- From: Michael R. Burks <mburks952@worldnet.att.net>
- Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 10:49:16 -0400
- To: "WAI IG" <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
I think people have forgotten that 508 only applies to things purchased for developed AFTER June 21. We need to get that word out and the GSA needs to get it out as well. Sincerely, Mike Burks Confusion Reigns Over Accessibility Compliance By Karen Robb April 18, 2001 FEDERAL TIMES Confusion over a law requiring that agency computer systems be usable by people with disabilities is leading some federal offices to consider shutting down Web sites that do not comply. On April 11, the General Services Administration's office of governmentwide policy issued an internal warning that Web sites that cannot be used by people with disabilities would be shut down by June 14. That threat was retracted soon afterward. But other federal offices are considering similar drastic measures with the approach of a June 21 deadline for agencies to make their computers and Web sites usable for people with a wide variety of disabilities. Agencies must do this under section 508 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. "Agencies have thousands of inaccessible Web pages," said one federal Web master, who asked not to be named. "Web masters are taking pages down because they are terrified they will be sued if they do not make them compliant in time." Joseph McKay, chief information officer at the General Services Administration's office of governmentwide policy, told Web managers in an April 11 e-mail obtained by the Federal Times that all Web sites not compliant with standards for accessibility for people with disabilities will be removed from the Web. "Any Web sites that are not Section 508 compliant will go dark after June 14, 2001," a week before the deadline, the e-mail said. Section 508 is a 1998 amendment to the 1973 Rehabilita- tion Act that requires agencies to buy computers and other office equipment that can accommodate people with disabilities. Agencies that do not, the law says, will be vulnerable to lawsuits. But some experts say agencies have misunderstood the law. "Pre-existing Web sites do not have to meet Section 508 standards," said Doug Wakefield, information technology access specialist at the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, known as the Access Board. Only Web sites launched or substantially redesigned after June 21 must be compliant with Section 508, Wakefield said. "Older sites must offer an alternative way for the disabled to get the information on the site, but the Rehabilitation Act has required that before Web sites even existed," Wakefield said. Mary Lou Mobley, trial attorney for the Justice Department, agreed with Wakefield's assessment. "Agencies should make their older pages accessible when they can," Mobley said in a statement to the Federal Times. "When they cannot, they should, at the very least, provide an easy way for people to ask for the information that is contained in those inaccessible pages, such as a toll-free telephone number or an e-mail address." Wakefield is concerned that agencies' overreaction to the law may leave people with disabilities with less access to information then they have now. "No Web site is 100 percent inaccessible," he said. "Even information contained on the worst designed Web page is better than no information at all." GSA's office of governmentwide policy does not intend to remove information from its Web sites, said John Sindelar, deputy associate administrator of governmentwide policy in an interview with the Federal Times. "We have a contractor working full time to make sure we are done in time," Sindelar said. He said McKay's e-mail was worded strongly to motivate people to remove outdated material from the Web. "We wanted to light a fire under the Web managers," said Sindelar. "We have some pretty prolific people who have posted 60-page Power Point presentations that are a year out of date. We want people to get rid of that kind of stuff." In an April 12 e-mail to his staff, Sindelar clarified the Web policy. "We are not eliminating content for the sake of meeting 508 requirements by June 21," said the e-mail, which was obtained by the Federal Times. "We fully expect and are making a significant investment to ensure none of our Web pages go dark." There is still a danger that Web masters who misunderstand the law's requirements will remove valuable information, said a member of Sindelar's staff who asked not to be identified. "Everything that has come out so far is very confusing and contradictory. We need the administration to issue some clear guidance," the employee said.
Received on Thursday, 19 April 2001 10:52:16 UTC