Open Forum

August 2004 Vol. 17 No. 8 August 2004

Vol. 17 No. 8

Innovations in information resource management to support government

I

Accessibility of State Agency Web-based Intranet and Internet Information

and Applications

 

by Julie Leeper and Pat DeCastro, OFT

nside

On June 21, 2004 the Office for Technology (OFT) issued a new Statewide Technology Policy regarding Accessibilityof State Agency Web-basedIntranet and Internet Informationand Applications (P04-002) and an accompanying standard (S04-001). Governor George E. Pataki has a strong commitment to making digital government services available to all New Yorkers. This accessibility policy and standard are an important part of realizing his vision for a "government without walls" and making digital government services  available to the largest possible audience.

The purpose of the policy and the accompanying standard is to make New York State agency web-based intranet and Internet information and applications accessible to people with disabilities. The policy replaces and supersedes OFT's earlier policies, 96-13 and 99-3, regarding accessibility.

OFT was not alone in its efforts during the development and review process for the policy and standard. An IT Accessibility Steering Committee comprised of accessibility experts from nine state agencies, including the Office of the Advocate for Persons with Disabilities and the Center for Technology in Government was formed and assisted OFT tremendously. Also, workgroups were formed by the Steering Committee that provided detailed review of the standard with a final review of the policy and standard by the Forum's IT Accessibility Committee and the State CIO Council.

The policy was developed with the intent to make State agency web sites as accessible as possible. To allow OFT the flexibility to meet the needs of agencies and to allow inclusion of

the latest technology in the area of accessibility, the policy and standards are based on the W3C and federal Section 508 guidelines. OFT will monitor changes to the W3C and Section

508 guidelines and update the New York State policy and standard to adopt appropriate changes.

The policy contains a phased compliance schedule for state agencies to ensure web sites and applications are accessible. Potential exemptions from the policy are possible if making spe-

cific information or applications compliant would result in fundamental alteration in the service, program, or activity, or the compliance effort would result in undue financial and

administrative burden for the agency. Such exemptions are agency determined and must be internally documented. The accompanying chart on page three outlines the major issues addressed by the policy and shows how the new policy differs from the old. The policy and standards are available at: http://www.oft.state.ny/us/policy/index.html.

 

 

From The Editor D I T O R

 

Dear Colleague:

The NYS Forum has a long history as an advocate for addressing issues related to equitable access to e-Government. From 2001 through today initiatives geared to address the "digital divide dimensions" of this issue have included research and publication efforts by The Forum itself and in conjunction with Brown University and the Benton Foundation; statewide conferences cohosted with the SUNY at Albany; the cosponsoring of a virtual conference that drew over 1,300 participants representing 85 countries; and the recent release of a summary of that v-gathering.

In the area of e-Government accessibility and usability, The Forum's initiatives have tended to be very much focused on the New York state context and, with a variety of partners including Cornell University, addressed to building understanding and competencies among those responsible for state/local government web sites. The Forum's Webmasters Guild has been instrumental in keeping these issues in the forefront over the last four to five years. Though the nature of these initiatives have tended to be approached and delivered in a more traditional fashion, the persistence and outcomes of these initiatives have proven to be extremely effective.

This long-standing commitment to equitable access to e-Government was formally institutionalized within The Forum in 2003 with the  Executive Committee's creation of the IT Accessibility Committee. Since that time, there has been a focal point for the initiatives that have emerged and a "voice" in support of keeping New York state's policies current and reflective of the complex considerations inherent to the multiple dimensions of this issue. Moreover, the Committee has been relentless in its development of a curriculum reflective of executing basic strategies to ensure usability. In that regard, the Committee's efforts are captured both on a CD and as a resource repository web site, which is described on page six of this issue.

On June 21, 2004, OFT issued a new policy which is described in the lead article written by Julie Leeper and Pat DeCastro of OFT. Moreover, meetings of The Forum's IT Accessibility Committee leadership (Debi Orton of GOER and Mike Short of Civil Service) with OFT leadership and staff have yielded a

relationship going forward wherein OFT will rely heavily on the Committee for the provision of technical assistance and education/training.

The new policy and emerging supportive relationship of OFT efforts by the Committee represents a significant milestone in the evolution of a deliberate, focused set of initiatives to address accessibility of New York state government web-based intranet and Internet information and applications. We are all grateful to OFT and The Forum's IT Accessibility Committee leadership for having achieved this milestone.

 

Sincerely,

Greg Benson

 

 

 

Statewide Technology Policy Accessibility of State Agency Web-based Intranet and Internet Information and Applications

 

Major issues addressed by the new Statewide Technology Policy regarding Accessibility of State Agency Webbased Intranet and Internet Information and Applications, illustrating how the new policy differs from the old.

 

 

Issue

 

 

Old  Policy  99-3

 

New  Policy P04-002

 

Applicability

Web sites

Web-based intranet and Internet information and applications

 

Exemptions

 

None

Fundamental alteration to the service or program activity or undue financial or administrative hardship

 

Compliance Timeframe

All New sites comply immediately

 

All remaining and existing sites must come into compliance within 1 year (the deadline was delayed to coincide with the roll out of the Banner)

 

All new content comply immediately

 

Staggered approach for existing sites.

Use logs to identify high, medium and low traffic pages.

Standards

 

Adopted Priority Level 1 of W3C Web Access Guidelines

 

Link to external Guidelines

 

Agency responsibility to keep up-to-date on changes to the Guidelines

Proposed standards are a hybrid of W3C Priority Level 1 & 2 and §508

 

OFT Issued Standards Document

 

OFT responsibility for review, change and agency notification

 

Testing

 

No requirements

 

Requires agencies to validate site for accessibility prior to posting

 

OFT and/or the CIO office may conduct periodic compliance reviews

 

Contractual Obligations

 

Contractors used to develop and/or maintain site must comply with policy

 

Contractors used to develop and/or maintain site must comply with policy

 

Clarifies and includes contractual language

 

Annual Review

 

No Requirements

 

Annual validation required

 

Develop plan of correction

 

Documentation on file at agency - available for OFT review

 

 

 

First in a Series of National Cyber Security Webcasts Offered June 22nd

 

The first in a series of national cyber security webcasts was offered on June 22nd to over 800 registered participants representing 45 states. Hosted by the Department of Homeland Security's Computer Readiness Emergency Team (US-CERT) and the Multi State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), the webcast was produced by the NYS Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination and the NYS Forum. This initial webcast set the stage for what will be a series of four to six additional webcast offerings in the next 12 months. As the series progresses, webcasts will include a mix of technical and nontechnical content geared to address both the policy and operational levels of state and local cyber security. Webcasts will be recorded and archived and made available through The Forum's website.

The opening webcast included remarks by Will Pelgrin, Director of the NYS Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination, and Chair of MS-ISAC; Howard Schmidt, Chair of the National Cyber Security Summit Awareness Task Force; and Amit Yoran, Director of the National Cyber Security Division of the Office of Homeland Security. Those remarks were followed by a presentation entitled Cyber-Security: ThreeThings You Should Have Done Yesterday and Three Things You Should Do Today by Barbara Chung, Senior Technology Specialist, National Technology Team, Microsoft Corporation.

The Forum's Business Continuity Planning/Security Committee, cochaired by JoAnn Bomeisl of the New York State Insurance Department, Christopher Labatt-Simon of D&D Consulting and Christopher Lloyd of Keane, Inc. representing The Forum's IT Corporate Roundtable, were instrumental in developing the webcast initiative in conjunction with the NYS Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination. Developed and offered originally as a pilot effort in New York state in April 2004, with New York's leadership, the idea quickly evolved to a national level where it now has become a series to operate over the course of the entire year. The federal and state opening presenters made a point of acknowledging the key role played by members of the IT Corporate Roundtable who have afforded professional and technical resources, at no cost, in support of the webcast series. All agreed that the webcast represents a beneficial collaborative effort with the corporate IT sector and that the series simply would not have been possible without their key partnership in the process. To view the webcast presentation, visit www.cscic.state.ny.us or www.nysfirm.org.

The second in the series of national cyber security webcasts will be offered on August 26th from 3:00 - 4:00 pm. Watch The Forum's website (www.nysfirm.org) for registration information.

 

 

Forum's Annual Meeting to Feature Steve Kolodney as Keynote

 

On Friday, September 10th at the Desmond Americana Hotel in Albany, New York, The NYS Forum will hold its 18th Annual Meeting. We are pleased to announce that Steve Kolodney will present the keynote at this event.

Steve Kolodney is Vice President, Public Sector at CGI-AMS. He is responsible for digital government strategy and contributes to the development of public sector solutions. As part of CGI-AMS' Customer Quality Management, he serves as the "2nd Executive" to a number of leading projects. Kolodney consults with Chief Information Officers (CIO) and other government officials on trends and issues in government and he is working with a number of states to establish their CIO functions and digital government programs.

Kolodney is past chair of the Corporate Leadership Council of the National Association of State CIOs (NASCIO) and served on the NASCIO Executive Committee. In addition, he is a Corporate Fellow of the National Governors Association and a Principal at the Council for Excellence in Government.

Kolodney served as director of the Washington State Department of Information Services (DIS) prior to joining AMS in June 2001. He was Washington's Chief Information Officer and a member of the Governor's Cabinet. Governing magazine named Kolodney as one of its Public Officials of the Year 2000, citing Washington for the "finest information technology system in any state government in America."

Kolodney managed the state's computing and telecommunications facilities and was responsible for information technology policy, oversight and procurement. With annual revenues exceeding $120 million, his department served more than 700 customers including state agencies, cities, counties, school districts, colleges and universities, and tribal organizations.

Under Kolodney's leadership, Washington State received the Progress and Freedom Foundation's designation as the nation's "Digital State" for the third consecutive time in 2000 and the only "A" grade for information technology in consecutive Governing's Report Card on State Government Performance.

Kolodney has worked in the information technology field for more than 30 years. He received the CIO 100 Award from CIO Magazine and Federal Computer Week named Kolodney one of the 100 executives in the nation from industry, government and academia who had the greatest impact on the government systems community in 1999. Kolodney holds an MBA degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

 

Annual awards

 

As we reflect on the year past, it is customary to recognize individuals and organizations who have contributed to the effective and efficient use of information technology. As in previous years, we will be recognizing those achievements with awards for Excellence in Government Information Services, New York State Best Practices and New York State Best of the Web.

 

Last year's Award for Excellence in Government Information Services was presented to James T. Dillon, New York State CIO.

 

Best Practices Awards were presented to:

 

Best of the Web Awards were given to the:

 

 

To register for the 19th Annual Meeting visit www.nysfirm.org.

 

 

Valuable, New Accessibility Resource Now Available!

 

The Forum's IT Accessibility Committee has assembled a web site that contains a repository

of reference and support material for those interested in implementing accessibility on their web sites.

The IT Accessibility Curriculum and Resources contains a curriculum that organizations can use to provide training to their personnel, as well as a set of support resources (including a list of FAQs) for New York HS Policy P04-002 and New York State Mandatory Technology Standards S04-001 (Accessibility of State Agency Web-based Intranet and Internet Information and Applications).

To visit the repository, go to www.nysfirm.org and click on IT Accessibility, then IT Accessibility Curriculum and Resources. Work to develop this repository is ongoing, so check back frequently.

The IT Accessibility Committee is cochaired by Debi Orton (GOER) and Mike Short (Department of Civil Service) and meets on the second Thursday of each month. This committee merges the interests and initiatives of The Forum's activities previously referred to as "accessibility" and "digital divide." In so doing, it addresses the broader issues of access as they relate to state and local government migration of information and services to the Internet or other electronic delivery formats.

For additional information about this and other Forum committees, visit us on the web at www.nysfirm.org or contact us at info@nysfirm.org or call (518) 443-5001.

 

IRM Calendar of Events

 

Deadline for calendar submissions is the first week of the month prior to the month of publication. You may contact us by phone at (518) 443-5001, fax (518) 443-5006, or e-mail info@nysfirm.org. View the complete Calendar online at www.nysfirm.org.

 

August

 

August 4

State Archives Records Management Workshop for Local Governments and State Agencies – Files Management – in Brooklyn. State Archives workshops are free of charge. For more information or to register online, visit www.archives.nysed.gov or contact Carol Gallacchi at cgallacc@mail.nysed.gov or (518) 474-0670.

August 5

State Archives Records Management Workshop for Local Governments and State Agencies – Conducting a Records Inventory – in Chester. State Archives workshops are free of charge. For more information or to register online, visit www.archives.nysed.gov or contact Carol Gallacchi at cgallacc@mail.nysed.gov or (518) 474-0670.

August 10

State Archives Records Management Workshop for Local Governments and State Agencies – Managing Inactive Records – in Hopewell. State Archives workshops are free of charge. For more information or to register online, visit www.archives.nysed.gov or contact Carol Gallacchi at cgallacc@mail.nysed.gov or (518) 474-0670.

August 11

State Archives Records Management Workshop for Local Governments and State Agencies – Conducting a Records Inventory – in Norwich. State Archives workshops are free of charge. For more information or to register online, visit www.archives.nysed.gov or contact Carol Gallacchi at cgallacc@mail.nysed.gov or (518) 474-0670.

August 12

The Forum IT Accessibility Committee – 2:30 – 4:00 pm at GOER, Agency Building 2, 8th floor conference room, Albany, NY. Contact info@nysfirm.org or (518) 443-5001.

 

 

State Archives Awards $9.65 Million to Care for Public Records

 

Commissioner of Education Richard P. Mills has announced that the New York State Archives has awarded approximately $9.65 million in grants, as provided in Governor Pataki's 2004-2005 budget, to hundreds of local governments and community organizations across the state. These awards are

intended to help those governments and organizations care for the records in their custody.

The State Archives, part of the State Education Department, administers two types of grant programs – Local Government Records and Documentary Heritage Program – to fund a variety of projects related to public and community records.

These records vary tremendously. They range from judicial transcripts from the mid 1600s when New York State was a Dutch colony to sophisticated geographic information systems that maintain detailed records in electronic form on land use. Local governments use these grants to improve records management systems to better serve the public. Community organizations (historical societies, libraries, museums, etc.) use the grants to ensure that the rich and diverse history of New York State is preserved, while still others provide a hands-on history experience for school children.

Award amounts for both the Local Government Record and the Documentary Heritage Program grant recipients were determined through an intense, competitive process using records management and archives experts from throughout the state to review applications. A county-by county listing of all the grants is available at the Archives' web site at www.archives.nysed.gov.

"The high degree of interest in these grants demonstrates a statewide appreciation for the importance of records, whether it is managing today's records for the smooth operation of municipal government or preserving older records to save local history," said State Archivist Christine W. Ward. "Local governments and community organizations know that these programs provide both expert advice on how to manage records and the funding needed to implement that advice."

Local Government Records grants averaged $21,123 and ranged from a $709 award to the Town of Wilson to the maximum allowed of $75,000 awarded to six local governments: Hamilton and Schenectady counties, the Town of Ossining, Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority, New York City Transit Authority, and Community School District #31. The Town of Wilson grant will enable the town to microfilm birth and death records, while the larger grants will be used for microfilming, imaging, document management, records systems, storage and retrieval, and Geographic Information System projects.

Documentary Heritage Program grants averaged $12,185 and ranged from a $4,360 award to the Friends of History in Fulton NY, Inc. to a $24,973 grant to New York University (NYU). The Friends of History will use the grant to make available to the public a series of records from the Nestle Corporation, which located its first chocolate factory outside Switzerland in Fulton, New York. The award to NYU will make possible the arrangement and description of several important records of the United Federation of Teachers.

The Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF) supports both the Local Government Records and the Documentary Heritage Program grants. In 1989, the Senate and Assembly first established this local assistance program and passed legislation in 1999 that extended the Fund through 2005. The Fund derives its revenues from a small percentage of the fees paid when people file or record documents with county clerks and the Register of the City of New York.

Awards under this program are subject to the allocation of funds by the Director of the Division of the Budget following submission of spending plans for the LGRMIF and Documentary Heritage Program by the Commissioner of Education.

 

 

The Forum to Support Annual Tech Valley Event Scheduled for September 17th

 

Organizers announced the creation of a new annual event for the Capital Region: The TechaPalooza BATS Festival. The 2004 festival will take place at Troy's Revolution Hall on September 17th from 4:00 - 11:00 pm. As was the case with the 2003 TechaPlooza, The Forum is a Supporter of this event

that is designed to offer a productive forum for uniting the various sectors of the region's "creative class" in a common single-day networking environment. Representatives from local businesses, arts and science communities will be involved.

The gathering will include a combination of business and social events. An exhibition hall will showcase:

Technical and educational seminars will be presented throughout the day.

An informal social mixer will take place under a large tent, complete with live entertainment on two stages, food and prizes.

The evening will be capped with a live performance by rock and roll legends NRBQ.

The event is a joint-production of three local organizations: the TechaPalooza Committee, the

Tech Valley Times newspaper and the Alliance of Technology & Women's Tech Valley Chapter. It combines the scheduled autumn gatherings of all three into a larger, funfilled affair.

You may register for this event at www.techapalooza.com.