RE: minutes from 02/23 /2015 coga & 508

I was running late for taskforce meeting and then could not get on to Zakim so am making my comments here so that they are on the record.

I absolutely support Lisa’s point of view that clear reference to Cognitive Disabilities must be included in the 508 refresh.  To wait for the next refresh in another 17 years time will mean that we have abandoned another generation.

Cognitive disabilities as you are all aware are some of the most common disabilities but equally most under represented when it comes to accessibility and inclusion.  We may not have commented previously but we are now. Since the refresh is open for comments now is the time to do so.

I think that Katie Haritos-Shea’s suggestion of including Coga in the  Functional Performance Criteria is absolutely necessary as a minimum.

“Add: 302.9 With Cognitive Language and
   Learning Disabilities. Where a mode of operation is provided,
   ICT shall provide at least one mode of operation that is
   operable by persons with Cognitive Language and Learning
   Disabilities.”

If the COGA taskforce have techniques ready in time then we should reference them, this is especially important since as I understand it the Access Board will only pointing to WCAG for techniques to meet A & AA.

Why as a Brit do I care about US legislation?

It’s all about harmonisation and precedence setting;

As EU and US legislation looks to cross reference, standardise and harmonise we run the risk of creating an ecosystem of compliancy with standards and therefore with the laws that effectively excludes some of the largest groups of people with disabilities.



Kind regards,

Neil Milliken
________________________________
From: lisa.seeman [lisa.seeman@zoho.com]
Sent: 26 February 2015 08:57
To: public-cognitive-a11y-tf
Subject: minutes from 02/23 /2015


The bot was being rest so our minutes from this weeks call are a bit late being published

http://www.w3.org/2015/02/23-coga-minutes.html

and http://www.w3.org/2015/02/23-coga-minutes.html,text for the text only version
n
All the best

Lisa Seeman

Athena ICT Accessibility Projects <http://accessibility.athena-ict.com>
LinkedIn<http://il.linkedin.com/in/lisaseeman/>, Twitter<https://twitter.com/SeemanLisa>