[Colorado-Talk] Showing Up At a January 23 Zoom Public Hearing

Fri Jan 12 23:45:08 UTC 2024

Mr. Chong,

VERY WELL WRITTEN!!!  Thank you!!!!!

Gary Van Dorn
Secretary, Mile High NFBCO
Chair, Mile High NFBCO Transportation Committee
Secretary, NFBCO
Treasurer, NFBCO Sports & Recreation Division

On Jan 12, 2024, at 13:14, Curtis Chong via Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

Greetings everyone:

Shown below please find the official comments submitted to the Governor's Office of Information Technology by the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado. While written comments are no longer being accepted, the public (that is, you, me, and everybody else) is invited to a public online hearing which will take place on January 23 at 1:00 p.m. The link to register for this hearing is shown here.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcudOCorDwuGtf8Yuf_MTn0ZBKY2GkwWJem#/registration<https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcudOCorDwuGtf8Yuf_MTn0ZBKY2GkwWJem%23/registration>

I know that this business of reviewing and writing comments about governmental rules can be laborious, confusing, tedious, and thoroughly boring. Since a lot of governmental officials are signed up to attend, I think it is important for our community to be represented as well. If your schedule permits, please register to attend the public hearing on January 23. Even if you don't choose to speak, your presence will be important.

Thank you.

Kind regards,

Curtis Chong

FROM:            Curtis Chong
National Federation of the Blind of Colorado
Email: chong.curtis at gmail.com<x-msg://1/chong.curtis@gmail.com>
TO:                  OIT Rulemaking
1575 Sherman Street
Denver, Colorado 80203
oit_rules at state.co.us<x-msg://1/oit_rules@state.co.us>

RE:                  Comments for Draft Technology Accessibility Rules - 8 CCR 1501-11

Greetings and salutations:

Thank you for the opportunity to review the second (and publicly-released) draft of the technology accessibility rules from the Governor's Office of Information Technology. The National Federation of the Blind of Colorado would like to comment on two issues with this draft.

Excessive Time Permitted for WCAG Compliance

We call your attention to 11.5(A)(2):

"For future updates to W3C WCAG guidelines, all ICT [Information and Communication Technology] must meet conformance levels A and AA of the most current non-draft version of the guidelines within two (2) years of the date of release."

Regarding the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), numerous drafts and re-drafts are widely distributed years before they become final. Thus, organizations have years (certainly more than one year) to prepare themselves to comply with these guidelines—well before they become final. It is our belief that the two year grace period should be reduced to one year. Even one year is too long to achieve compliance with the most current and published guidelines.

Unnecessary Examples Of Undue Burden Caused By Conformance

11.11(F.) provides some illustrative examples where, for ICT or portions of ICT, full conformance with the technical standards might create an undue burden for public entities. These could include (but are not limited to) the following:

1.         Archived ICT that is maintained for reference, research, or recordkeeping and is not altered or updated after the date of archiving, and is generally organized or stored in a dedicated area identified as archives
2.         Pre-existing conventional internal or external electronic documents, presentations, spreadsheets, emails, and pre-existing time-based media such as audio, video, or audio and video unless such documents or time-based media are currently used by members of the public to apply for, gain access to, or participate in a public entity’s services, programs, or activities
3.         Content contributed by a third party not under the control of the public entity, that is available on the public entity’s website or applications
4.         Third-party content, over which the public entity has no control or responsibility, linked from a public entity’s website or applications
5.         Course content available on a public entity’s password-protected or otherwise secured website for admitted students enrolled in a specific course offered by a public postsecondary institution
6.         Class or course content available on a public entity's password-protected or otherwise secured website for students enrolled, or parents of students enrolled, in a specific class or course at a public elementary or secondary school
7.         Individualized, password-protected, conventional electronic documents that are: About a specific individual, their property, or their account; and Password-protected or otherwise secured
8.         Complex and/or atypical images and diagrams to the extent that they cannot be made fully accessible, which could include items such as: blueprints, architectural drawings, technical drawings, site plans, development plans, annexation and plat maps, handwritten documents, medical imaging and health care test results, and any other image where there is no logical methodology to create an alternate description that will make the image understandable to assistive technology
9.         Mapping applications and visualizations to the extent that they cannot be made fully accessible
10.       Reproductions that cannot be made fully accessible of items in heritage collections, which are goods that are preserved for an historical, artistic, archaeological, aesthetic, scientific, or technical interest
11.       Only one vendor solution (sole source) is available
12.       ICT for which a contract is currently in place that cannot be modified or terminated without undue financial, technical, or administrative burden

It seems to us that this exhaustive list of exclusions is tantamount to exceptions—something about which we expressed concern for the first draft of these rules. This illustrative list does not need to be incorporated into the rule itself. It cries to be used and provides an inappropriate incentive for entities not to do their absolute best to make some or all of their ICT accessible.

Again, thank you for the chance to comment on these rules.

Kind regards,

Curtis Chong

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