I reported earlier about the federal government's agencies to improve access to citizens with disabilities, especially disability.gov, which I find a tremendous resource for anyone looking for information about government services and resources. But a recent article in Fierce Government IT claims there are "ongoing, widespread accessibility glitches at federal websites such as WhiteHouse.gov, Data.gov and even Disability.gov." In fact, the National Federation of the Blind has filed administrative complaints about inaccessible websites against the Social Security Administration, Small Business Administration, and the Department of Education.
The White House has at least one leader with firsthand experience in assistive technology. Speaking at a recent conference with the National Center for Technology Innovation, Kareem Dale, special assistant to the president on disability policy, who is sight-impaired, said, "Technology, for me, is very personal.'' He said the administration is working hard to build a foundation for technology and education to improve lives for those with disabilities. He said $12.1 billion in federal stimulus funds will support the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). ''People with disabilities in the education arena are not going to be forgotten even when times are tough,'' he said.
There's no question this administration is doing more in this area than any previous administration -- and these gains will benefit people for years to come -- but there are clearly more improvements to be made. I hope Dale continues in his role throughout President Obama's term(s).
2 comments:
The Department of Education website is so incredibly difficult for me to read, (especially if I'm digging into the archives, or if I'm looking at items like letters from the secretary to state school officers.) And I am not visually impaired. That's certainly a government agency that *should* be cognizant of disability issues and I hope they're pushed towards making some changes.
In response to the articles that ran in the November 16, 2009 edition of Federal Computer Week, I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that Disability.gov is fully compliant with both Section 508 and W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines based on extensive testing that has been done on the site by both our in-house 508 specialist and additional accessibility specialists. In late July of this year, Disability.gov was completely redesigned to make the site both more useful and more accessible to our users. We are truly committed to making the site not only compliant with 508 and W3C guidelines, but going above and beyond those standards to make Disability.gov accessible to all of our visitors. We have conducted extensive accessibility and usability testing of the redesigned site on a variety of machines using various Web browsers, screen readers and other assistive technology, and our 508 specialist and other accessibility experts found Disability.gov to be fully compliant and accessible based on these guidelines. Anyone who has questions about Disability.gov and accessibility is encouraged to email the Disability.gov Web team at disability@dol.gov.
Many thanks,
Kevin Connors, Disability.gov Program Director
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