Accessible Electronic and Information Technology (E&IT) Procurement Training 101

ATI Workshop

LAX Crowne Plaza

December 12, 2006

Accessible Technology

enabling IT hardware, software and services to be used effectively by people with disabilities.

Accessible Technology

Law requires it.
Equality demands it.
Businesses embrace it.
We benefit from it.

Setting the Context: Who Benefits?

Figure 3: Majority of Working-Age Adults Likely to Benefit from the Use of Accessible Technology workingage.aspx, March 15, 2005

Part 1: Accessibility in E&IT

How is Accessibility to be Achieved?
What are the Section 508 Standards & Why are They Needed?

What is California Government Code 11135?

State law that provides protection from discrimination from any program or activity that is conducted, funded directly by, or receives any financial assistance from the State of California.
It codifies Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requiring accessibility of electronic and information technology.

Cal. Gov. Code §11135(d)(2)

"In order to improve accessibility of existing technology, and therefore increase the successful employment of individuals with disabilities, particularly blind and visually impaired and deaf and hard-of-hearing persons, state governmental entities, in developing, procuring, maintaining, or using electronic or information technology, either indirectly or through the use of state funds by other entities, shall comply with the accessibility requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. Sec. 794d), and regulations implementing that act as set forth in Part 1194 of Title 36 of the Federal Code of Regulations."

What is Section 508?

A part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 amended in 1998 through the Workforce Investment Act

What is Section 508?

It requires that electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained or used by the federal government to be accessible to people with disabilities
Includes accessibility standards for electronic and information technology

How does Section 508 apply to the CSU?

In 2003, the California State Legislature amended Government Code 11135 to require CSU to implement Section 508 and to apply the federal accessibility standards to the electronic and information technology (EIT) products and services that CSU buys, creates, uses and maintains.

How Does Section 508 Apply to CSU?

CSU Must Incorporate Section 508 Requirements into the Electronic and Information Technology Procurement Process

Difference Between CA Law and Section 508

CA Law Requires Vendors Selling to CSU to “Respond To and Resolve Any Complaint Regarding Accessibility of its Products or Services” Brought to the Attention of CSU

Gov. Code 11135 Section (c)(2)

CA Law includes phrase “in determining the cost of developing or procuring electronic or information technology, consider whether technology that meets the standards applicable pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) will reduce the long-term cost incurred by the California State University in providing access or accommodations to future users of this technology who are persons with disabilities, as required by existing

law …”

Part 1: Section 508 Standards

Organization of Section 508

Subpart A-Scope & Exceptions
Subpart B- Fifty-Eight Technical Rules
Subpart C- Six Functional Performance Criteria
Subpart D- Three Vendor Rules for Information, Documentation and Support

Definition of E&IT

Any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment, that is used in the automatic acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching

Key Concepts for Standards

Apply Universal Design Principles

to Mainstream Technology

Design to the Standard for Interoperability Between Mainstream Technology & Assistive Technology
Create Marketplace Incentives

Technology to Expose Content and Functionality

Example: Keyboard access to software program controls and functions enable a person who cannot use a mouse to run the product.
Example: By providing “Alt” attributes to website images containing meaningful content, then screenreader software can read the content out loud to the user.

Technical Standards-Subpart B

Software Applications and Operating Systems
Web-based intranet and Internet Information and Applications
Telecommunication Products

Technical Standards- Cont’d

Video and Multimedia Products
Self-Contained, Closed Products (Kiosks, ITMs, Copiers, Printers, Calculators, Fax Machines)
Desktop and Portable Computers

Software & the Web- Key Concept

Seek to Expose the Content and Functionality of User Interface Elements so that Assistive Technology and Other alternative Input and output Methods Can Operate.

Telecommunication Products- Key Concept

Seek to Have No Interference with the Functionality and Operation of TTY’s, Interactive Voice Response Systems, and Hearing Aids

Video and Multimedia Products- Key Concept

Ensure that Audible Content is Visual (Captioning for Hearing Disability)

Video and Multimedia Products- Key Concept

Ensure that Visual Content is Audible for Training Videos (Descriptive Captioning of Action for Visual Disability)

Self-Contained, Closed Products- Key Concept

Ensure that the Products as a Stand Alone Meet Cross-Disability Functionality so that a Person with Visual, Hearing, and Mobility Disabilities Can Use It

Desktop and Portable Computers- Key Concept

Ensure that Operational Controls Meet Cross-Disability Requirements
Expansion Slots, Ports and Connectors Must be Available for Assistive Technology

Information, Documentation & Support- Subpart D

Product Support Documentation Shall Be Made Available in Alternate Formats upon Request, at No Additional Charge

Information, Documentation & Support

Support Services for Products Shall Accommodate the Communication Needs of End-users with Disabilities

Functional Performance Criteria-Subpart C

Applies to Technologies that Do Not Fit Within Subpart B Due to Innovation
Intended to Ensure that Individual Components Work together to Produce an Accessible Product
Ensures that All Product Functions are Operable Through Each Mode

Subpart C(a): Vision

At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user vision shall be provided, or support for assistive technology used by people who are blind or visually impaired shall be provided

Subpart C(b): Visual Acuity

At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require visual acuity greater than 20/70 shall be provided in audio and enlarged print output working together or independently, or support for assistive technology used by people who are visually impaired shall be provided.

Subpart C(c): Hearing

At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user hearing shall be provided, or support for assistive technology used by people who are deaf or hard of hearing shall be provided.

Subpart C(d): Audio Information

Where audio information is important for the use of a product, at least one mode of operation and information retrieval shall be provided in an enhanced auditory fashion, or support for assistive hearing devices shall be provided.

Subpart C(e): Speech

At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user speech shall be provided, or support for assistive technology used by people with disabilities shall be provided.

Subpart C(f): Motor Skills/Coordination

At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require fine motor control or simultaneous actions and that is operable with limited reach and strength shall be provided.

Application of Section 508 and Exemptions-Subpart A

Outlines the Scope of Section 508
Explains the Application of

-Undue Burden

-Commercial Availability

-Equivalent Facilitation

Provides Exceptions for Not Procuring Products under the Standards

Undue Burden

When Developing, Procuring, Maintaining or Using E&IT, CSU Shall Ensure that the Products Conform to Section 508 Standards, unless it would be an Undue Burden
Undue Burden is to be Determined on a “Case by Case” Basis and Should be Rarely Invoked.

Example of Undue Burden

President’s Office decides to purchase a computer program that generates maps denoting regional demographics. The cost of acquiring an accessible version of the program would exceed the entire Operating Budget for the campus. This cost would be considered an undue burden. If the President’s Office is to claim an undue burden so that it can procure the inaccessible version, it must document that exception, obtain the approval and signature of the official charged with making 508 exceptions and be prepared to provide the map demographic information in an alternative manner to users with disabilities.

Fundamental Alteration Exception

CSU is Not Required to Alter its Acquisition Requirements to Comply with Gov’t Code 11135 if the Alteration Would be So Fundamental that CSU would No Longer be Procuring E&IT that Met Its Needs

Fundamental Alteration Example:

The campus facilities department needs pocket-sized pagers for the groundskeepers. Adding a large display to a small pager may fundamentally alter the device by significantly changing its size so that it no longer meets the purpose it was intended- to be a communication device that fits in a shirt or jacket pocket for portability.

Commercial Availability

When Procuring a Product, CSU Shall Procure Products which Conform to the Standards When the Products are Available in the Commercial Marketplace Or When They Are Developed in Response to a CSU Solicitation

Commercial Availability

CSU Cannot Claim a Product is Not Commercially Available Because No Product Meets All the Standards.
If Products are Commercially Available that Meet Some, But Not All, of the Standards, then CSU Must Procure the Product that Best Meets the Standards.

Commercial Availability Example

Products from Vendor A, B and C meet CSU’s business Requirements.
Vendor A has an Accessible Product but Because of Vendor Production Issues, it Cannot be Delivered to CSU by the Required Date.
Vendor B has a Product that Meets Some of the Accessibility Requirements But Not All of Them as Offered by Vendor A.

Commercial Availability Example

Vendor C has a Product that Meets Some of the Accessibility Requirements, But More than Those Offered by Vendor B.
Assuming All Things Being Equal in Terms of Meeting the Business Requirements, Vendor C’s Product Will be Procured.

Equivalent Facilitation

This Provision Recognizes that Innovation or Use of Technologies in a Particular Way Might Cause the Product to Fall Outside of Subpart B
Test for Equivalent Facilitation is Whether or Not the Technology Results in “Substantial Equivalent or Greater Access”
Subpart C Provides the Functional Performance Criteria for These Products

Equivalent Facilitation Example

An information kiosk that is not accessible to a person who is blind might be made accessible by incorporating a telephone handset connected to a computer that responds to touchtone commands and delivers the same information audibly that is provided on the screen.

Other Section 508 Exceptions

E&IT involves

Intelligence Activities;
Cryptographic Activities related to National Security;
Equipment as an Integral Part of a Weapon or Weapons System

Other Section 508 Exceptions

E&IT involves

Products to be Acquired by a Contractor Incidental to a Contract; and/or
Products are Located in Spaces Frequented Only By Service Personnel for Maintenance, Repair and Occasional Monitoring and Cannot be Operated Remotely.

Back Office Exception Example

Power supplies and electrical equipment, cabling and plugs, specialized back-end computers that do not provide a direct user interface such as hubs, routers, etc., and embedded software that has no direct interface to the end-user.
See http://www.cio.noaa.gov/itmanagmenet/508_You_CD435.htm

CA Gov’t Code 11135 Exception

Procurement Does Not Reduce Long-Term Cost Incurred by CSU in Providing Access or Accommodations to Future Users of this Technology who are Persons with Disabilities as Required under Existing Civil Rights Law (Section 508, Title II of the ADA and Section 504)

Part 3: VPATs and How to Request Accessibility Information from Vendors

How can we request/research for accessibility information from vendors?
What should be communicated to requestors (purchasers) of E&IT about accessibility requirements?

Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates

VPAT Organization:

1. Summary Table

2. Subpart B Technical Standard

3. Subpart C Functional Performance Standard

4. Subpart D Information, Documentation and Support

VPATs

How Does a Vendor Fill Out a VPAT?

Identify Class of Products to Group Together (Do Not Mix Different Products)
See CSU Guide for Completing the VPAT

Explain all Exceptions and “Not Applicable” Language in Subparts B-D Tables
Date the VPAT

CSU Use of VPATs

VPAT Enables CSU to Document Marketplace Research Obligations
VPAT Assists in the Evaluation of Bids for Determining the Most Accessible Product to Procure under CA Gov’t Code 11135
VPAT Provides a Record for Tracing Accessible Procurements

VPATs

See Handout for VPAT Form
See Handout for Example of Completed VPAT

Contact Information

Cynthia D. Waddell, JD

Executive Director

Law, Policy and Technology Consultant

International Center For Disability Resources on the Internet

Cynthia.Waddell@icdri.org