Dyanamic Web Cast

To All,

             Do yourselves a favor and watch this dynamic webcast tomorrow.

             John 



TVWORLDWIDE.COM                                                                        PRESS RELEASE

Section 508 Town Meeting Webcast Stirs Debate on “Accessibility Czar” as 2nd 
Webcast is scheduled at AT508.com Noted Panelists to Again Convene Disability 
Community On-line, this Time with Webcast Participation of Federal Government 
as Debate over Section 508 Implementation Grows
Wednesday, July 30, 3:30 PM ET at www.AT508.com

For Immediate Release

Monday, July 28, 2003Contact:      Dave Gardy                  
                 John Williams 
TV Worldwide.com                       AT508.com
<A HREF="mailto:dgardy@tvworldwide.com">dgardy@tvworldwide.com</A>          JMMAW@aol.com
<A HREF="http://www.tvworldwide.com/">www.tvworldwide.com</A>                 <A HREF="http://www.at508.com/">www.at508.com</A> 
(703) 961-9250 ext. 221                 (703) 404-9557Chantilly, Va. On June 
20, Internet TV Channel and leading assistive technology portal AT508.com, an 
affiliate on the TVWorldwide.com network, offered a free live video webcast of 
the National Town Meeting to Rescue Section 508, on-line at <A HREF="http://www.at508.com/">www.AT508.com</A>. 
Since that time the response to this event has been overwhelming, according to 
webcast organizers, who are convinced they have hit a nerve on a very important 
issue and have planned a second webcast town meeting that will feature the 
participation of a federal representative from the GSA. The first town meeting 
featured prominent expert panelists from the community of those people with 
disabilities, renowned disability columnist John Williams of AT508.com and Mike 
Paciello, President of The Paciello Group (TPG), a leading international 
authority on Internet and software accessibility as the webcast elicited numerous 
e-mail responses from on-line participants, many of which are featured on 
AT508.com at <A HREF="http://www.at508.com/section508_emails.cfm">http://www.at508.com/section508_emails.cfm</A>. For the second webcast, 
Andy Imparato of the AAPD and Ms. Maxine Hill of GSA will join Mr. Williams and 
Mr. Paciello as they address specific points raised during the first meeting, 
including: 

1. An ‘Accessibility Czar’ – Creation of a role for someone to have the 
authority to re-establish the visibility, authentic importance, of E&IT 
accessibility on behalf of the federal government  2. Better systems for accountability 
-- GSA and DOJ administer 508, but there is little about their process for 
ensuring accessibility that holds an agency accountable for their decisions.  3. 
Establish an organization for certification, measurement, and Q/A of 508 
Standards -- a single point of entry -- a gatekeeper. An organization that 
represents the interests user needs of Federal Employees with disabilities, but also 
provides an consistent and reliable resource to industry. 4. Enhancement of 
purchasing processes between agencies and industry so that there is a better 
means for collaboration. That is, an agency and it's employees can work with a 
company to help that company better understand what it needs to do to make it's 
products accessible.  5. Better, "deeper" Education -- for Fed contracting 
agents, 508 coordinators, and vendors around the requirements specified in Section 
508 (not it's interpretation, but technical understanding of the 
requirements).

6. Creation of a formal “Federal Agency Report Card on Section 508 
Compliance”. 

7. An enforceable definition for the term “Undue Burden”

8. A formal structure for polling industry and government on how Section 508 
policies are being implemented.

“Our goal with this town meeting webcast process is to generate mainstream 
awareness of the inherent weaknesses in the federal government’s implementation 
of the important Section 508 legislation and I’m excited about the response we’
ve received,” stated Mr. Paciello. “Its clear there is a key flaw in the 
effective enforcement of Section 508 that involves a consistent and reliable set 
of usability, quality assurance, and certification measures that ensure E&IT 
product accessibility, thus federal agencies don’t comply and vendors are given 
mixed messages about what is or isn't accessible. This second town meeting 
will feature government participation as we come up with real proposals for 
Section 508 enforcement and federal agency oversight.”
 
”As controversial as it may seem, I think the ‘Accessibility Czar’ concept 
that came out of this webcast is a good idea,“ remarked Mr. Williams. “There 
over 56 million Americans with disabilities and its time that the federal 
government enforcement of disability legislation is granted the same dedication of 
resources as other ongoing federal efforts such as the war on drugs.”  

“During and after the first webcast we saw on-line democracy in action.,” 
commented Dave Gardy, CEO of TVWorldwide. “Individuals with disabilities are a 
very close-knit community and we’ve found through the rapid growth of 
AT508.com, that the web is a strong enabling factor for this demographic so we expect 
an even bigger crowd for this second webcast.”

The meeting will be webcast with open captioning of the streaming video, or “
webcaptingsm”, developed by TVWorldwide.com to assist federal agency clients 
in complying with Section 508. Visitors to the live webcast town meeting will 
be able to post questions to panelists and participate in Q&A via e-mail, 
providing a fully interactive forum for sharing of information.   The event will be 
webcast live and archived for viewing at <A HREF="http://www.tvworldwide.com/">www.tvworldwide.com</A> and <A HREF="http://www.at508.com/">
www.AT508.com</A>. Participants should have the free Real Video Player installed prior to the 
event and should log on by 3:15 PM ET on Wednesday, July 30.
 
About AT508.com
TVWorldwide’s AT508.com Internet TV channel was launched in October at the 
World Congress on Disabilities in Orlando, Fla, featuring world-renowned 
disability columnist John Williams covering the latest in assistive technology and 
Section 508 news and since then has webcast the TASH, ATIA, CSUN and CEC events 
for the community of people with disabilities. AT508.com features articles and 
videos on the latest in assistive technology products, services and issues 
and during trade show events, highlights keynotes, presentations and interviews 
with exhibitors and speakers. AT508.com events are webcast live and archived 
in fully accessible format using the captioned video streaming of 
TVWorldwide.com’s “webcaptingsm” process. AT508.com sponsors include The Paciello Group, 
Keybowl, HP, Kurzweil Educatonal Systems, Corda, Deque, Audio Eye, Sighted 
Electronics Freedom Vision and Vcom3D.About The Paciello Group (TPG)

Founded by Mike Paciello, TPG is an international leader in Accessibility 
Consulting and Engineering. TPG is dedicated to helping corporations, government 
agencies and educational institutions make their IT 
resources accessible to all people, including those with disabilities. They 
offer professional consulting, technology solutions and monthly monitoring 
services to ensure that clients reach and maintain the ongoing accessibility of 
their digital assets. Further information on The Paciello Group can be found 
online at <A HREF="http://www.paciellogroup.com/">www.paciellogroup.com</A>. About TV WorldwideAs a leading global 
Internet broadcasting and streaming media company, TV Worldwide (<A HREF="http://www.tvworldwide.com/">www.tvworldwide.com</A>
) is developing a network of video channels that is an affiliation of 
community-based Internet television stations, each underwritten by a strategic 
partner, "aimcastingsm" to targeted demographic audiences worldwide. TVWorldwide.com 
works with strategic partners to develop the latest in live and archived 
state-of-the art video streaming content applications. . TVWorldwide.com was 
recently named one of the streaming video industry’s “Hottest Streaming Companies” 
by Streaming Magazine, <A HREF="http://www.streamingmagazine.com/">www.streamingmagazine.com</A>, and CEO Dave Gardy was 
honored by the magazine as one of the 50 Most Influential People in Streaming 
Media.
 
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Received on Tuesday, 29 July 2003 07:54:05 UTC