U.S. Army-Information Systems Engineering Command

The Business Problem

The United States Army Information Systems Engineering Command has the primary mission of system engineering and integration of information systems for the U.S. Army. As the Army Materiel Command (AMC) Executive Agent for Information Management (EA-IM), they provide architecture-engineering services that support the development and deployment of integrated and seamless systems within the enterprise.

The Force Projection Engineering Directorate (FPED), Special Project Office (SPO) of the U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command was directed by the (Chief Information Officer) CIO of AMC to monitor all Web sites under AMC to make sure that they conform to accessibility standards under Section 508.

One of the first priorities of the Special Project Office was to develop a strategy for managing and monitoring the Section 508 status of the AMC Web sites, located around the world, and administered by hundreds of Web managers. The Special Project Office identified assessment, training and support as the primary resources needed.

The Special Projects Office created a Resource Web site from which assessment, support and training would be disseminated on the topic. One of the first items needed was a tool or set of tools for verifying the current compliance levels with Section 508 and a tool to allow web developers to check their own work. They chose HiSoftware’s AccMonitor and AccVerify/AccRepair products to meet this need.

There were two main requirements that lead to the acquisition of Section 508 assessment tools. First of all, from an administrative standpoint, AMC wanted to be aware of where their web pages stood in terms of accessibility. This would allow AMC to concentrate training on appropriate topics and areas as well as show growth and progress in the realm of meeting the Section 508 accessibility guidelines. Additionally, the AMC CIO wanted monthly reports on each of AMC’s websites.

The AMC Section 508 program includes monitoring Internet and intranet sites, located on Web servers around the world. The AccMonitor tool was purchased to provide scheduled and on demand remote reporting for a projected 900 Web sites. Next, since many divisions develop their own web sites, AMC also needed a solution which would allow web developers to easily test their pages and identify problem spots to fix prior to posting or when “retro-fitting” their web site. AccVerify/AccRepair were selected for that purpose.
 

The Solution

Army Materiel Command purchased an unlimited license for AccMonitor Server and has begun a rollout of AccVerify/AccRepair at several of its installations. AccVerify provides for the verification of accessibility policy and standards required for Web Sites under the Rehabilitation Act Section 508 and W3C® WCAG 1.0 Priority 1-3 guidelines. AccRepair uses the reporting and verification components of AccVerify to launch a repair “wizard” interface, which prompts the user to correct accessibility errors. AccRepair also uses a library that “learns” as repairs are made. These applications are available as a stand-alone desktop solution and as an integrated add-on for Microsoft FrontPage.

AccMonitor is an automated accessibility testing solution for Web sites or for use in conjunction with intranet servers or file servers. Using a crawler, AccMonitor tests sites for compliance with Section 508 and W3C accessibility standards. AccMonitor spiders, or crawls over, entire Web sites and reports on their accessibility status. AccMonitor particularly benefits organizations that need to monitor multiple servers that host information via the World Wide Web. AccMonitor is a server solution that is designed to run with no user interaction once configured. AccMonitor can be scheduled to crawl Web sites daily, weekly, or monthly. It also allows users to log-on for on demand reports on the accessibility status of their Web pages.

The AMC Web sites are created with a wide range of solutions including Microsoft FrontPage, Macromedia DreamWeaver and ColdFusion Server, and Lotus Notes. These sites are hosted on a wide range of Web servers including IIS, Apache, Domino, etc. AMC Web Masters can log into the AccMonitor Server through a secure Web site, and run an “on-demand” check of the accessibility status of their Web site. Additionally, the Special Projects Office will use AccMonitor Server to check all Web pages on all AMC sites and feedback will be provided to the appropriate Web developer and reports will be sent to the CIO’s office on a monthly basis. It will also be used as a training and support tool.

Prior to AMC’s purchase of AccMonitor, the Web wide management of accessibility issues was something that required countless man hours and was extremely challenging to manage for a very large organization. Now, AMC has a strategy for managing hundreds of Web sites through a centralized system, without a requirement for file or server access. AccMonitor Server can effectively access AMC’s web files for remote and on–demand reporting world wide.
 

The Bottom Line

HiSoftware’s solutions provided the comprehensive testing and reporting features that AMC required, through a simple to use interface. Additionally, HiSoftware’s applications provided great flexibility in user-driven and automated reporting, and also provided flexibility for Enterprise Wide deployment and mass distribution. Over the next several months, The Special Project Office projects that they will be reporting on over 900 Web sites. They are also using these solutions to test their own automated Web based applications.

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