Home » Politics & Society » Technology & U.S. Politics » Effective 21 June: Federal technology becomes more accessible

Effective 21 June: Federal technology becomes more accessible

© Alan Kotok

For people with physical challenges, information technology (IT) has become both a blessing and a curse. Information technology can provide an incredibly rich and varied source of service, information, knowledge, and entertainment. But for others who may not have all of the requisite physical skills, or with a medical condition limiting access, IT presents just more barriers to overcome. A law now taking effect intends to reduce some of those barriers, at least for people working or dealing with Federal agencies.

Section 508, it’s the law

Beginning 21 June 2001, Federal agencies will take the lead in making information technology, including government Web sites, more accessible to people with disabilities. In 1998, Congress strengthened Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to make all forms of IT more accessible to the Federal workforce, as well as visitors to Federal facilities that use IT, such as Web sites and automated kiosks.

Known in shorthand lingo as Section 508, these provisions require agencies to ensure that any IT product or system developed, acquired, maintained, or used by a Federal agency is as accessible to people with disabilities, as they are to people without disabilities. Section 508 tasked an Access Board with establishing standards that define accessibility in operational terms, with those standards to go into effect no later than six months following their publication. The Access Board issued its standards on 21 December 2000, and they go into effect on 21 June 2001.

Section 508 applies to all IT systems used in the conduct of Federal operations, with only a few exceptions for security, military, or technical intelligence work, but routine business systems used in military or intelligence agencies still must comply. Agencies may claim an exemption if they believe that compliance with Section 508 will cause an undue burden on its operations. The phrase ‘undue burden’ comes from disability and civil rights law, and is defined as causing significant difficulty or expense. However, agencies must document for each instance why Section 508 causes this burden, and still must provide alternative forms of access to people with disabilities.

Accessibility standards for different technologies

The standards developed to define operational accessibility cover a wide range of systems, equipment, and services, including:

- Operating systems and applications software

- Information or applications offered over the Web

- Telecommunication devices and services

- Multimedia products, including audio and video

- Closed and self-contained systems ranging from calculators and fax machines to information kiosks

- Office desktop and portable computers

The copyright of the article Effective 21 June: Federal technology becomes more accessible in Technology & U.S. Politics is owned by . Permission to republish Effective 21 June: Federal technology becomes more accessible in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.