IT Accessibility Committee March 2007 Newsletter

### Edited by Joel Obuchowski

COMMITTEE MEETING THIS THURSDAY

At this Thursday's IT Accessibility Committee meeting, we'll talk about the evolution of requirements for Executive Order #3, we'll update you on the status of the Validation Tool project, and we'll discuss options for our Committee's presentation at the May Webmasters' Guild meeting.

When: Thursday, March 9, from 2:30 - 4:00
Where: Forum offices, 411 State Street, Albany
Who's Invited: Anyone who is interested in IT Accessibility

If you have any questions, or if you cannot attend, but have something you'd like to have brought up at the meeting, please contact Debi Orton (dorton@goer.state.ny.us) or Mike Short (mike.short@cs.state.ny.us).

NEWS

"OFT/OCIO Issue More Information on Complying with Executive Order 3"

On Feb. 22, NYS CIO Dr. Michael Mittleman and OFT Director Meg Levine provided further guidance for agencies on implementing the provisions of Executive Order 3. Executive Order 3 was signed by Governor Spitzer on January 1, 2007 and requires state agencies to begin webcasting all public meetings by July 1, 2007.

The documents that Dr. Mittleman provided include one outlining the "Minimum Webcasting Standards." These can be summarized into five categories.

  1. If an agency has access to broadband services, it must provide real-time webcasting of qualifying meetings to the public.
  2. In addition, agencies must make webcasts available to the public on demand within 2 business days of the meeting.
  3. All webcasts much have synchronized captioning, either in real time or within seven days after the meeting.
  4. Meeting webcasts must be available on demand for a minimum of 30 days, and a copy retained for four months. If the agency already has a retention and disposition schedule for webcasts, that schedule will apply.
  5. Whatever methods are used to stream the webcast, it must accommodate both dial-up and broadband users, and must support multiple software clients, such as Real Player and Windows Media Player.

For further information on implementation plans, please contact your OFT Customer Service Representative.

"Sign language over cell phones"

http://www.popgadget.net/2007/02/sign_language_o.php (External Link)

"Sir Tim Berners-Lee Gives Congress Vision Of The Future"
By K.C. Jones
InformationWeek Thu Mar 1, 5:29 PM ET

Berners-Lee explained that the Internet is like the bottom of an hourglass, while the World Wide Web -- the imaginary space holding the documents and information we send and receive through computers, and wires -- are like the top of the hourglass. And, Berners-Lee believes there will be another neck with a whole new abstract universe of applications and processes above that.

The Semantic Web, or a Web of "machine-processable data," is under development at the U.K.'s Southampton University, where Berners-Lee holds a position. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which Berners-Lee founded, is working on the components that will form the basis of the Semantic Web.

Berners-Lee and the W3C describe the Semantic Web as a common framework that allows data to be shared and reused across applications, enterprises and communities. It will be to maps, calendars, spreadsheets and other data storage tools what the World Wide Web has been to written information, he said.

"It's about being able to connect from one application, through another," he said.

He provided an example of someone who is trying to fill out a tax form and cannot remember why he or she spent a certain amount. They could pull up a bank statement, take the date, and pull that up on their personal calendar. If they still don't see why they spent the money that day, they could drop their photographs into the calendar and "see the pictures of the kids at Disneyland."

For the full article, please see this link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20070302/tc_cmp/197700586 (External Link)

"New Wrinkle on Web Accessibility and International Law"
Excerpted from the Web Site Accessibility Blog by Matt Bailey

The World Wide Web is significant because of the boundaries it traverses. The web places the opportunity to buy from, learn from or interact with companies outside your neighborhood, your state, or your country right at your fingertips. This is a fantastic opportunity for everybody, and the nature of the medium means that it can be accessible to people with any range of physical or cognitive impairments.

Laws, of course, are designed to be regional.

It's inevitable, then, that an accessibility question would eventually cross international boundaries. The question is whether a company with no literal presence within a country can be held liable in that country due to an issue of website access. A tribunal in the United Kingdom has recently ruled just that * determining that a computer-based exam which was not accessible was in violation of the UK's Disability Discrimination.

For the details on this case and its ramifications, please see http://www.accessibilityblog.com/2007/02/15/web-accessibility-and-international-law/ (External Link)

Assistive Technology News Launches News Web Site

Fairfax, VA - March 5, 2007 -- Assistive Technology News has launched www.atechnews.com (External Link) to assist the nation's 56-million people with disabilities stay abreast of assistive technology products that enhance their independence and improve their quality of life. This dynamic web site includes everything people with disabilities and their loved ones need to know, from new product announcements, to advocate profiles, to product evaluations, to interviews with leaders in the public and private sectors working on disability issues, to policies that impact people with disabilities. There will be columns on Aging and Technology and Medicine Behind the Scenes, articles about users of assistive technology products, columns on AT products and profiles of AT leaders.

This service by ATN is launching responds to the tens of thousands of e-mails, faxes and calls it has received over the last decade. "ATechNews.com (External Link) will be the site to visit to learn about assistive technology products and disability issues," says John M. Williams, the founder of ATechNews.com (External Link). Williams, who coined the phrase "Assistive Technology," has been writing about disability issues since 1978 and about Assistive technology products since 1980.

An asset to the site will be a column by Dr. Richard Pellegrino on Medicine & Technology.

"I am pleased to be associated with ATN's efforts to report on policy issues related to Medicine & Technology," says Dr. Pellegrino. The doctor believes consumers need to know what drives rising medical costs and how technologies and government policies can bring these costs down.

An assistive technology device encompasses any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. The areas related to the disabilities covered are vision, hearing, mobility, speech, intellectual, and physical. "We plan to look at the impact of assistive technology products in every phase of the users' lives," says Williams.

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