[nabs-l] Fwd: [gui-talk] Fwd: Federal Government NotComplying with Web Site Accessibility Requirements, Study Indicates

Fri May 20 02:54:12 UTC 2011

Okay... Can you explain?

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2011 7:51 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Fwd: [gui-talk] Fwd: Federal Government NotComplying 
with Web Site Accessibility Requirements, Study Indicates

> Actually, AMTRAK's site is accessible -- it just isn't useable -- they're
> two different things.
>
> Mike
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
> Behalf
> Of Jorge Paez
> Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2011 7:26 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Fwd: [gui-talk] Fwd: Federal Government Not 
> Complying
> with Web Site Accessibility Requirements, Study Indicates
>
> What screenreader are you using?
>
> On May 19, 2011, at 10:01 PM, Kirt Manwaring wrote:
>
>> This surprises me-not that I'm a government internet expert, but I've
>> seen a lot of their sites and the only one that really gave me any
>> trouble was Amtrak.
>>
>> On 5/19/11, Jorge Paez <computertechjorgepaez at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Begin forwarded message:
>>>
>>>> From: David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>
>>>> Date: May 19, 2011 8:22:40 PM EDT
>>>> To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
>>>> Subject: [gui-talk] Fwd: Federal Government Not Complying with Web
>>>> Site Accessibility Requirements, Study Indicates
>>>> Reply-To: "Discussion of the Graphical User Interface, GUI Talk
>>>> Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> CONTACT:
>>>>> Chris Danielsen
>>>>> Director of Public Relations
>>>>> National Federation of the Blind
>>>>> (410) 659-9314, extension 2330
>>>>> (410) 262-1281 (Cell)
>>>>> <mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org
>>>>>
>>>>> Federal Government Not Complying with Web Site Accessibility
>>>>> Requirements, Study Indicates
>>>>>
>>>>> National Federation of the Blind Expresses Outrage, Demands Swift
>>>>> Action
>>>>>
>>>>> Baltimore, Maryland (May 19, 2011): A study that has just been
>>>>> published online in the journal
>>>>> <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0740624X>Government
>>>>> Information Quarterly has found that of one-hundred Web sites
>>>>> operated by federal government agencies, over 90 percent do not
>>>>> comply with government accessibility guidelines and likely cannot
>>>>> be used by people who are blind or have other perceptual or motor
>>>>> disabilities.  The study, entitled "Accessibility of U.S. federal
>>>>> government home pages: Section
>>>>> 508 compliance and site accessibility statements" and coauthored by
>>>>> Doctoral Student Abiodun Olalere and Professor Jonathan Lazar of
>>>>> Towson University, found that the home pages of over 90 percent of
>>>>> the Web sites they evaluated contained violations of the
>>>>> government's own guidelines for compliance with Section 508 of the
>>>>> Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  That law requires that government
>>>>> electronic and information technology be accessible to people with
> disabilities.
>>>>>
>>>>> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
> said:
>>>>> "Blind Americans are outraged that the government is failing to
>>>>> comply with its own guidelines to make government information and
>>>>> services available to citizens with disabilities.  Given the clear
>>>>> legal requirements of Section 508 and the fact that use of the
>>>>> Internet is critical to education, employment, access to government
>>>>> benefits and services, and all other aspects of modern life, there
>>>>> is no excuse for failure to follow and rigorously enforce these
>>>>> guidelines.  We demand that officials in all branches of government
>>>>> take immediate steps to bring all federal Web sites into compliance
>>>>> with the law, and we pledge to continue to hold the federal
>>>>> government accountable if it continues to treat the blind and others
> with disabilities as second-class citizens."
>>>>>
>>>>> The study evaluated the home pages of one-hundred government Web
>>>>> sites across all three branches of the federal government,
>>>>> including executive agencies, independent agencies, government
>>>>> corporations (e.g. Amtrak), the United States Congress, the United
>>>>> States Supreme Court, United States federal courts, and "open
>>>>> government" Web sites like <http://www.usajobs.gov>www.usajobs.gov
>>>>> and <http://www.ready.gov>www.ready.gov.  The authors utilized both
>>>>> automated-software tools and human-expert inspections on each home
>>>>> page, and determined that over 90 percent of the home pages were
>>>>> not in compliance with the Section 508 regulations.
>>>>>
>>>>> Most of the accessibility problems were common ones that are easily
>>>>> resolved, such as unlabeled images, mislabeled forms or tables,
>>>>> videos without captioning, flash without any textual equivalents,
>>>>> and lack of keyboard equivalents for mouse-over actions. The
>>>>> authors noted that this is not a problem unique to one agency.
>>>>> Similar problems occur on multiple agency Web sites, and the core
>>>>> problem is the lack of consistent compliance activities and 
>>>>> enforcement
> throughout the federal government.
>>>>>
>>>>> The study makes several recommendations to increase compliance,
>>>>> including improved resources on complying with the guidelines;
>>>>> better documentation of best practices; publishing of information
>>>>> about which agencies are compliant and noncompliant with
>>>>> accessibility guidelines as part of the open government dashboard;
>>>>> and better enforcement and monitoring procedures within government
>>>>> agencies, such as the loss of Web-posting privileges for repeatedly
> posting inaccessible content.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ###
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> About the National Federation of the Blind
>>>>>
>>>>> With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind
>>>>> is the largest and most influential membership organization of
>>>>> blind people in the United States.  The NFB improves blind people's
>>>>> lives through advocacy, education, research, technology, and
>>>>> programs encouraging independence and self-confidence.  It is the
>>>>> leading force in the blindness field today and the voice of the
>>>>> nation's blind.  In January
>>>>> 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan
>>>>> Institute, the first research and training center in the United
>>>>> States for the blind led by the blind.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>> chjorgepaez%40gmail.com
>>>
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>>
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