Skip the navigation

Feds publish Web access rules

By Gary Anthes
December 21, 2000 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - The federal government this morning published standards for government Web sites to be made accessible by people with disabilities. Federal sites must comply with the standards by June 21, 2001.
The Web access rules, issued by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, a little-known, independent federal agency, are part of a broader set of accessibility standards that apply to all IT procured or developed by the government.
The standards cover controls, keyboards, application software, operating systems, Web-based information or applications, telecommunications functions, multimedia products, information kiosks and transaction machines.
The rules require that "individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public seeking information or services from a federal agency, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency."
For example, Web pages that use pictures, colors and the like as navigational aids for sighted users must also make text equivalents available as aids to blind users who may use text-to-speech devices to navigate the Internet. The rules say, "This provision requires that when an image indicates a navigational action such as 'move to the next screen' or 'go back to the top of the page,' the image must be accompanied by actual text that states the purpose of the image."
The mandatory federal rules for Web access are a subset of broader guidelines for Web accessibility published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
"All the things required are good Web design anyway," said Gregg Vanderheiden, director of the Trace Research and Development Center at the College of Engineering of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. "And what you do to make the things accessible are the things you do to make them usable with mobile technologies."
As a result, the W3C guidelines offer good and consistent advice to Web site developers who want to make their pages accessible to both disabled and mobile users, he said.

Related stories:

Read more about Gov't Legislation/Regulation in Computerworld's Gov't Legislation/Regulation Topic Center.



Additional Resources
Forrester Consulting - Optimizing Users and Applications in a Mobile World
WHITE PAPER
Solving application issues over the WAN requires careful consideration. Based on their independent research, Forrester Consulting offers recommendations on how to tackle application performance issues, insufficient bandwidth and the inability to quickly restore users in a disaster.

Read now.

Security KnowledgeVault
WHITE PAPER
Security is not an option. This KnowledgeVault Series offers professional advice how to be proactive in the fight against cybercrimes and multi-layered security threats; how to adopt a holistic approach to protecting and managing data; and how to hire a qualified security assessor. Make security your Number 1 priority.

Read now.

Cut Communications Costs Once and for All
WHITE PAPER
New IP-based communications systems are being deployed by small and midsized businesses at a rapid rate. Learn how these organizations are enabling faster responsiveness, creating better customer experiences, speeding office or mobile interactions, and dramatically reducing existing communications costs.

Read now.

Gov't Legislation/Regulation White Papers
Overcome Top 7 Admin Challenges of Active Directory
As Active Directory's role in the enterprise has drastically increased, so has the need to secure the data. Gain insight on creating repeatable,...
Insiders Can Ruin Your Company. Take Action.
Did you know that 80 percent of threats to an organization come from the inside? The threat from insiders is often overlooked in...
Top Solutions and Tools to Prevent Devastating Malware
Custom malware frequently goes undetected. According to Forrester Research, the best way to reduce risk of breach is to deploy file integrity monitoring...
Streamline Compliance and Increase ROI
Streamline, simplify, and automate compliance related activities; especially those that impact multiple business units. This white paper from NetIQ, outlines solutions that will...
X-Ray of the PCI Process-4 Proactive Steps
This white paper from Forrester Research Inc., helps break PCI into understandable components. Security and risk professionals will gain knowledge and insight into...
All Gov't Legislation/Regulation White Papers
Gov't Legislation/Regulation Webcasts
Optimizing Networks for the Cloud
Join guest speaker, Rohit Mehra, IDC Director of Enterprise Communications Infrastructure, to explore current trends, discuss best practices for optimizing Data Center and...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 2: Designing and Deploying SQL Server on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn about the design considerations for virtualizing SQL workloads, performance and scalability information and high-availability options, as well as...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 1: Designing and Deploying Exchange 2010 on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn the virtual hardware design considerations for Exchange 2010, deployment using the building block approach, options for high-availability and...
Customer Spotlight: How IPC The Hospitalist Company Implemented Oracle on VMware
Have you been looking to hear about customer's experiences with the new VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager product? View this webcast to learn...
Virtualize Business-Critical Applications with Confidence
Virtualizing business-critical applications has become a key focus for organizations as they move along their virtualization journey. With the launch of VMware vSphere®...
All Gov't Legislation/Regulation Webcasts
Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter
  1. View all newsletters | Privacy Policy
IT Jobs