An Overview of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act, and the Pending Refresh Slide 1 Regulation Update: Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act, and the Pending Refresh DBTAC-Great Lakes ADA Center, Timothy Creagan Senior Accessibility Specialist U.S. Access Board December 16, 2008 Washington, DC Slide 2 Title: Today’s topics: I. Background: • §508 of the Rehabilitation Act • §255 of the Telecommunications Act • Accommodations versus Accessibility II. Why Conduct a “Refresh”? III. TEITAC – The “Refresh” of §508 and §255 IV. What does the TEITAC report recommend? Slide 3 Title: I. Background: • §508 of the Rehabilitation Act and • §255 of the Telecommunications Act • Accommodations versus Accessibility Slide 4 Title: About the Access Board • 25 members: 13 Public Members appointed by the President for four year terms 12 Federal members: • Justice • GSA • Interior Labor • Defense • Transportation • Education • Housing and Urban Development • USPS • Commerce • Health and Human Services • Veterans’ Affairs • $6 million budget • 28 employees • 3 organizational units • Office of the Executive Director • General Counsel • Technical and Information Services Slide 5. Title: Access Board Programs • Guidelines and standards development • Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 • Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 • Telecommunications Act of 1996 • Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 • Technical assistance and training • Research • Compliance and enforcement Slide 6 Title: Overview Telecommunications Act of 1996 47 U.S.C. §255 • “Section 255” • Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended 29 U.S.C. § 794 (d) • “Section 508” Slide 7 Title: Access Board Revisions of Standards and Guidelines Rulemaking Process provides for periodic review and “refresh” of: Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards (“§508 Standards”) And Telecommunications Act Accessibility Guidelines (“§255 Guidelines”) Slide 8 Title: Electronic and Information Technology Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. 794d), requires that: • Federal employees with disabilities, and members of the public with disabilities seeking information or services, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use by persons who are not individuals with disabilities, unless… Standard: ….an “Undue Burden” would be imposed on the agency. Slide 9 Title: Telecommunications Act • Manufacturers and service providers must ensure that products are "designed, developed, and fabricated to be accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities" or • “…ensure that [products or services are] compatible with [AT] commonly used by individuals with disabilities to achieve access…” Standard: When it is “Readily Achievable” to do so Slide 10 Title: Differences Between the ADA, §504, §508, and §255 • ADA and §504 - do not directly regulate the design of technology and are primarily focused on the “individual”. • §508 - requires Federal entities to develop, procure, and maintain accessible E&IT and is primarily focused on the “technology environment” available to anyone (employee or consumer) of government services. • §255 - requires Telecommunication manufacturers and service provider to provide accessible products and services. Slide 11 Title: Accommodation v. Accessibility Accommodation • Particular • Occurs “after the fact” • §504 • “Person focused” • “Civil Rights” • • Accessibility • Global • “Built In” • §508 • “Technology Focused” • “Procurement” Slide 12 Title: Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act Overview Slide 13 Title: The Purpose of Section 255 “…to ensure that people with disabilities have access to telecommunications services and related equipment…” Slide 14 Title: What does Section 255 require? • make their products and services accessible. • “…ensure that [products or services are] compatible with [AT] commonly used by individuals with disabilities to achieve access…” Slide 15 Title: 255 General Requirements • Provide equipment that is accessible (according to the guidelines) where readily achievable. • Include representation from people with disabilities in the processes of Product Design, Development, and Evaluation [Slide has a photograph of a TTY] Slide 16 Title: Cell phone: How Accessible? Slide contains a photograph of two cell phones with different designs. There are text boxes and arrows indicating what is “poor” or “better” in these designs from an accessibility point of view. The text boxes include: on/off button, volume control, button feel, Text Size. The appearance of these text boxes with the associated arrows is controlled by the speaker. Slide 17 Title: Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Overview Slide 18 Title: Rehab Act § 508 requires: • Federal agencies • develop, maintain, procure or use and purchase accessible E&IT • through procurement process • Enforcement mechanisms • Complaint Process • Legal Action Slide 19 Title: Who Must Comply With § 508? • Each Federal Department and Agency • United States Postal Service • When procuring, developing, maintaining, or using E&IT Slide 20 Title: Who Benefits from § 508 1. People with disabilities who interact with federal agencies. 2. Federal employees with disabilities. 3. All people with disabilities because accessible products for the federal market are also sold in the public marketplace. Slide 21 Title “What technology is covered by Section 508?” Slide contains images of a personal computer, a Braille printer in a cabinet, a screen capture from a software product, a graphic of a person on the phone with a message bubble with text that says “You have 15 seconds to finish your message”, an information Kiosk. Slide 22 Title: Access Board §508 Standards Cover-- • Technical Standards • Functional Performance Criteria • Information, Documentation and Support Slide 23 Title: II. Why Do We Need A “Refresh”? Slide 24 Title: Goals in the Revision Process “We agree that what is needed are clear, consensus driven, testable, and reliable accessibility requirements. In this world of global scales, it is critical that accessibility requirements be harmonized throughout the world. Product manufacturers want to build to a single set of requirements – or at least not be faced with competing world wide requirements. We should do what we can to facilitate this, because ultimately if we can make the regulatory process easier to achieve – and by that I do not mean that we need to weaken the requirements that exist today – we will enhance accessibility for people with disabilities worldwide.” Marc Guthrie, Access Board public member International Workshop on Accessibility Requirements Brussels, Belgium -- October 21, 2004 Slide 25 Title: Why Revisions are Needed? • The Access Board shall periodically review and, as appropriate, amend the standards to reflect technological advances or changes in electronic and information technology (section 508) • The Board shall review and update the Telecommunications Act Accessibility Guidelines periodically (section 255) • Almost 8 years since the Section 508 standards were issued – 10 years for the Telecommunications Act Accessibility Guidelines Slide 26 Title: Why Revisions are Needed? • Frequent requests for clarification and technical assistance > what products are covered? > ambiguity > increase testability • Technological changes > convergence of products > widespread adoption of wireless and VoIP • International efforts are underway Slide 27 Title: Changed Technology: iPods and Podcasting [There is a picture of an Apple iPods] VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Phones [There is a picture of a VoIP phone, with a menu superimposed over the picture of the phone] Slide 28 Title: TEITAC issues • Convergence of technology • VOIP (Voice over the Internet Protocol) • Change in concept of “self-contained, closed products” • User interfaces: multi-touch and gestures • Synchronized media • Assistive technologies Slide 29 Title: Convergence of Technology • Web applications and web-software installed on a pc v. on web [There is a screen capture of a spreadsheet] wiki [There is a screen capture of the Wikipedia image of the world] Hardware, esp. mobile devices Cell phone /w text messaging [There is a picture of two arms: one arm has a cell phone strapped to the wrist. The other hand is manipulating a stylus to operate features on the wrist phone.] Slide 30 Title: Use of AT in mainstream products: Speech input and output more common cell phones automobiles Interactive text – IM – Real time Text – API (Application Programming Interface) – address compatibility responses between AT and IT software (make products interoperate) Slide 31 Title: API : how 2 pieces of software interact with each other [Application Programming Interface] [There is a graphic depiction of two streams of data interacting with each other, one is called a valuation API, the other is called a Property Details API. The two streams meld together and go to a box labeled “Your website.com” Slide 32 Title: Multi-touch and gesture interfaces: Touch interfaces on mobile devices. Touchscreens, cameras, and other movement detection systems can receive and analyze complex actions: “chorded” input (several fingers at once) [Picture of someone using both hands to operate a touchscreen] Whole gestures: spreading two fingers apart or tilting one’s head to the side [Image of actor Tom Cruise in “Minority Report” wearing a gloves with sensors on each hand and drawing his fingers apart.] Slide 33 Title: What are other countries doing? • How can we harmonize our standards? [Image of a Mercator projection of the world] Slide 34 Title: Intended Audiences and Levels of Effort • The Telecommunications Act Accessibility Guidelines apply to manufacturers • A manufacturer of telecommunications equipment …shall ensure that the equipment is designed, developed, and fabricated to be accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable Slide 35 Title: Intended Audiences and Levels of Effort • The Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards apply to Federal government agencies • When agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology, they must ensure that it is accessible to Federal employees and individuals with disabilities who are members of the public seeking information or services from a Federal agency unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency Slide 36 Title: Why an Advisory Committee? • Advisory committees allow interested groups to play a substantive role in the development of rules which are then proposed for public comment • §508 requires consultation [Image of the TEITAC members, September 2006] Slide 37 Title: Why One Rulemaking? • The telecommunications provisions in the section 508 standards are based on, and are consistent with, the Board’s Telecommunications Act Accessibility Guidelines • The “intended audiences” and “levels of effort” for each law will remain different Slide 38 Title: III. TEITAC Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee Slide 39 Title: TEITAC Begins - July 2006 • Committee members recruited broadly > Federal agencies > ICT and AT industries and their trade associations > standards organizations > consumer advocates > researchers and developers > national and international experts Slide 40 Title: TEITAC Members • Adobe Systems, Inc. • American Association of People with Disabilities • American Council of the Blind • American Foundation for the Blind • AOL LLC • Apple, Inc. • Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs • Assistive Technology Industry Association • AT&T • Avaya, Inc. • Canon USA, Inc. • Communication Service for the Deaf • CTIA - The Wireless Association • Dell, Inc. • Easter Seals • European Commission • Hearing Loss Association of America • Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (Australia) • IBM • Inclusive Technologies • Industry Canada • Information Technology Association of America • Information Technology Industry Council • Japanese Standards Association • Microsoft Corporation • National Association of State Chief Information Officers • National Center on Disability and Access to Education • National Federation of the Blind • National Network of Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers • Panasonic Corporation of North America • Paralyzed Veterans of America • SRA International, Inc. • Sun Microsystems, Inc. • Telecommunications Industry Association • The Paciello Group, LLP • Trace Research and Development Center • Usability Professionals’ Association • U.S. Department of Homeland Security • U.S. Social Security Administration • WGBH National Center for Accessible Media • World Wide Web Consortium – Web Accessibility Initiative Slide 41 Title: Federal Advisory Committee Act • Charter: outlines the committee's mission and specific duties • Duration: two years • Committees must be fairly balanced in terms of the points of view represented and the functions to be performed • Members are selected by the head of the agency Slide 42 Title: TEITAC Process • Bi-monthly public meetings (9) • Teleconferences (20) • Subcommittees (8) • Editorial working group • Extensive outside participation • Wiki • Consensus based Slide 43 Title: TEITAC Meetings • # 1 September 27-29, 2006, NSF • # 2 November 2006 • # 3 February 2007 • # 4 May 2007 • # 5 July 2007, August (Teleconferences) • # 6 September 2007 • # 7 October 2007 (Teleconferences) • # 8 November 2007 • # 9 December 2007(Teleconferences) • #10 January 2008 • #11 January- March 2008 (Teleconference) Slide 44 Title: TEITAC Report: http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/refresh/report Minority reports: http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/update-index.htm Slide 45 Title: TEITAC Recommendations • “Product characteristics” rather than “product categories” • Largely harmonized with WCAG 2.0 (Web May 2007 draft) and ISO 9241-171 (software) • Software, Web, other content, and interfaces now largely converged into “User Interface and Electronic Content” Slide 46 Title: Subpart A • Purpose • Application • General Exceptions • Equivalent Facilitation • Definitions Slide 47 Title: Subpart B: Functional Performance Criteria • Without Vision • With Limited Vision • With Color Vision Deficits • Without Hearing • With Limited Hearing • Without Speech • With Limited Reach, Strength, or Manipulation • Without Physical Contact • With Cognitive, Language, or Learning Limitations Slide 48 Title: Subpart C: Technical Requirements • General Technical Requirements • Requirements for Hardware Aspects of Products • Requirements for User Interface and Electronic Content • Additional Requirements for Audio-Visual Players or Displays • Requirements for Audio and/or Video Content • Additional Requirements for Real-Time Voice Conversation Functionality • Additional Requirements for Authoring Tools Slide 49 Title: Subpart D • Information, Documentation and Support • Implementation, Operation, and Maintenance Slide 50 Title: TEITAC Concludes – April 2008 Report presented to the Board on April 3, 2008 www.access-board.gov/sec508/refresh/report [Image of the two co-chairs of TEITAC, Michael Paciello and Jim Tobias, presenting the TEITAC report to the Chair of the U.S. Access Board, Tricia Mason] Slide 51 Title: What are the Required Rulemaking Steps? • Notice of Proposed Rulemaking > Regulatory assessment – costs and benefits > Submit to OMB – 90 day review period > Publish in Federal Register – minimum 30 day comment period • Final Rule > Regulatory assessment > Submit to OMB – 90 day review period > Publish in Federal Register Slide 52 Title: Is Rulemaking Lengthy? • Past history indicates that the amount of time needed is about 2 years > Section 508 rulemaking took 19 months > Section 255 rulemaking took 13 months Slide 53 Title: First Step: TEITAC report 1. Advisory committee of 41 stakeholder groups, (7/2006-4/2008) including: • Industry • Consumers • Standards setting bodies • International representatives 2. Report of recommendations: April 3, 2008 Slide 54 Title: After TEITAC, Next Steps: 3. Internal review of report 4. Draft Text of provisions 5. Access Board approves 6. Draft Preamble, Advisories and Regulatory Assessment 7. Access Board Approves 8. OMB Review 9. Publish Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) Slide 55 Title: What About Other Agencies? • Not later than 6 months after the Access Board revises any standards the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council shall revise the Federal Acquisition Regulations Slide 56 Title: Conclusion * Rulemaking will be lively * Implementation issues involve other Federal actors * Continued research and monitoring of harmonization is needed * Follow www.access-board.gov for updates Slide 57 Title: Questions? Comments? Want more information? Contact the Access Board: Website: www.Access-Board.gov Tim Creagan Creagan@access-board.gov; 202-272-0016 Slide 58 Title: Thank you! ?? ?? ?? ?? 3