[blindLaw] New bill would beef up accessibility reporting requirements for agencies - Government Executive - September 27, 2023

[tim at timeldermusic.com]

Nice.  Could we amend the bill to add a cause of action for individuals with
disabilities to go after government contractors that misrepresent the
compliance of their products sold to the government?  I'm concerned that
this approach is solving for only one half of the problem.  How often does
the government really have any control over whether the technology complies
other than asking for it in the contract?



-----Original Message-----
From: Nightingale, Noel <Noel.Nightingale at ed.gov> 
Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2023 10:33 AM
To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindLaw] New bill would beef up accessibility reporting
requirements for agencies - Government Executive - September 27, 2023

Ronza and Al are quoted in the below article.

https://www.govexec.com/oversight/2023/09/new-bill-would-beef-accessibility-
reporting-requirements-agencies/390641/
New bill would beef up accessibility reporting requirements for agencies By
Natalie Alms Government Executive September 27, 2023

Agency and department heads would be required to appoint "Section 508
compliance officers" to ensure they meet accessibility mandates.
Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa, chair of the Senate Committee on Aging, introduced a
new proposal last week meant to improve the accessibility of federal
websites and IT.
The proposal, called the Federal Agency Accessibility Compliance Act, "will
bolster the role of federal Section 508 compliance officers in federal
agencies, require agency and department heads to personally certify... that
their organization's technology is accessible and to post plans and
timelines if their agency technology is not accessible," Casey said during a
Senate Aging Committee hearing on government tech accessibility on Sept. 21.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires federal IT to be accessible
for people with disabilities - a group that makes up about 13% of the
noninstitutionalized U.S. population, according to 2019 Census data.
Currently, agencies have Section 508 programs and coordinators, required by
a 2013 Office of Management and Budget memo, according to a Congressional
Research Service report, but Casey's  proposal would create new Section 508
compliance officers responsible for ensuring that their agencies meet the
law's standards.
In February, the Department of Justice issued its first legally-mandated
report on 508 compliance in federal agencies since 2012 - at the urging of
Casey and other senators - which found that 14% of CFO Act agencies' web
pages weren't accessible. Inside government agencies, the conformance rate
of intranet pages is even more dismal at only 41%. Among the government's
most-downloaded files, 80% of the PDFs were not accessible.The report also
outlined problems with agency accessibility testing and staffing issues.
The bill, co-sponsored by four Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is
the latest from Casey in a years-long focus on government accessibility
online, such as a recent law requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs to
report to Congress on website accessibility.
More recently, Casey also introduced a bill that would stand up an advisory
committee for accessibility at VA. He and other lawmakers, including ranking
member of the committee Mike Braun, R-Ind., have also requested that the
Government Accountability Office report on agencies' 508 compliance.
"These bills are common sense legislation designed to ensure federal
government services, programs and communications are accessible to all
Americans," said Casey.
Braun agreed that the senators have "heard from many constituents that the
federal government has not done a good job at complying, far too often,
leaving people with disabilities behind," although he cautioned that "we
must ensure that states do not lose the flexibility they need to continue to
introduce programs and mechanisms that work best for their unique
communities," he said.
The Justice Department issued proposed rulemaking on accessibility in state
and local governments under the Americans with Disabilities Act in August.
Although Braun didn't reference that rulemaking directly, he did say that
issues with accessibility on the federal level "ought to give us pause
before we try to maybe do more through the federal government."
Several witnesses, meanwhile, said that standards for accessibility would be
helpful.
On the federal level, new digital experience guidance issued by OMB includes
requirements for accessibility, including directing agencies to use the same
standards referenced in the proposed DOJ rule: the Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines by the World Wide Web Consortium.
"WCAG is an industry standard. Having WCAG as the standard for government
websites will provide a clear standard for those responsible for creating
and overseeing websites and technology," Chris Westbook, a web accessibility
engineer for Allyant who is also blind, said in his written testimony.
The new guidance also directs agencies to use accessibility testing - both
manual and automated - include people with disabilities in user research and
maintain a feedback mechanism for people to contact the government if
they're having accessibility problems online.
Ronza Othman, president of the National Association of Blind Government
Employees, told senators that a lack of prioritization is one of the biggest
contributors to non-compliance in federal agencies, as well as a lack of
knowledge and education.
For people with disabilities, the impact is felt in how they access
government information and services.
"Imagine not being able to file your local taxes online. This is the
situation I face simply because I have a disability," said Westbook. "When I
went to the county website to pay my taxes online, I couldn't because I
couldn't find the button used to submit the form. This ultimately forced me
to seek sighted assistance to perform a task that everyone else can perform
independently."
"Government websites must be accessible so that all constituents at all
levels of government have access to programs, services and information," he
said.