A year ago, a new law introduced strict technological accessibility standards to make government websites, as well as major commercial hardware and software products, more accessible to federal workers and other users with disabilities.
In the past year, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act has made electronic media more accessible to all users, not just federal employees.
But it could be some time before the full impact of the law, which took effect on June 25, 2001, is realized.
"Progress has been incremental," said Laura Ruby, program manager for regulatory and industry affairs for Microsoft's Accessible Technology Group.
Larger government agencies, such as the Department of Education, the Social Security Administration and the Department of Defense, have long-standing internal programs addressing accessibility.
"Smaller agencies that haven't had that knowledge have had a much harder learning curve," said Ruby, who also chairs the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) Section 508 working group.
On Thursday, the Bipartisan Disabilities Caucus and the Congressional Internet Caucus, along with Adobe and Microsoft, sponsored Congressional Web Accessibility Day to celebrate the first anniversary of Section 508.
The event was an opportunity for Congress, which isn't currently covered by Section 508, to highlight its members who have created accessible websites.
Government is typically at least one version behind in purchasing products, Ruby said. Since many agencies are still using Windows 2000, rather than Windows XP, Microsoft has had to provide accessibility information for past products, as well as new rollouts.
Although Section 508 doesn't require private companies to alter their products, the law has provided an incentive for companies who want to do business with the U.S. government to build better accessibility features into their products.
"(Section 508) has reinforced us to go the next steps, so we don't just make a product accessible, but we also make it easier to create an accessible application," Ruby said.
That competition has raised the bar for hardware and software vendors that want to create new, innovative solutions for accessibility, Ruby said.
Members of the ITI, such as Hewlett-Packard, Compaq, Sun, Apple, IBM and Motorola, have introduced efforts to comply with the new regulations.
"The implementation of Section 508 has spurred greater competition and innovation in the federal marketplace, and will increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities in both the public and private sectors," ITI president Rhett Dawson said in a statement.
ITI has created a system where manufacturers can show how their products meet the Section 508 standards. The Voluntary Product Accessibility Template, or VPAT, is a free online assessment tool to help federal procurement officials determine whether electronic and information technology products and services are accessible to people with disabilities.
A number of technology companies routinely produce VPATs, post them on their company websites, and link them to the General Services Administration "Buy Accessible" website, where government buyers can compare the accessibility of different products.
But since VPAT is still fairly new, many companies aren't even aware of the system, or don't think that Section 508 applies to them.
While vendors were slow at first to see the importance of Section 508, many found orders on hold until they made efforts to comply, said Jason Taylor, government product specialist for UsableNet.
"We have seen the big vendors like Oracle, HP and others be affected in two main ways," Taylor said. "Government clients have pushed to see that core information supplied to them on products and services via the Web meet the same Web accessibility guidelines as those government agencies are expected to comply with."
The impact of 508 is likely to be far-reaching. There are 54 million people with disabilities in the United States. What's more, 70 percent of all Americans will experience some kind of disability before they reach age 75, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
"Everyone gets old, needs bigger buttons, easier-to-use devices, better-to-read text," Taylor said. "Section 508 is an effort to make the best technology minds think about the vast variety of users that will use their technology and open the world of productivity and information up to everyone."
Under Section 508, manufacturers aren't required to make a "special" accessible version of their products just for government use. Instead, companies like Microsoft can make one version of products that benefit all users, not just federal employees.
Macromedia recently released Flash MX, which includes an accessibility panel that enables designers to add names and descriptions to objects in Flash movies.
In addition to vendors revamping their products with new accessibility features, a new industry of Web accessibility checkers has also cropped up because of 508, Ruby said.
"We need to bring accessibility into the competitive marketplace, to make it just as important as security, cost and all the other elements that are necessary to compete," Ruby said.
The potential impact of Section 508 has yet to be fully realized, as most product cycles are 6-to-24 months long and some new products don't yet incorporate the guidelines. With the next couple of product cycles, manufacturers will likely revamp their designs to make products comply with Section 508.
"There are a lot of products that don't meet every standard right now," Ruby said. "There's room to grow."
"So far, (Section 508) has been good for industry, government and consumers," Ruby said. "We're looking forward to continuing momentum in year two."
