As a celebration of Accessibility Forum 2.0’s two year anniversary, here are our top posts over time.
The winner is: New Guidance Document on Acquisition for Accessible EIT with 3696 total views!
The other top posts in the top ten are:
We were recently told by a contracting officer that access to an on-line database was not Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) and therefore not subject to Section 508. This is clearly wrong. The web interface that the government agency would be using as a result of the purchase is applicable to Section 508 1194.22 Web-based internet information and applications (as well as functional performance criteria. When the government makes a purchase and as a result their employees or the general public will be interacting with EIT, then Section 508 applies. Even if the software doesn’t sit on computers at a government site, the website interface applies. Don’t forget that you may need to look at the interface for regular users and also user administration.
A related example is Cloud Computing. Have you come across similar examples that you can share?
We also have more posts in our “Is it EIT?” category. Please let us know your thoughts on this question.
As a vendor, what do you do when a Government Product Accessibility Template (GPAT) is included in a solicitation? The GPAT identifies government accessibility requirements applicable Section 508 provisions to that acquisition. Here is what you need to do to respond.
The first section of the GPAT is a summary table of the government’s accessibility requirements. It identifies the total number of applicable provisions, with notes that further explain these requirements. You need to wait to fill out this summary until after you fill out the rest of the GPAT.
Next the GPAT has a table for each section of the standard with 5 columns, as a vendor you fill out columns four and five.
- Column one is the full text of the provision from the Standard.
- Column two documents the agency’s accessibility requirement based on common characteristics or special requirements for the EIT deliverable. There will be a Yes or No in this column based on program need and actual characteristics of the expected deliverable (i.e., Is this provision seen as applicable to the expected deliverable?)
- Column three provides explanatory information about the provision to help both the agency in determining applicability and the vendor in providing accessibility information.
- Column four is for the vendor to check off whether the deliverable meets, partially meets or does not meet the specific provision.
- Column five is for the vendor to provide an explanation of how the deliverable meets or does not meet the specific provision. It is also an opportunity to explain why a deliverable does not have an applicable feature or why it has a feature that was not identified as applicable.
In many cases your deliverable will have extra functionality that the government did not anticipate when they prepared their solicitation. For example say you have a video included in a training module, Section 508 requires you to let the government know how well that functionality meets Section 508, even if they marked video/captioning requirements as not applicable.
Returning to the summary aection, you can now indicate how the accessibility features of your product or service meet these requirements (fully, partially or not al all) for each section of the standard. There is room for notes to summarize accessibility features.
You can see some example GPATs in the GSA Quick Links page. If you want to have the competitive advantage of letting the government know about your commitment to accessibility during their market research, then you can create a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT). A VPAT lists the Section 508 provisions you think apply and how well you meet them. You can use the Quick Links or Buy Accessible Wizard to generate a good list of requirements.
If any of the Section 508 technical or functional provisions are confusing, you can check out the Quick Reference Guide which goes over each individual sub-part. There is also list of tools on the Section508.gov website.
What if the government only included a general statement about Section 508 in their solicitation, with no specifics like a GPAT? Then it is to your advantage to include the VPAT you prepared before.
Tags: GPAT
Recently, a new set of Quick Links about ebooks were added to BuyAccessible.gov. Quick Links contain solicitation language and a Government Product Accessibility Template (GPAT) for a specific deliverable, in this case an ebook. There are also Quick Links for ebook readers and ebook software.
The GPAT for ebooks will let you know what Section 508 technical provisions most likely apply to ebooks. For example most of the provisions in Section 1194.22 Web-based intranet and Internet information and applications apply. You can use this information to include in your solicitation requirements when making a purchase, or in your design requirements when creating an ebook.
Tags: ebooks, Quick Links
Yes. Section 508 applies when Federal agencies “develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology.” Even if the agency is simply procuring a new version of an existing product, Section 508 applies. Section 508 requirements must be considered in the Brand Name justification and in the “or Equal” decision. It is a best practice to include Section 508 requirements in solicitation documentation for Brand Name or Equal, otherwise how are vendors able to propose products or services that equals the brand name? Since agencies are required to document the justification for other than full and open procurement, it should not add any significant effort to include that Section 508 documentation in your solicitation.
It would also be useful to request a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) from all bidders. Brand Name updates can change accessibility features, so it is always good to get the most current data. Further, accessibility information is needed from Brand Name alternatives to determine if they are in fact equal in terms of their accessibility and usability.
Tags: acquisition, brand name
It’s the time of year for Spring cleaning, time to sweep out those dust bunnies that have been collecting under your couch all Winter long. How about hopping on over to your website to see if it needs some cleaning up too? When is the last time you checked your agency’s website to see if it was Section 508 compliant and accessible to people with disabilities? There tools to help you do that, as well as other information at website accessibility. If you have any questions, please let us know. Happy Spring cleaning!
GSA’s Office of Governmentwide Policy, Information Resources Management Division, Section 508 Program Office assesses samples of Federal EIT solicitations to see if they contain the required Section 508 technical standards and sends feedback to the department/agency and the procurement officials. Here is an example of a solicitation that was revised based on the feedback an agency received from GSA’s assessment team.
We received a solicitation in November that had a tremendous amount Section 508 language in it. We were initially thrilled that someone had taken so much time to include all of this detailed info on exactly what Section 508 meant and why it was important. After searching this extensive amount of data it became apparent that a very critical aspect was missing. Nowhere in the document did it mention how Section 508 was applicable to the desired deliverable or better yet which standards and provisions were applicable.
When addressing potential vendors it is imperative that agencies are specific about their Section 508 requirements. It would be impossible for a vendor to properly address an agencies Section 508 requirements if they are not spelled out in the solicitation. Remember it is the agencies responsibility to determine which standards apply and convey that information to the vendor. The vendor would then be able to specify if their product or services can meet the applicable standards.
As a result this solicitation was graded as non-compliant and an assessment feedback letter was sent to the agency.
But there is a bright side to this story. In January the same solicitation was again selected in our random sampling. Based on our feedback, the agency had amended their solicitation to include a detailed list of the applicable technical Section 508 provisions for the vendor. This amendment along with the detailed explanation of Section 508 will be instrumental in acquiring the desired deliverable. In addition they also identified the accessibility factors that would be used in the evaluation of proposals and acceptance criteria for inspection/testing of the delivered product and to requested accessibility information from vendor.
This agency should be congratulated on a job well done, and yes they now were the recipients of a fully compliant feedback letter!
Tags: GSA FedBizOpps Sampling Letters
GSA has decided to disable the Registered User interface on the BuyAccessible Wizard tool because this user interface has not been extensively used and due to security concerns. If you would like access to your procurement files please contact us, so we can help you retrieve your data. All users will now access the Wizard through the Guest user interface. Your sessions may be saved to your computer as XML files or printed.
Using the BuyAccessible Wizard (BAW) is one of the best ways to ensure that you have addressed all the necessary Section 508 considerations for your EIT solicitation. There are several reports available as outputs of your Wizard session. One of these is a Government Product Accessibility Template (GPAT) which is a template that provides the vendor with the Section 508 technical provisions that apply to your solicitation. This form is based on EIT requirements input during your Wizard session. We recommend that the GPAT then become part of your solicitation so that the vendors will know exactly what your Section 508 requirements are.
As you know the BAW is a web based system so the files are currently generated in an html format. We have had many requests to be able to provide the GPAT in a more editable format. Below is a process for converting the GPAT from html to an editable format.
- When you save your GPAT using your browser features, select FILE, then SAVE AS. Name your file, indicate where you want the file saved and then select ‘webpage, HTML only’ for the ’save as type’.
- Go to the location where you saved the file, select ‘open with’ instead of simply ‘open’ and select Microsoft Word. This conversion process from HTML to Word may take a few minutes, so please be patient. Once you have opened the file in Word, you can edit it and save it as a Word document. Then you can attach this file to your solicitation.
Also, when you reach the Data Summary page in your Wizard session there is a hyperlink at the bottom of the page that takes you to an explanation of how to include Wizard reports in your solicitation. If you have any questions please contact the BAW team via the email given in the tool.
Tags: GPAT
How many Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) products that you buy include product support information on the Internet? We are willing to guess many of them! When product support information is provided on the web for products that are likely to be used by government staff, then that information is EIT subject to Section 508 Subpart D — Information, Documentation, and Support (Section 1194.41). Since the support material is delivered over the Internet, the provisions of Section 1194.22, Web-based intranet and internet information and applications, are also applicable. If the support materials include video, then that video is also subject to the provisions of Video and Multimedia Products (Section 1194.24). It is important to let vendors know about these agency requirements in your solicitations.
For example, if you are buying a printer that has product support documentation on the web, you need to require that the printer vendor supply documentation as to how their on-line documents conform to the Section 508 guidelines for web documentation.
