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Adaptive
Technology Opens Doors for Disabled Workers 508
Ways the Federal Government Makes the Grade by Robin Levine,
DCLnews Contributing Editor
Rapid
advances in modern technology is more than just convenience,
especially for people with disabilities. The possibility now
exists for them to do things they've never before been able
to do, things that many of us take for granted, simple things
that enable participation in everyday life and in the workplace,
to an extent never before possible. The federal government is
taking a lead role in this revolution through Section 508 of
the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
The
statute requires that after June 21, 2001 all “Federal agencies'
electronic and information technology is accessible to people
with disabilities, including employees and members of the public.”
The standards apply to operating systems, software, web-based
applications and information, telecommunications products, desktop
and portable computers, video and multimedia products and self-contained
products, such as the ones found in information kiosks.
More
than that, Section 508 has encouraged developments in the marketplace
and availability of products that will have a greater impact
on much more than the federal government. In much the same way
the space programs of the 60's and 70's spawned technologies
that became spread far and wide, Section 508 will have a similar
widespread impact.
Disabilities
run across a spectrum of types. Who can be assisted by adaptive
technology? Someone with color blindness who could have user
control of style sheets to change the colors; a person with
carpal tunnel syndrome could use keyboard equivalents for mouse-driven
commands or speech recognition to replace the times when typing
causes pain; an online student who is deaf could use captioned
audio portions of multimedia files; a blind person could opt
for the content printed out in Braille or could choose to listen
to an audio of it; or a student with dyslexia would benefit
from the use of supplemental graphics or multiple search options.
Older person or someone with low vision could have the type
magnified onscreen or hear an audio of it while someone with
a cognitive disability could have the content provided in clear
and simple language or have supplemental audio. Even someone
with deaf-blindness seeking entertainment could benefit from
user control of style sheets, accessible multimedia, device-independent
access, labeled frames and appropriate table markup.
The
federal government has taken the initiative to make electronic
information accessible to disabled persons and numerous manufacturers
and organizations are helping them achieve that aim. All companies
seeking to do business with the federal government must comply
with the standards. The federal government spent $37.6 billion
on IT products during fiscal 1999, according to the Office of
Management and Budget, which makes it one of the largest purchasers
of IT products in the world. Manufacturers are adapting hardware,
operating systems and software to meet the requirements of the
federal government.
The
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), an organization of companies
dedicated to improving the web, have been working on the Web
Accessibility Initiative (WAI), that develops guidelines for
the accessibility of websites, browsers and authoring tools.
The guidelines point out that any changes made to accommodate
people with disabilities can benefit web users who do not have
disabilities.
The
Computer Accommodation Program (CAP) is a civilian-run agency
situated at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio that is
fully funded by the Department of Defense (DoD). “CAP,” says
Project Leader Wayne Allen, “assists just the Air Force Material
Command (AFMC) at this time but we are trying to branch out
to other Air Force units.” Allen explains that the program lets
people “try ‘em before you buy ‘em so when they go to the vendor
they know what they’ll need.”
One
popular program, Job Access with Speech (JAWS), Allen says “helps
people with low vision magnify up to 18 times what is on the
screen.” JAWS will also let people push a button to have the
screen content read aloud to them or have it printed in Braille
or high contrast colors. Explains Allen “some people can’t read
the screen even if it’s 24 or 30 pitch but JAWS allows them
to save it to a different file, upload or download.” Manufactured
by Henter-Joyce, JAWS uses an integrated voice synthesizer and
a computer's sound card to output the onscreen content to speakers.
JAWS also outputs to refreshable Braille displays. According
to the company’s website “this technology provides access to
a wide variety of information, education, and job related applications
to over 60,000 users worldwide.” CAP supplies JAWS and numerous
other adaptive devices and ships all available products to employees
of AFMC to try out for 30 days.
Microsoft
Corporation is one of the companies that have made its products
accessible. The company packaged assistive technology into its
Windows 98 Control Panel with an Accessibility Options icon
that allows the user to change the way the software interacts
with the hardware. StickyKeys enables the use of the Shift,
Control or Alt in one keystroke while FilterKeys ignores repeated
keystrokes or slows the repeat rate and ToggleKeys allows the
user to hear tones when pressing certain keys. There are also
high color contrast options as well as the ability to turn the
numeric pad into a key pointer and availability for alternative
access to keyboard and mouse features.
Other
companies such as systems integrators AMS and Science Applications
International Corp. and consulting firms like Booz-Allen &
Hamilton Inc. offer their federal clients a wide range of services
from altering websites and computer systems to helping the federal
agency choose the assistive devices needed to aid its employees.
In
its present form, Section 508 allows federal workers to file
complaints with the Department of Justice and sue the non-compliant
agency. Dennis DeMolet, a professional marketing consultant
to DCL has championed the rights of disabled persons and is
an expert on the fine points and nuances of Section 508. Disabled
during his time as a Marine in Vietnam, he understands the difficulties
persons with disabilities face during the normal course of a
workday.
How
does Section 508 help protect disabled workers? By ensuring
that federal agencies provide those workers with the use of
assistive technology. If a worker requests an accommodation,
explains DeMolet “as soon as a boss says ‘no’ an employee automatically
has a case.” Many disabilities are non-visible to others
and the law protects them, as well.
DeMolet
outlined a case in private industry, which falls under the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA) that, under Section 508, could be
brought by a federal worker against his employer. A worker who
was deaf in one ear needed a headset that cost $200. When the
company denied the employee’s request for assistance to perform
her job, she sued. The judge decided that it was not “unreasonable”
for the company to spend the money in order to accommodate the
worker and ordered it to do so.
DeMolet
says that compliance to Section 508 is “open to interpretation
and not stamped in red, white and blue.” The law, he explains,
is “very gray, very vague in a lot of cases.” One member
of a federal agency told DeMolet that as long as their web server
is compliant they have met the requirements in 508. DeMolet
emphatically disagrees with that view. “Everything that goes
with the web server, such as sound, graphics, visibility which
are identified through tagging is subject to meeting the requirements.”
The
commitment to accessible technology and the dissemination of
information is, DeMolet explains, “where XML is so important.
DCL has the capacity to help make those pages dynamic for people
with disabilities.”
There
are software programs that are adaptive to assistive devices.
For example, Adobe Acrobat 5 allows PDF pages to be accessed
by the disabled but requires plug-ins to be installed. Says
DeMolet “Optical Character Recognition (OCR) will enable documents
printed out to be read in Braille or be audible.”
DeMolet,
who is impassioned on this subject, feels that “it’s all about
accessibility to important information via cell-phone, pager,
PDA, computers or in between.”
It’s
an American story as old as warmed apple pie and ice cream:
taking care of each other and making sure that even though technology
changes at a rapid rate, that picket fence can be painted, red,
white or blue to be enjoyed by everyone. Imparts DeMolet, “Every
family has one or more disabled persons. We are all different
and unique and need to adapt to our environment.” With 22 million
Americans having computers in their homes and offices, all of
us are part of history in the making.
For
more information on Section 508, please click on the following
links.
Related
Articles and Links:
Official
Section 508 Website
Government
Computer News Section 508 Resource Center
Henter-Joyce
(JAWS)
Computer
Accommodation Program (CAP)
New
Disability Standards Create Long-Term Opportunities
How
People with Disabilities Use the Web
“Section
508 Compliance: Not a Simple YES or NO
fedmarket.com,
June 22, 1001
“Compliance
Countdown”
Federal
Computer Week, May 21, 2001
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