EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

 OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503

 

 

MEMORANDUM FOR CHIEF ACQUISITION OFFICERS

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICERS

FROM: Daniel I. Gordon 

 Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy

 

Vivek Kundra 

 Federal Chief Information Officer

 

SUBJECT: Improving the Accessibility of Government Information

The President identified transparency, participation, and collaboration as the principles of 

an open government in his January 21, 2009, Memorandum on Transparency and Open 

Government1, which requires that government information and data be accessible to all citizens. 

To ensure that persons with disabilities have equal access to their government, agencies must 

buy and use accessible electronic and information technology (EIT), as required by Section 508 

of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C 794d), as amended. 

For example, accessible EIT allows a person who is blind or visually-impaired to 

consume information on an agency’s website; a federal employee who is deaf or hard of hearing 

to access an agency’s webcast training; and an individual in a wheelchair to make photocopies. 

While some agencies have made progress in this area, all agencies must make accessibility a 

cornerstone of their open government plans. The purpose of this memorandum is to make 

agencies aware of existing resources and direct agencies to take stronger steps toward improving 

the acquisition and implementation of accessible technology. 

Increasing Awareness of Responsibilities and Requirements 

 

Building and maintaining an accessible environment requires that the information 

technology and acquisition communities partner when developing, procuring, using, or 

maintaining EIT. The General Services Administration (GSA), as part of its statutory 

requirement to provide technical assistance to agencies on Section 508 implementation, has 

created a number of tools, available at www.Section508.gov, to help agencies to develop 

accessible requirements, test the acceptance process, and share lessons learned and best 

practices. For example:

• the BuyAccessible Wizard2

• the Quick Links site

 helps build compliant requirements and solicitations; 

3

 

1

 provides pre-packaged Section 508 solicitation documents; 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment/ 2 www.buyaccessible.gov 

July 19, 2010
2 

• the BuyAccessible Products and Services Directory4

• the Section 508 blog

 provides a registry of companies 

and accessibility information about their offerings; and

5

Emerging technologies and the introduction of new applications can present challenges for 

the implementation of accessibility standards. To assist agencies:

 provides a venue where stakeholders may share ideas and success 

stories, or engage in conversations on improving accessibility. 

a) Within 180 days, the GSA Office of Governmentwide Policy (OGP) will provide 

updated guidance on making government EIT accessible. This guidance will build 

upon existing resources to address challenges, increase oversight, and reduce costs 

associated with acquiring and managing EIT solutions that are not accessible. 

b) Within 180 days, the GSA OGP will update its general Section 508 training to offer 

refreshed continuous learning modules that can be used by contracting officers, 

program/project managers (especially those managing IT programs), and contracting 

officer technical representatives (COTRs) as they fulfill their Federal Acquisition 

Certification requirements. 

Improving Agency Accountability and Accessibility Performance

As with any requirement, agencies must monitor their accessibility performance and 

should consider a variety of internal controls to ensure that agency managers are accountable for 

providing an accessible environment. To help agencies achieve an accessible environment, the 

Chief Information Officers Council (CIOC) recently created an Accessibility Committee. This 

new Committee is collaborating with GSA, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the U.S. 

Access Board. Together these entities will take the following steps: 

a) In September 2010, the GSA OGP and the DOJ will issue a survey to allow agencies 

to assess their implementation of Section 508, including accessibility of websites and 

other technology used by the agencies. This information will be used by the DOJ in 

preparing its next assessment of agency compliance as required by the Rehabilitation 

Act. The CIOC Accessibility Committee will also use this information to identify 

best practices and lessons learned. 

b) In the spring of 2011, the DOJ will issue a progress report on Federal agency 

compliance with Section 508, the first since 2004. Going forward, DOJ will meet its 

obligation to issue a report biennially. 

c) Beginning in FY 2011, the GSA OGP will begin providing OMB a quarterly 

summary report containing results of Section 508 reviews of a sample of solicitations 

posted on FedBizOpps.gov. GSA will provide the agencies a summary of the 

sampling results to facilitate sharing of best practices and successes, and to address 

common challenges.

 3 https://app.buyaccessible.gov/baw/KwikLinksMain.jsp 4 https://app.buyaccessible.gov/DataCenter/ 5 http://buyaccessible.net/blog/
3 

Improving Outreach and Communication 

Citizen and employee engagement is important for understanding the needs of diverse 

communities and providing better solutions. Within 60 days, the GSA OGP and the U.S. Access 

Board6

Promoting equal access to government for persons with disabilities will improve the 

delivery of services to the public and ensure that all federal employees have the information and 

data they need to do their jobs. If you have any questions regarding this memorandum, please 

contact Karen Pica in the Office of Federal Procurement Policy at 202-395-3302 or Janice Nall

in the Office of Electronic Government and Information Technology at 202-395-0368. 

, in collaboration with the Chief Acquisition Officers Council (CAOC) and CIOC, will 

design listening sessions and will research technology solutions to facilitate such sessions. The 

sessions will be an opportunity for the government and interested members of the public to 

address concerns and propose ideas. Feedback from the sessions will be used by, and shared 

across, agencies to improve accessibility and usability. 

 Thank you for your attention to this very important matter. 

 

6 The Access Board is required by Section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to develop and maintain design 

criteria for the built environment, transit vehicles, telecommunications equipment, and for electronic and 

information technology.