Web-accessibility Deadline Looms for Feds - Schools Next?

An amendment to the Rehabilitation Act, which requires federal agencies to
make their technology accessible to the disabled, will take effect June 21.
Association for the Blind technology consultant Ross Doerr said the law is a
likely precursor to similar regulations on the state level that will affect
school districts. Under the mandate, new federal technology acquisitions and
current Web sites must be fully accessible to the hearing or sight impaired.
For example, images must be accompanied with text that can be translated by a
text-reader, and multimedia content must be augmented with synchronized
audio. Many federal agencies have bought software to help them automate this
upgrade process. Doerr suggested that educators might want to contact their
state education departments to get a head start on incorporating
accessibility issues into their curricula (eSchool News Online, 5 June 2001)


Comments by John Goldthwaite:

Although this article is well intentioned, it is inaccurate. All recipients
of Federal funds including school systems have been mandated to provide
access to all programmatic material including websites and educational
software by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. There is no need
to wait for additional federal or state legislation since Section 504 has
been in effect since 1973. The Department of Education is providing
additional funds to its ten regional Disability and Business Technical
Assistance Centers (DBTACs) over the next five years to remind school systems
of their responsibilities under Section 504. 

Section 508 itself applies only to procurement and development of Electronic
and Information Technology by the executive branches of the Federal
government and the U.S. Postal System. It does not apply to recipients of
Federal funds or to the private sector. However, state governments
voluntarily agreed to comply with Section 508 when they accepted funds under
the Assistive Technology Act of 1998. So each state is required to integrate
508 into their own purchasing procedures as long as the state is accepting AT
Act funds. Unless a school system is an integral part of a state agency, this
would not effect them.

