-day seminar, put on by the University Legal Services Assistive Technology Program for the District of Columbia & the Maryland Technology Assistance Program's Project for Accessible IT in Education, features panelists from the staff of the U.S. Access Board, the ITTATC project, and the Association of Tech Act Projects, as well as industry. The seminar targets the needs of agency staff members and education officials who take part in accessible technology procurement decisions, implementation, and utilization.

Registration is encouraged as soon as possible before June 8, 2004. To register and get more information on the agenda of this seminar, access:

http://www.ittatc.org/calendar/displayEvent.cfm?eventID=2603

• The beneficial implementation of Assistive Technology in post-secondary education for individuals with physical, sensory, and learning disabilities;
• ADA and Section 508 compliance; and
• Accessible university information, web, library, and media resources and services.

 

FCC TELECOMMUNICATIONS/REGULATIONS

1. NEXT MEETING OF THE CONSUMER ADVISORY COMMITTEE (CAC)

The FCC announced that the next meeting of the Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC) will be held on Friday, June 18, from 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. at the Commission’s Headquarters Building, Room TW-C305, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20554. The meeting is open to the public.

The agenda includes briefings by FCC staff regarding Agency activities; a progress report from the Broadband Working Group; and a briefing by the Homeland Security Working Group regarding problems and solutions raised at the March 25th homeland security disability summit.

For the full text of the announcement, as well the complete agenda of the meeting, contact Scott Marshall

(202) 418-2809, email: Scott.Marshall@fcc.gov, TTY: (202) 418-0179,

Or access:

Document version:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-247374A1.doc
PDF Version:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-247374A1.pdf
Text Version:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-247374A1.txt

 

FEDERAL ACTIVITIES

1. SECTION 508 WORKING GROUP MEETING
June 9, 2004

The next 508 Working Group meeting is scheduled for June 9th, from 2pm -4pm in the Jackson Room of the White House Conference Center.

For more information, access: http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm

 

FOR YOUR ACTION/INFORMATION

1. BIG IMAGING SOFTWARE CONTRACT HINGES ON DISABILITY ACCESS

John Longwell, Big Imaging Software Contract Hinges on Disability Access, CRN, May 10, 2004.

http://www.channelweb.com/Components/printArticle.asp?ArticleID=50047

The Social Security Administration granted a five-year, $20.9 million contract to Quality Associates Inc. for its Kofax imaging software. The big selling point for the SSA, QAI believes, was the bid’s emphasis upon compliance with Section 508 accessibility standards, rather than merely the lowest bid. In part, the Kofax software will be compatible with accessibility hardware, such as voice recognition, Braille output, and screen magnification from Freedom Scientific.

• An inability to use a website when images are not viewable.
• An inability to easily adjust text to a larger size.
• An inability to navigate a website without a mouse.
• Poor performance when accessed via a slow internet connections.
• Inconsistent or non-existent site navigation.

 

ARTICLES/PUBLICATIONS

1. THE WEB: ACCESS AND INCLUSION FOR DISABLED PEOPLE

http://www.drc-gb.org/publicationsandreports/report.asp

This is a study of British website accessibility compliance with Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 (DDA). The DDA requires providers of goods, services, and facilities to ensure that their means of communication and information services are accessible to individuals with disabilities. The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) is empowered, pursuant to the Disability Rights Commission Act 1999, to oversee and enforce website accessibility compliance via investigations of and sanctions against the operators of inaccessible websites.

On March 28, 2003, the DRC commissioned the Centre for Human Computer Interaction Design (CHCID) at the City University of London to conduct an investigation of publicly accessible sites. The express purposes of the study were:

- To evaluate systematically the extent to which the current design of websites accessed through the Internet facilitates or hinders use by disabled people in England, Scotland and Wales;

- To analyse the reasons for any recurrent barriers identified by the evaluation, including a provisional assessment of any technical and commercial considerations that are presently discouraging inclusive design;

- To recommend further work which will contribute towards enabling disabled people to enjoy full access to, and use of, the Web (Appendix 1).

The CHCID surveyed 1,000 home pages (a representative sample of British public websites) using commercial software and qualitative questions to assess technical compliance with W3C recommended standards. Findings are described in terms of both formalized technical compliance and the usability and accessibility experiences of individuals with disabilities.

The report concludes that British websites (1) rarely are accessible to individuals with disabilities, and (2) rarely satisfy basic W3C recommended standards for accessibility. Moreover, the study found that involving individuals with disabilities in website design and testing is indispensable. Finally, the study provides practical recommendations for website design directed at agency officials, businesses, disability activists, and the designers, developers, and providers of websites, browsers, assistive technology, operating systems, and automated checking tools.

2. THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT IN CYBERSPACE: APPLYING THE "NEXUS" APPROACH TO PRIVATE INTERNET WEBSITES

Richard E. Moberly, The Americans with Disabilities Act in Cyberspace: Applying the “Nexus” Approach to Private Internet Websites, 55 Mercer Law Review 963 (2004).

Moberly argues that websites are public accommodations, thus subject to the ADA, when they have a nexus (i.e., a connection) with “a physical place of public accommodation.”

3. WEBSITE ACCESS FOR CUSTOMERS WITH DISABILITIES: CAN WE GET THERE FROM HERE?

Nancy J. King, Website Access for Customers with Disabilities: Can We Get There from Here?, 2003 UCLA Journal of Law & Technology 6 (2003).

This law review article examines the case of Access Now, Inc. v. Southwest Airlines, Co., 227 F. Supp. 2d 1312 (S.D. Fla. 2002), what is meant by “places of public accommodation,” and the application of ADA Title III to websites operated by private entities.

 

PAST EVENTS

1. ACCESSIBILITY INTERNET RALLY TRAINING CONFERENCE
AIR-Texas, May 24-26, 2004

http://www.dlrp.org/html/IT/air-houston/training.html

AIR-Texas provides introductory to advanced/professional courses in website accessibility for state agency employees. It is a production of Knowbility (http://www.knowbility.org) in collaboration with the Texas Governor's Office for People with Disabilities, and the Texas Department of Information Resources.

Bill Morrow, CEO of Grande Communications, notes that the “AIR-Austin program has won national acclaim because it engages the entire community in understanding how and why to meet the technology access needs of millions of children and adults with disabilities."

http://knowbility.org/AIR-Austin/2003a/index.jsp


Back to top

 

RESOURCES

1. TONGUE CONTROLLED GAME BOY ADVANCE SP

Press Release, Simmunity Corp., Tongue Controlled Game Boy Advance SP: Worlds First Tongue Controlled Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP Console and Game Cube Controller for Quadriplegic Youth and Adults (Apr. 10, 2004).

http://www.simmunity.com

The remanufactured Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP, developed with quadriplegia and tongue control in mind, is compatible with all Game Boy Advance cartridges, many Game Cube games, and the first model-specific game, Alien Knockout. Those in the retro game collection provide the easiest independent gaming; others require an assistant for simultaneous input. Simmunity Corporation remanufactures the standard Game Boy Advance SP system without changing its appearance or diminishing battery life.