In one of the most unheralded events in computerdom, on June 21, 2001 came an innocuous sounding proposal of the Federal Government called Section 508. I know what your thinking, "Oh yawn, another useless act by our policy makers in Washington DC." But hold on, this could affect you if you do business with the Federal Government.

Section 508 is an amendment to the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 requiring all federal agencies to develop, procure, maintain, and use software and information technology that is accessible to people with disabilities, to the extent it does not pose an undue burden. This equipment makes up anywhere from 25 percent to 50 percent of all telecommunications goods sold to the federal government each year, according to estimates by the General Services Administration (GSA). This will especially affect the largest telecommunications and IT sellers to the government, including telecom companies, hardware manufacturers, and computer manufacturers. However, 508 is unique because it doesn't require companies to make products accessible but gives them a competitive edge in a very large market if they do.

Technologies covered under Section 508 include software and Web-enabled applications, Web sites, telecommunications functions, video and multimedia products, information kiosks, and transaction machines. The central point seems to be on equipment that the average worker would come in contact with, including phones and computers, as well as related services such as DSL connections. However, equipment typically tended only by trained personnel, such as a computer server, is exempt.

Some requirements include:

• Every federal Web site must be accessible to the disabled, meaning federal Web masters must be able to purchase the appropriate tools from vendors.
• All phones must be capable of a volume of 20 decibels, even though the Federal Communications Commission has recommended a maximum of 18dB.
• Every phone must be able to be connected to a TTY or teletypewriter device, although the board gave manufacturers some flexibility in how the connection could be accomplished.
• A variety of computer-related requirements for compliance, such the computer vendor is instructed how to design, for example, the Caps Lock key on a keyboard.

However, built-in assistive technology is required only when needed. So an office with no physically challenged workers would not be required to make special purchases. Section 508 applies to people with:

• Visual disabilities - blindness, low vision, and lack of color perception
• Hearing disabilities - hard of hearing, deafness
• Language, learning, or cognitive disabilities, including reading, thinking, remembering, or sequencing disabilities
• Speech disabilities
• Physical disabilities - limited strength, reach or manipulation, tremor, lack of sensation
• Other disabilities such as epilepsy or short stature Exceptions to the law include national security and instances in which it would cause undue burden.

So you say that this doesn't affect you - well, don't look the other way just yet because if you are a baby boomer and getting near retirement, some of these assistive technologies may be on your personal need list in the very near future. Blind people and visually impaired people can use computers equipped with screen readers, large captioning with audio, Braille output, and speech output. For someone with limited sight, a large-key keyboard or large print on a monitor could do the trick. This would be just what the doctor ordered for my father-in-law who has to double the normal font size to read the computer screen. Other possibilities include telephones that allow the deaf to receive incoming calls, or for an individual with one arm, a computer could be enabled with a one-handed keyboard. For people with hand shakes or tremors, a repeat-delay keyboard could help. Blind people can use a PC with a screen reader that helps them navigate using speech or Braille output. This enables them to use most of the common application programs.

There are many companies that are already involved in offering products for the assistive technology market and they include the heavyweights such as Microsoft, Compaq, IBM, Adobe, as well as small companies including MicroTalk who makes a screen reader for the blind. Microsoft offers screen enlarger, screen reviewers, voice-input aids, on-screen keyboards, and input devices that allow people to control the computer through eye-gaze pointing devices and sip-and-puff systems controlled by breathing. When I think of these technologies, I can't help but think of one of the great minds of this century, the cosmology giant Stephen Hawkins whose prodigious mind would have been lost to man, if it were not for these types of assistive technologies.

Why are the big names in technology complying to Section 508? For Microsoft it's simple, because the Federal Government is its largest customer, and it senses growth opportunity with the aging boomers who will face the challenges of reduced vision, hearing and dexterity. They saw an opportunity and decided to work with the Trace Research & Development Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and other companies to codify guidelines that explain how to evaluate and improve accessibility. The Redmond giant also published the Windows Guidelines for Accessible Software Design and other technical assistance for consumers and developers that can be found on its Accessibility Web site.

Adobe recently announced that it will partner with Microsoft and others to bring its Portable Document Format (PDF) into the accessibility environment by allowing screen readers to recognize PDF format. Adobe's latest versions of FrameMaker and GoLive also are equipped with accessibility functions. IBM has ViaVoice and Telcordia Technologies offers something called Orator II Speech Synthesizer. Both are speech recognition products developed for the general public, but they also work well for the visually impaired.

Home Page Reader, is another IBM program that allows you to surf the Web on your own, either through verbal instructions or by typing on a Braille keyboard. Home Page Reader speaks text and describes frames, image and text links, alternate text for images, and image maps. With special table-navigation features, you can understand even the most complex tables.

Where to Get Help

Companies that want to make their Web sites accessible so they can go after that big carrot the government dangles before them also can find programs that help them meet the 508 accessibility guidelines. You can find technical assistance at The Federal Information Technology Accessibility Initiative site or access the Windows Guidelines for Accessible Software Design on Microsoft's Accessibility Web site.

Pages using this symbol: - = - have been reviewed (by the web master of that site) for compliance with Section 508. If you see a page using this symbol, look at the source code (right click and click View Source) of the page for comments and to see when it was last reviewed for compliance.

There also are several programs available if you just need to verify compliance of your web site to 508. Hiawatha Island Software offers AccMonitor Server that checks Web sites for compliance and generates reports. It's available as a stand-alone tool or as a Microsoft FrontPage add-on. InSight/Infocus 508 from SSB Technologies spiders through Web sites, identifies up to 45 compliance problems and provides 27 auto-fix functions. Crunchy Technologies' has PageScreamer 2.3, and UsableNet has free extensions for Dreamweaver and UltraDev.

Vote in the Poll

Analog Main | Product of the Week | Columns | Editorial | Tech Notes

		Click here to get your listing up.