# Presentation: 359443

- Timothy Creagan
- Senior Accessibility Specialist
- U.S. Access Board
- TEITAC
-  September 28, 2006

- Issues Raised During Outreach

## Access Board Outreach

- The Access Board staff solicited input on the upcoming “§508/§255 refresh”:
- Informal meetings
- Conferences
- 		CSUN 2006
- Trainings

## Suggested areas to review

- Cognition
- New technology
- International Harmonization
- Reference industry standards
- Interoperability

**Notes:**
Operable with Limited Cognitive Skills
1. Many individuals have reduced cognitive abilities, including reduced memory, sequence tracking, and reading skills. This does not necessarily prevent these persons from using a telecommunications product or feature. 
2. The following strategies are extensions of techniques for making products easier for everyone to learn and use: 
a. Use standard colors and shapes and group similar functions together. On products which have some controls that are used by everyone and other controls which would only be used by advanced users, it is generally good practice to separate the two, putting the more advanced features behind a door or under a separate menu item.
b. Products which read the contents of the display aloud, or controls which announce their settings, are easier for individuals who have difficulty reading.
c. Design products that are self-adjusting to eliminate additional controls which must be learned, and reduce the visual clutter.
d. On products which have sign-in procedures, allow user settings to be associated with them when they sign in or insert their identification card. The system can then autoconfigure to them. Some new "smart cards" are being designed with user preferences encoded on the card.
e. Where a complex series of steps is required, provide cuing to help lead the person through the process. It is also helpful to provide an "undo" or back up function, so that any mistakes can be easily corrected. Most people will find this function helpful.
f. Where functions are not reversible, request some type of confirmation from the user before proceeding. On labels and instructions, it is helpful to use short and simple phrases or sentences. Avoid abbreviations wherever possible. Eliminate the need to respond within a certain time or to read text within a certain time.

## Some Comments....

- Usability standards should be integrated into accessibility
- Treat “way finding” as an accessibility issue
- Incorporate more references to measurable, testable standards:
- e.g., interference from digital wireless phones with hearing aids (AT):  ANSI §C63.19

## More Comments....

- Rewrite the standards to:
- Incorporate technical assistance information into the Commentary (“the non-regulatory section”)
- Have a new section on product Elements:
- IPOD membranes
- Computer keypads
- Touch Screens

## Still More Comments.....

- Why does a document posted on a website have to be accessible, when the _***same***_ document, on a CD-ROM, does not?
- Why can’t the Access Board _***mandate***_ a specific solution to a particular problem?
- E.g., require agencies to provide unrestricted broadband services so employees can use video relay to communicate in ASL, ***and*** remove firewalls?

**Notes:**
Because we have web-based standards, NOT document standards (1194.22)

1194.22 web-based intranet standards are HTML-oriented.  What do you do if you have a non-HTML document (such as a .pdf, or Word file or PowerPoint document?) 

“Why are there standards for HTML on “the web”, but not HTML on a CD-Rom?”
[Web pages versus documents]

## Even MORE Comments...

- If §1194.22(f) requires telecommunications products to provide a gain “adjustable up to a minimum of 20 dB,”  what is the baseline from which you are measuring?
- “Factory Default Level?
- If §1194.23 (c ) and (j) discuss “commonly used cross-manufacturer non-proprietary standard TTY signal protocols,” why not reference a standard that addresses Baudot ? [TIA 825]

## Comments keep coming...

- If our new agency security system requires biometric data (retina scans and fingerprints) for identification or to activate individual workstations, how can we make an accessible system?
- How do I do that without compromising security?

## ...and coming....

- How does an agency analyze an RSS feed under §508–and make it accessible ?
- Barney the First Dog gives a virtual Holiday tour of the White House, complete with sights and sounds, in an RSS feed posted on the White House website
- NOAA posts an RSS (audible only) feed about the latest hurricane weather report
- VOA broadcasts an RSS feed overseas

## ...and coming... 

- To what level of detail do I need to describe my “non-text elements” in my alt tag? [§1194.22(a)]
- Some examples...
- A Map (static image)
- An EKG report (the graph itself)
- A dynamic weather map? (moving images)

## AND Coming!....

- What’s more important:
- Achieving the requirements of a specific design standard (Part B), or
- Meeting the Functional Performance Criteria (Part C) ?
- How do you analyze an interoperable product?  Are the current categories in Part B obsolete in today’s dynamic product environment?

## Going forward....

- What should the TEITAC _***do***_?
- How should the TEITAC respond?
- In response, _***remember***_ the Scope of authority of the Access Board....

## The Access Board Can Do // Can’t Do 

- Have testable standards
- Understand §508
- Develop Design Standards

- How to perform testing
- Enforce §508
- Develop accreditation  programs

## Goals in the Revision Process

- “We agree that what is needed are clear, consensus driven, testable, and reliable accessibility requirements.
- In this world of global scales, it is critical that accessibility requirements be harmonized throughout the world.  Product manufacturers want to build to a single set of requirements – or at least not be faced with competing world wide requirements.
- We should do what we can to facilitate this, because ultimately if we can make the regulatory process easier to achieve – and by that I do not mean that we need to weaken the requirements that exist today – we will enhance accessibility for people with disabilities worldwide.”
*Marc Guthrie, Access Board public member*
*International Workshop on Accessibility Requirements*
*Brussels, Belgium -- October 21, 2004*

## A final word....

- THANK YOU
- and
- GOOD LUCK!