[9] in Software Accessibility Project email archive
Information for meeting tomorrow
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Kathleen Cahill)
Thu Oct 12 14:13:34 2000
Message-Id: <200009271936.PAA27938@melbourne-city-street.MIT.EDU>
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 15:40:28 -0400
To: bushnell@MIT.EDU, jeff@MIT.EDU, repa@MIT.EDU, ginnyw@MIT.EDU,
jmhunt@MIT.EDU, barbarar@MIT.EDU, jfoster@MIT.EDU, greenej@MIT.EDU,
smheyward@aol.com, kcahill@MIT.EDU, ganderso@MIT.EDU
From: Kathleen Cahill <kcahill@MIT.EDU>
Cc: ganderso@MIT.EDU
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Resent-To: swaccess@nemesis.mit.edu
Resent-From: Jean Foster <jfoster@MIT.EDU>
Hi everyone;
I am attaching a copy of the Software Accessiblity Team Charter for people to
review before we meet tomorrow. I am also sending along URL's to
university or
government sites that have software accessibility policies for you to
review as
examples. Here they are:
http://tap.orst.edu/Policy/soft.htm -- Oregon State Univesity's Software
Access Guidelines
http://www-3.ibm.com/able/accesssoftware.htm -- IBM Software Accessibility
Checklist
http://ocfo.ed.gov/coninfo/clibrary/software.htm -- US Dept. of Education
Requirements for Accessible Software Design
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/508/software.html -- US Dept. of Justice Software
Accessibility Checklist (based on the Dept. of Ed. requirements)
I will have paper copies of these tomorrow. Project team charter follows.
See
you tomorrow!
Kathy
PS -- Meeting is at 10 AM Thursday in N42-203.
MIT Information Systems
Discovery Report
August 31, 2000
DISCOVERY QUESTION: How can we ensure that any new software being
purchased or
developed for use at MIT meets basic accessibility standards and what are
those
standards?
DESCRIPTION:
Currently, Information Systems has no formal procedure for evaluating proposed
software purchases or software developed internally for accessibility
features. Both Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the
Americans
with Disabilities Act require that MIT make their programs accessible to users
with disabilities. This includes information technology.
This project came about after the development last year of MIT’s Web
Accessibility Policy and Principles which require that all official MIT Web
pages meet accessibility criteria outlined at
http://web.mit.edu/ada/waccess.html. MIT needs to make sure that desktop
software is as accessible as its web pages. This requires development of
guidelines to assist purchasers and developers in their efforts to determine
accessibility.
Providing accessible software is not only the right thing to do legally, but
morally. MIT is an institution that cares about diversity. Ensuring that our
software meets accessibility guidelines shows that MIT attracts and retains
people with disabilities and wants to include them in MIT community.
Some universities and government agencies have developed such policies and
guidelines. See:
Oregon State University Software Accessibility Standards:
http://tap.orst.edu/Policy/soft.html
US Department of Education Requirements for Accessible Software Design:
http://gcs.ed.gov/coninfo/clibrary/software.htm
WHY SHOULD I/S CARE?
This work is an integral component of the IS Strategic Plan. It relates to
Strategic Theme 2: Delivering New I/T Products, Support, and Services and is
part of the strategic goals to Deliver and assist in the delivery of new
products, support, and services that meet customer needs and create an
integrated, easy-to-use information technology environment.
The IT Infrastructure Guidelines contains the following:
7.Accessible User Interface (Added in November 1998)
Applications must be accessible to individuals with disabilities. Both
internally developed and vendor provided software, must include interfaces, on
at least one desktop, that accommodate individuals with disabilities.
Exceptions to this requirement are granted, with appropriate documentation,
only when there are no compliant packages in the marketplace and when building
such an interface is excessively expensive.
Currently, the accessible user interface requirement is not reviewed and there
are no guidelines in place to indicate how to meet accessibility requirements.
GOALS OF SOFTWARE ACCESSIBILITY TEAM:
1. To develop an institute wide policy on software accessibility and
present it
to MIT’s senior leadership for acceptance.
2. To map out standards for meeting software accessibility.
3. To provide a place for testing software in development with adaptive
technologies.
4. Plan for documentation, publicity and ongoing education of IT
community.
5. Insure that the policy and standards are integrated in the MIT
infrastructure requirements.
Development of policy and guidelines should require 3-4 meetings of team
members, along with some outside tasks by a few team members and more tasks by
team leader.
MEMBERS SO FAR:
Kathy Cahill, Team Leader
Jean Foster, Academic Computing
Ginny Williams or Jonathan Hunt, Software Release Team
Joe Greene, Student Services Information Technology
Jim Repa, Integration
Jeff Harrington, Delivery
Barbara Roberts, Coordinator of Disabilities Services
Mary Ellen Bushnell, I/S Training and Pubs.
Salome Heyward, J.D. Consultant on Disability Law and Higher Education
Sponsor: Theresa Regan, Office Computing and Nate Johnson, Support
TIMELINE:
Locate team members: August 2000
Meetings: September October 2000
Policy Approval and Adoption: November-December 2000
RISKS/OBSTACLES:
1. Getting buy-in from developers and purchasers, who may not view
accessibility as a priority.
2. Determining level of accessibility compliance and coming to a
consensus
on what accessibility means.
3. Is this a policy that I/S will develop for the rest of MIT, or do we
need approval from a higher level (Provost’s Office)?
Kathy Cahill
MIT ATIC lab 11-103
253-5111
kcahill@mit.edu
