Posted by Dana Simberkoff
Recently, I had the opportunity to listen to a presentation on the importance of Accessibility, specifically Section 508, as part of the federal government’s drive towards “Open Government.” The presentation was delivered by Frank Baitman, Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the United States Social Security Administration. Mr. Baitman co-chairs the Federal CIO Council’s Subcommittee on Section 508, along with Craig Luigart of the Veterans Health Administration. Mr. Baitman discussed the importance of accessibility for his agency, not only for his employees, but given the mission of his agency, to supporting the aging population. In July 2010, Federal CIO Vivek Kundra and the Office of Management and Budget’s Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, Dan Gordon, issued a memorandum reinforcing the accountability and responsibility measures that all Federal agencies must comply with: to make government websites and other technology accessible as required by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
In reviewing the top priority of the CIO Council, “Open, Transparent and Participatory Government,” it is clear that in order to truly achieve these objectives, government must be accessible and available to everyone, truly reinforcing the principal of citizen-centric government. However, accessibility also ties in directly with the other priorities of the council, including: efficiency, security and privacy and effectiveness.
I often talk about Accessibility and Privacy as being “flip sides” of the same coin. Government organizations, non-governmental organizations and private enterprises all face a common challenge in making their information available to the people that should have access, while protecting it from the people who should not have access. This is no small task for Federal CIOs, particularly given the highly decentralized workforce and complex information technology infrastructures they manage. However, investments in accessibility often translate to good design. A study commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by Forrester Research evaluated the impact of accessible design on the general population (people with or without disabilities) and demonstrated that 57% of general computer users were likely to benefit from accessibility features. (Full study available at http://www.microsoft.com/enable/research.)
As the government contends with shrinking budgets and competing priorities, investments in accessibility will continue to pay off as agencies build and deliver solutions that reach the broadest possible audience, and support their workforce. As an additional resource, Mr. Baitman recently posted some information about the Accessibility Committee’s initiatives: (http://www.cio.gov/pages.cfm/page/Meet-the-CIO-Council-Accessibility-Committee.)
It’s important that Information Technology leaders—public and private sector alike—continue their self-education as related to content development and delivery of accessible content across their enterprise. In future posts, I will start to review other resources to help you become the domain expert or subject matter expert (SME) on your team. What is exciting about Section 508 is that there is clear guidance for those building or purchasing products. With the commitment of some time you can become the SME in your organization.
I welcome any comments that you may have.
My best,
Dana