A federal law taking effect June 21 promises to make major commercial hardware and software products, as well as federal government websites, more accessible to users with disabilities.
Disability advocates, industry representatives and government officials agree that the law and its approaching deadline have rapidly boosted awareness of accessibility in both the public and private sectors.
"The message is getting through," said James Gashel, the director of governmental affairs at the National Federation of the Blind. He credited the new federal law -- and similar statutes already on the books in 10 states -- for the increasing attention companies are paying to accessibility issues.
"Without laws like 508, I don't think the (software) vendors would have come to a realization that accessibility is an important issue on their own," Gashel said. "These laws are crucial."
Called "Section 508," the law, passed in 1998, requires the federal government to purchase computers, software, and electronic equipment such as copiers and fax machines that meet new standards for accessibility.
The government estimates the new regs will cost between $85 and $691 million annually, depending on whether they have to buy custom software or not. According to OMB figures, federal government expenditures for information technology products totaled $37.6 billion in fiscal year 1999.
The law also requires that any "electronic technology" the feds develop, use, or maintain meet the new standards. This means that the new requirements apply to the federal government's millions of publicly accessible Web pages as well.
The standards are designed to prevent the kind of design that depends too much on one sense, such as sight, hearing or touch -- so that those who are blind, deaf or can't use their hands will still be able to use IT effectively.
For software and hardware, this means ensuring that products are compatible with tools commonly used to improve access for the impaired. For example, blind computer users generally use screen readers that read text aloud. Those who can't type often employ voice recognition devices that turn the spoken word into text.
The accessibility guidelines for websites closely resemble the first stage of a multi-level protocol established by the Web Accessibility Initiative, a project of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
In order to meet the standards, websites need to write text descriptions of pictures and multimedia files into their html code; need to be easily navigable using text commands, mouse, or keyboard alone; and should avoid frames and pop-up windows that screen readers can't translate, among other things.
While the law only applies to the federal government and its subcontractors, its impact will be felt throughout the IT industry. The federal government is one of the nation's biggest, if not the biggest, single customer for hardware and software. Commercial producers say that rather than customize their products for the government, its easier to make their off-the-shelf products compliant with the federal accessibility standards.
"It really will require the IT industry to include these features in all their products," Olga Grkavac said. She is a policy expert at the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), a large IT trade association.
Laura Ruby is the 508 coordinator at Microsoft. She heads a team of 40 people working to improve the accessibility of Microsoft products and to meet the new requirements. While emphasizing that her group was established over a decade ago, Ruby acknowledged that the new law would have a significant -- and positive -- impact on Microsoft and its competitors.
"508 is going to raise the bar for industry," she said. "It will allow us to compete with each other in terms of accessibility as we try to win government accounts. This challenges us to do more."
While the law takes effect in just under a month, no one expects the changes to take place overnight. The final standards for what agencies can and can't buy were only published April 25 -- not nearly enough time to alter products already on the shelves.
"The approaching deadline doesn't mean all (Microsoft) products will meet every standard at that deadline," Ruby said.
But Microsoft's competition isn't ready either. By all accounts, confusion reigns over what exactly government agencies that go shopping after the deadline are supposed to do if nothing on the market meets the new standards.
The new law allows federal employees and citizens to sue agencies not in compliance with the new standards. With all the confusion over what is required and the deadline nigh, there is some concern that government customers leery of litigation might put off purchases.
"There's going to be a lot of confusion," the ITAA's Grkavac said. "We're hoping that, even though the law doesn't have a lot of flexibility, there will be reasonable enforcement. It could slow down filling government contracts."
Confusion over how the law applies to government websites is also widespread. Because it covers all electronic technology and information that is "used" or "maintained" by the government, the law clearly applies to the Web. But the section on enforcement -- the teeth of the law -- refers only to technology "procured" after the deadline.
The Justice Department has ruled this means that existing websites don't need to be retro-fitted to meet the new standards. But whether the enforcement provisions apply to all websites or just those procured -- produced using outside contractors -- remains unclear.
Despite the confusion, there is clearly a push to help agencies get at least the most-visited parts of their websites compliant. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is offering seminars on 508 and maintains a website where federal IT workers can learn more about what they need to do to meet the new standards.
For the private sector, new products that help assess websites' accessibility are hitting the market as well. Macromedia, which makes popular Web design tools Dreamweaver and Flash, has just made a new accessibility extension available for those programs, free of charge. The extension, created by partner Usablenet, helps Web designers make sites that are 508 compliant.
According to Macromedia's accessibility expert Pat Brogan, government customers represent about 6 percent of the company's business. But the company has moved quickly to address accessibility because it believes the trend is spreading fast.
"Accessibility conferences around the world are sold out," Brogan said. "Six months ago there wasn't much awareness." Six thousand copies of the Dreamweaver extension were downloaded the first week it was available, she said.
Those concerned about the accessibility of their website can test it free of charge. Commonly known as "bobby," the nonprofit site checks for compliance with the basic W3C standards.
According to the latest statistics available, 54 million Americans are disabled.
