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

Fri May 20 03:47:36 UTC 2011

:)  Let the hair-splitting begin.

On 5/19/11, Mike Freeman <k7uij at panix.com> wrote:
> I can make reservations on the site; it's just terribly awkward and one has
> to poke around a bit and realize that as you add stuff, the page expands.
>
> Mike
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Nicole B. Torcolini at Home
> Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2011 7:54 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Fwd: [gui-talk] Fwd: Federal Government NotComplying
> with Web Site Accessibility Requirements, Study Indicates
>
> 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.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> gui-talk mailing list
>>>>> gui-talk at nfbnet.org
>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk_nfbnet.org
>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
>>>>> for
>>>>> gui-talk:
>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/gui-talk_nfbnet.org/computerte
>>>>> chjorgepaez%40gmail.com
>>>>
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