This month the Senate conducted a hearing called, “The Promise of Accessible Technology: Challenges and Opportunities,” which included a discussion of Section 508. The full video, including close captioning, is available here.
Feb 16 2012
What is a GPAT?
When you use the BuyAccessible Wizard or Quick Links, one of the outputs you get is a Government Product/Service Accessibility Template (GPAT). A GPAT is a simple tool to assist Federal contracting and procurement officials in fulfilling the market research requirements associated with the Section 508 standards. The GPAT is intended as a form to be included with government solicitations. It provides the full list of technical provisions and indicates which ones are required or maybe required by the government to ensure the deliverable is accessible. The government is required to identify Section 508 requirements NOT the vendor. When included with the solicitation the GPAT becomes a mandatory requirement as a part of the vendor proposal to indicate how their proposed solution addresses the applicable Section 508 requirements. The vendor addresses the two columns labeled “how does the EIT meet this requirement” and “please explain.”
Your Section 508 technical provisions are determined based in part on the EIT requirements you identified using the BuyAccessible Wizard. Provisions based on EIT requirements you identified are indicated by a “yes” in the applicable column. Provisions based on possible EIT requirements are indicated by a “maybe” in the applicable column. Provisions not identified with program requirements for this acquisition have no entry in the applicable column. However, if the vendor’s product or service delivered has physical or functional characteristics corresponding to any of the listed EIT accessibility requirements, even those beyond identified program requirements, then the requirement applies and the vendor should provide appropriate accessibility information for these features. To make this process easier, some standard products and services have a GPAT already completed available through the Quick Links.
The GPAT is organized as a series of ten tables. The first eight tables reflect accessibility information about EIT products, corresponding to the six technical standards, the functional performance criteria, and the requirements for information, documentation, and support as defined in the Access Board Standard for Section 508. The ninth and tenth tables correspond to accessibility information about information content deliverables and labor hours, respectively.
Feb 07 2012
Example of Issues with Standard Section 508 Language
Using standard procurement language can not only be misleading and more often than not is simply the wrong thing to do (see our post on Is Standard Language Dangerous?) A recent solicitation for laboratory products and supplies included a statement that ALL services and products provided in response to this requirement shall comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. There was a very long list of items to be procured: autoclave bags, hand soap, disinfecting spray, gloves, and lab coats, among others. Even for us, it was easy to determine there was not a single item that was even close to being Electronic and Information Technology (EIT). The only way a vendor could possibly respond without insulting the agency is to ignore the statement or state “not applicable”. Agencies should not say “All products and services” or even “If a product or service is EIT”. The agency must go through the list of items and identify which of these are EIT and, are therefore, subject to Section 508. If they had done so, they would have found that none of the items in that list were EIT and could have stated as much.
Another example is solicitation that contained procurement language that required vendors to include a statement addressing compliance or noncompliance with Section 508. This clouds the issue and unfairly attempts to shift the entire 508 burden to companies responding to solicitations. Federal departments and agencies are responsible for Section 508 requirements NOT the vendor. The department or agency should identify the specific accessibility requirements that apply. Agencies can request information from the vendor about how these requirements are met by the product or service, but agencies should not ask the vendor to certify compliance.
Jan 31 2012
Web Accessibility Myths
Recently we read an interesting article on Web Accessibility Myths. A few interesting myths the author discussed were:
- Accessibility and inclusive design are anti-creative
- The most important accessibility requirement for images is alt-text
- It doesn’t matter if your mobile site/app isn’t accessible, just as long as the desktop version is
We are not endorsing the organization sponsoring this website (see our blog policy), but are happy to see dialog about this important topic.
Jan 26 2012
Is a VPAT Voluntary?
There is a misconception that Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPAT) are a problem because they are always voluntary. It is true that a company can decide to voluntarily create a VPAT and post it on their website. BUT, if a government agency requires a VPAT as part of their solicitation, then it is no longer voluntary. It becomes a requirement. The only voluntary part is whether or not the company wants to compete for that contract. If a government agency is procuring Electronic and Information Technology (EIT), then it is their responsibility to require accessibility information be provided by the bidder.
Here are some past blog posts about the VPAT and some more about Common Misconceptions.
Jan 20 2012
How the Quick Reference Guide can help you understand Section 508
This week the BuyAccessible team attended the IDEAS 2012 conference. At our booth, people told us that the technical language in the GPAT was difficult to understand. That language comes from the Section 508 standard, so we can’t change it. But… a long time ago we created a resource called Quick Reference Guide that was the basis for the BuyAccessible Wizard. This guide answers these questions for each Section 508 provision:
- What does this requirement mean?
- How can I tell if this requirement is met?
- Where can I get more information?
Jan 13 2012
Come see us at IDEAS 2012
The BuyAccessible team will be at the 2012 Interagency Disability Educationl Awareness Showcase (IDEAS), Wednesday, January 18, and Thursday, January 19, 2012 at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, DC. IDEAS is the federal government’s premier conference on Section 508 compliance and accessible workplace technology for people with disabilities.
We will have an exhibit table for the Buy Accessible Wizard. Our team is also giving a presentation on Thursday at 2 pm:
Session B5: The Buy Accessible Wizard, A Free Tool for Generating Section 508 Compliant Solicitations.
Panelists will discuss the GSA established Buy Accessible Wizard and how it is used as a market research tool to find 508 compliant and accessible products and services for purchase. Learn how to use the Wizard and discover how the tool will provide the appropriate 508 language to include in your acquisition documentation.
Jan 03 2012
New Year’s Resolution
The BuyAccessible team’s New Year’s resolution is to help government and industry with the transition for the Section 508 refresh. We plan to update our tools to reflect the new standard. Watch this blog for announcements about the refresh and new tools.
To get notifications of updates to this blog, you can use our RSS feed.
Dec 20 2011
These are a few of my favorite things
As a gift to you, here are links to a few of our favorite accessibility resources:
- Accessibility Resource Center: a list of company websites with links to their product and services accessibility information
- Quick Links: quick and easy pre-packaged Section 508 documentation for a number of standard EIT deliverables, for example solicitation language and guidance to help develop VPATS.
- Section 508 resources: free resources and tools published on Section508.gov site
- Accessibility Forum 2.0 blog: We have been publishing this blog for a year and a half now. Check out the categories and tags on the right to find past posts. You can also use the search function to find topics. If you have ideas for things you would like us to write about in the future, you can submit a comment below.
- GovLoop: an online social network where we have conversations with people working for and with the government. We use it to have conversations about accessibility and acquisition.
- WAVE: a free web accessibility evaluation tool to find accessibility issues with web pages.
Happy Holidays from the BuyAccessible Team!
Dec 15 2011
Access Board releases 2011 ANPRM of ICT rule
Here is an early holiday present!
On December 8, 2011 the Access Board has released for public comment an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) updating accessibility requirements for information and communication technology (ICT) covered by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act. This latest version includes changes made in response to public feedback received on an earlier draft issued last year. It also includes several questions where additional public feedback is sought. The public comment period ends on March 7, 2012.
During the comment period, the Board will hold two public hearings, on January 11, 2012 in Washington, DC, and March 1, 2012 in San Diego, CA. A subsequent separate Federal Register notice will announce the hearings (ICT meeting notice). The hearing on January 11th will be held at the Access Board conference room at 1331 F Street, NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC, from 9:00 a.m. to noon. The hearing on March 1st will be held at the 27th Annual CSUN conference, Manchester Grand Hyatt, One Market Place, San Diego, CA, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Persons wishing to speak at either hearing should preregister with Kathy Johnson, johnson@access-board.gov, (202) 272-0041 (v), or (202) 272-0082 (TTY).
All comments submitted during the public hearings will be posted to the rulemaking docket. After the public comment period closes, the Board will follow-up with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) which will provide an additional round of comment before the rule is finalized.
The ANPRM and related information will be available on the Board’s website and at Regulations.gov. For further information, contact Tim Creagan at creagan@access-board.gov, (202) 272-0016 (v), or (202) 272-0074 (TTY).
Tim Creagan
Sr. Accessibility Specialist
U.S. Access Board
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