1. The Accessibility Forum--June 2002 Meeting Overview and Project Workshops
2. Think Tank Report: Federal Web Sites Need Better Accessibility
3. 'Talking' Tax Forms for Blind
4. HHS Creates a New Office on Disability
5. Assistive Technology and Accessible Media in Higher Education Conference
6. Survey of the International City/County Management Association
7. Special Gloves May Help Deaf
8. AIR Competition: Accessible Web Sites for Non-Profit Organizations

508 UPDATE:

1. THE ACCESSIBILITY FORUM--JUNE 2002 MEETING OVERVIEW AND PROJECT WORKSHOPS

• "June 2002 Meeting Overview"
  The June Accessibility Forum meeting in Washington, DC proved to be a significant step to our path towards advanced collaboration. (The Accessibility Forum brings accessibility stakeholders together to support informed decisions about E&IT products relative to Section 508.)
  
  The Accessibility Forum began in May of 2001 as an ongoing collaboration among stakeholders affected by Section 508 including user, industry, government, and other communities. Mainly focused on long-term solutions, Forum projects are defined to produce results that assist government in making informed decisions about Section 508 related procurement. The Forum also provides a means for government, industry, and users to communicate on issues and areas where further effort could enhance accessibility. The Federal Government's General Services Administration (GSA) is the initial sponsor for the Forum.
  
  Access the following site to view the June 2002 Forum Webcast, speeches, and PowerPoint presentations: http://accessibilityforum.org/docs/june_mtg_02/index.html.




• Accessibility Forum Project Workshops" The Accessibility Forum announces Project Workshops for the Accessibility Forum. Sessions begin at 8:00 AM, Monday, September 23 through 5 PM, Wednesday, September 25, 2002. Accessibility Forum membership is required to register for this event. The workshops will support the project work goal--using three full days to work toward getting the project deliverables accomplished. Workshop facilities, provided through the courtesy of AT&T, are located on 1900 Gallows Road, Vienna, Virginia (about 2 blocks from Route 7/Leesburg Pike at Tyson's Corner).
  
  For more information: http://www.accessibilityforum.org/meetings/sept2002/announcement.html.

2. THINK TANK REPORT: FEDERAL WEBSITES NEED BETTER ACCESSIBILITY

Article in the 8/22/02 edition of the Computer Government News: http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/s508/19757-1.html.

Agencies still need to work on making Federal Web sites more accessible to average citizens, according to a new report funded by a private think tank. The report, based on a survey done earlier this year of 148 Web sites, also discovered that most sites still do not pass the "Bobby test" for compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998.

Genie Stowers, director of San Francisco State University's public administration program, wrote the report, The State of Federal Websites. The survey was funded by the Price Waterhouse Coopers Endowment for the Business of Government.

Only 13.5% of the federal sites analyzed with the Bobby tool developed by the Center for Applied Special Technology of Peabody, MA, yielded zero errors, according to the report. Another 41% of the sites had one or two accessibility errors and 7.5% had as many as six or seven errors.

Among its recommendations, the report urged agency IT officials to make accessibility, customer privacy and transaction security high priorities.

To access the full report: http://endowment.pwcglobal.com/grantdetails.asp?gid=152http://endowment.pwcglobal.com/pdfs/StowersReport0802.pdf.

3. 'TALKING' TAX FORMS FOR BLIND

The article "Talking Tax Forms for Blind Developed - PDF-Reading Software Boosts Independence" is featured in the August 30, 2002 edition of the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com, Page A21).

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is using pioneering software to develop new IRS forms that will allow the standard talking text services to read forms stored in PDF-- Portable Document Format. "It may seem like just a tax form, but we've hit what we believe is a true breakthrough, important because blind people want to be independent," said Michael Moore, chief of alternative media at the IRS, and legally blind himself. "What blind people are striving for is equal access." The IRS plans to post the new tax forms on its Web site (www.IRS.gov) next year.

The software was developed by Plexus Scientific Corp. in conjunction with the agency. The IRS is demonstrating the "talking tax form" next week to other agencies that are also grappling with the problem of making their online services accessible to the visually impaired.

Moore recently showed how the program works. When he clicks on the "talking" version of the 1040 EZ tax form on the IRS Web site, his normal screen-reader begins to read the first line in its electronic monotone. "First name," it says, and Moore responds by typing in the box; he also has the option of speaking his name and having the computer convert it into text. "Some people are surprised that there isn't already a way for blind people to use these forms, but it's finally happened," Moore said. "We're the first doing this in government; as far as I know, the first in the world to be able to make PDF forms accessible."

Soon after Section 508 came into effect, the IRS asked Plexus Scientific to try and crack the problem of PDF. The project cost around $1 million, with much of the funds contributed by Adobe Systems Inc., the makers of PDF. The IRS hopes to have 50 of the most common forms in "talking" format for next tax season. It will cost the agency a one-time payment of about $2,000 per form for Plexus to convert them.

To access the full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13536-2002Aug29.html.

4. HHS CREATES A NEW OFFICE ON DISABILITY

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced the creation of the HHS Office on Disability to oversee the coordination, development and implementation of programs and special initiatives within HHS that impact people with disabilities. Margaret J. Giannini, M.D., F.A.A.P., currently the principal deputy assistant secretary for aging at the Administration on Aging (AoA), has been appointed the director to the new HHS Office on Disability.

The announcement builds on the work of President Bush's New Freedom Initiative, a comprehensive plan to tear down barriers facing people with disabilities, which prevent them from fully participating in community life. The new office will help centralize many of the recommended strategies outlined in a report to President Bush, which explored solutions to reducing barriers in all areas of society for people with disabilities.

As head of the new office, Giannini will oversee the coordination of HHS disability issues and special initiatives. Preparations are currently underway to officially open the new office in the fall of 2002.

Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news.

5. ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY AND ACCESSIBLE MEDIA IN HIGHER EDUCATION CONFERENCE

The Fifth Annual Accessing Higher Ground Conference: Assistive Technology and Accessible Media in Higher Education November 6-8, 2002 University of Colorado, Boulder Campus.

Disability Services at the University of Colorado at Boulder invites you to attend its fifth annual conference on Assistive Technology and Accessible Media in Higher Education. This conference will cover training on the MAGPie captioning software, web accessibility, Section 508 compliance and enforcement, and the use of rich media in accessible learning. It will also provide information on the availability and benefits of assistive technology in the university and college setting. The pre-conference will feature a full day of hands on workshops and other activities on the Boulder campus of the University of Colorado.

For more information call: 303/492-8671 (v/tty) or e-mail: dsinfo@colorado.edu. A complete conference agenda and printable registration can be found at: http://www.colorado.edu/sacs/ATconference/.

6. SURVEY OF THE INTERNATIONAL CITY/COUNTY MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION

The International City/County Management Association, ICMA, (http://www.icma.org) conducted an Electronic Government 2002 survey. The surveys were mailed in spring 2002 to the Chief Administrative Officers in municipalities with populations 2,500, and over and to the Chief Administrative Officers of counties with populations 2,500 and over with the council-administrator or council-elected executive form of government. Of the 7,005 municipalities and 839 counties that received surveys, 3,700 responded (52.8%) and 423 responded (50.4%) respectively. Of the 7,844 municipalities and counties that received surveys, 4,123 responded (52.6%).

One of the survey questions was "Does your local government have a policy or procedure on any of the following?"

1. Web site privacy: 36.4 = Yes and 63.6 = No
2. Web site options for visually impaired users: 7.8 = Yes and 92.2 = No
3. Web site security: 44.2 = Yes and 55.8 = No
4. Web site language translation capability: 4.5 = Yes and 95.5 = No
5. Paid advertising on the web site 11.3 = Yes and 88.7 = No

7. SPECIAL GLOVES MAY HELP DEAF

An article from the Associated Press found in the August 23, 2002 issue of Government Technology News (http://www.govtech.net/news/) reports on an Australian scientist, Waleed Kadous, a University of New South Wales research fellow, who is developing a set of gloves capable of translating sign language, a move he hopes could ease communication for deaf and mute people.

The gloves would be connected to a computer that has been programmed to measure the movement of the wearer's hand and distinguish between different signs. It then translates the signs into written English on a monitor. At a recent trial, the computer was able to translate Australian sign language with 95 percent accuracy.

Kadous said his aim was to create a device enclosed in the gloves that translates signs as they are made and then "speaks" the words through a transmitter to the person with whom the deaf or mute is communicating.

To access the full article: http://www.govtech.net/news/news.phtml?docid=2002.08.23-3030000000019910.

San Francisco Bay Area nonprofits are invited to apply for the Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR) California, a fun, fast-paced Web site competition for San Francisco and Bay Area Web designers and nonprofits. Teams of Web designers and tech pros are paired with local nonprofits, and in one day (Saturday, September 21st), will race to build a fully accessible Web site for the nonprofit on their team. The sites will be designed to be fully accessible to everyone - including people with disabilities and those who use assistive technologies and mobile devices to browse the web. Agencies will receive training on how to effectively market a nonprofit mission on the web, learn the basics of site maintenance, and be connected with resources to help maintain their new site. This year's AIR is being hosted by Knowbility: (http://www.knowbility.org) and CompuMentor: (http://www.compumentor.org).

For more info, visit: http://www.aircalifornia.org

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