- From: Harvey Bingham <hbingham@acm.org>
- Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2000 19:11:04 -0500
- To: w3c-wai-er-ig@w3.org
"Guidelines for Section 508 Expected by January" http://gcn.com/vol19_no31/news/3178-1.html Government Computer News (10/23/00) Vol. 19, No. 31, P. 8; Orr, Tony Lee The federal Access Board is due to issue guidelines in January 2001 to help agencies comply with the Section 508 directive. This directive requires that disabled users be able to access IT. Board accessibility specialist Doug Wakefield says that agencies will have six months after the guidelines are issued before the directive goes into effect. However, Wakefield says agencies do not have to wait until the final guidance is issued to begin making sure that their Web sites and other systems are accessible. Wakefield says that agencies must basically make sure that their IT is available to those without vision and those without hearing. However, the board wants to define how much accessibility is suitable. Wakefield says, "Accessibility may be in the eye of the beholder," and notes that the question may boil down to whether a disabled person can access and use a program. Meanwhile, the National Institute of Standards and Technology is working on establishing metrics that would remove any uncertainty. Sharon Lakowski, laskowski@nist.gov manager of the institute's visualization and usability group, says that design and performance must be considered when studying accessibility. Factors such as a Web page's design and a disabled users' ability to complete tasks to his or her satisfaction could be a basis for judging accessibility, Lakowski says. She suggests performance-based user testing to work toward a common industry format. ---- Has anyone in WAI-ER had any contact with Sharon? Regards/Harvey Bingham
Received on Sunday, 12 November 2000 19:14:04 UTC