The Accessible Future Release
June 21, 2001, National Press Club

Remarks and Presentations by Ethel D. Briggs, Bonnie O'Day, Cheryl Cumings, David Capozzi, and Laura Ruby

Remarks by Ethel D. Briggs
Executive Director
National Council on Disability

Good morning. I am Ethel Briggs, Executive Director of the National Council on Disability. Welcome to the release of The Accessible Future report, presented by the National Council on Disability. This forward-thinking report takes a holistic look at the federal government's efforts to promote electronic and information (E&IT) accessibility for individuals with disabilities.

The National Council on Disability is an independent federal agency consisting of fifteen members. The Council's members are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate of the United States and are all individuals with disabilities or parents of individuals with disabilities. The Accessible Future is the fourth in our series of reports, "Unequal Protection Under Law." This series of reports has examined enforcement and implementation of civil rights legislation, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Air Carrier Access Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Today, we have assembled a panel of consumer, industry, and governmental leaders to discuss the report and describe their efforts to enhance electronic and information access for individuals with disabilities. Unique and innovative collaboration strategies between these three sectors of society are key to equal access to E&IT and we are pleased to include representatives of all of these groups on our panel today.

First, we will hear from Dr. Bonnie O'Day, our Council member who has provided leadership on this report. After Dr. O'Day summarizes this report, Cheryl Cummings will provide a consumer's perspective. Next, David Capozzi will talk about the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board's) work to develop standards and provide leadership and technical assistance to implement Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Finally, Laura Ruby from Microsoft will represent the industry perspective and describe industry's ongoing efforts to promote E&IT access. After these comments, we will respond to questions from the media and following media questions, we will take questions from the public.

I would also like to recognize other members of the National Council on Disability who are in the audience. They are

Additionally, we have government, industry, and consumer leaders who will be available to answer questions and discuss E&IT access with you individually after the press conference. They are (insert names). Karen Pelt Strauss is also available to answer questions related to the Federal Communications Commission.

Other logistics?

Now, I present to you Dr. Bonnie O'Day. Dr. O'Day was appointed to NCD by President Clinton in 1994 and, since that time, has led the Council's efforts to provide policy guidance to the Administration and the Congress on Technology Access issues.

Remarks by Bonnie O'Day
Member
National Council on Disability

Thank you very much.

First, I wish to acknowledge the work and involvement of the entire Council in support of technology access. The Council has a significant history in this area, beginning with its first report on financing assistive technology in 1988. I also wish to draw your attention to the Council's award winning website, www.ncd.gov, on which all of our reports can be found.

This report, along with our four previous reports on technology access, would not have been possible without the technical assistance and involvement of Tech Watch. Tech Watch is an advisory body to the Council consisting of consumers, technology specialists, and advocates. This group has provided advice and support to the Council on all of its technology activities during the last eight years, including its reports on access to the graphical user interface, multi-media access, and AT policy. The Accessible Future also draws on the good work and long experience of many of the committed federal agencies and policy leaders throughout the country. Many advocates have been working individually and collectively over the years to bring us to this point today. The Accessible Future report is based in large part on all of this cumulative experience.

I also wish to recognize the NCD staff, including Ethel Briggs, Martin Gould, Jeff Rosen, and Mark Quigley, and the other NCD staff for their assistance with the report and organizing this event. And, completion of this report would not have been possible without the scholarship, knowledge, and commitment of Steve Mendelsohn, NCD's contractor for the report.

The Accessible Future examines access to Electronic and Information technology, which includes the Internet, the World Wide Web, and information/transaction machines. No one would dispute that people with disabilities have the same right and need for the information everyone else has. This information is becoming more and more essential to our employment, education, and community participation. Consider the busy executive, who reads the morning stock prices on the web, makes a few calls from her cell phone and stops at the ATM on the way to work, and answers twenty email messages and sends a fax when she arrives. Living without ready access to all of this information has become unthinkable. Paradoxically, at the very time when many people comfortably assume that technology is steadily bringing people with disabilities more opportunities for access than ever before, this same technology (coupled with the attitudes and expectations of those who use it) may in many cases be reinforcing patterns of exclusion and isolation. In my above example, checking stock quotes may be impossible for me as a blind person if the web page does not work with my screen reader. Using a cellular phone, ATM, and fax machine are guesswork because there is no auditory feedback to let me know that I have entered the correct keystrokes.

The Accessible Future Report examines implementation and enforcement of several significant pieces of legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. We looked at promising practices and made recommendations toward establishing strong E&IT access policy in the United States.

We found that access to E&IT is, and should be viewed as a civil right, just as access to public and private buildings is now considered a civil right and is a part of our everyday experience. Access to E&IT is equally as important for people with sensory disabilities as access to the built environment is for people with physical disabilities.

The report found that we do not have one comprehensive piece of legislation that promotes E&IT in the same way the ADA requires access to the physical environment. There are several laws, including the ADA, Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act, and Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. These laws provide a patchwork of requirements, with different levels of access required under each law and leaving certain vital E&IT uncovered.

We understand that access to E&IT is more complicated, because of the changing nature of information technology. The most up-to-date computer system can become obsolete in a matter of months, when a new more sexy product enters the market. Rapid advances in technology require that access remain high on the industry, government, and consumer agenda. Unique, collaborative strategies between consumers, government, and industry are necessary to address the ever-changing and complex issues of E&IT access.

Our report found that many federal agencies have made significant strides in promoting E&IT access over the last several years. These policies and practices were due in large part to leadership of key agency personnel. A corollary finding is that these policies and practices must be institutionalized if information access is to advance.

We also identified several strategies that, if adopted, would make implementation of existing laws stronger and more consistent. Our recommendations include:

1. Incorporate E&IT Accessibility into the Agency Planning and Government-Wide Planning Processes at All Levels
   
   
2. Review the Federal Contracting Process to Encourage Diffusion of Accessibility, including encouraging or requiring accessibility in grants and contracts, developing model contract language, and providing technical assistance.
   
   
3. Establish federal website quality control, including random auditing of federal websites.
   
   
4. Systematically address the question of cost effectiveness, by establishing a Presidential Commission to study the cost effectiveness of both providing and not providing accessible E&IT. This Commission should be kicked off with a White House summit on accessibility.
   
   
5. Involve consumers in the implementation process, through establishing agency advisory committees and other mechanisms for consumers, industry and government collaboration.
   
   
6. Enrich the available resources for implementation of Section 508. For example, relevant government agencies should collaborate to provide additional guidance on unresolved 508 issues. Technical assistance for non-compliant agencies should be mandated.
   
   
7. Enhance record-keeping and data collection mechanisms
   
   
8. The President and Congress should establish or empower a joint blue ribbon commission to examine barriers to effective implementation of E&IT accessibility that may exist in current federal laws, and to recommend changes in law that will foster E&IT accessibility in the public and private sectors.
   
   
9. Reinvigorate the quality and focus of ADA enforcement
   Through suitable regulations, interpretive guidance, or case initiation, DOJ should take immediate and meaningful steps to set forth its views concerning the applicability of Title III to the Internet and promulgate standards and requirements for the accessibility of public terminals.
   
   
10. The FCC should intensify monitoring and enforcement under Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act

Access to electronic and information technology has become a civil rights issue for many people with disabilities and for our society and the importance of this issue can only grow. We must all work together to ensure that all Americans can participate in the information society of the 21st century.

Essential to the implementation of accessible E&IT is the collaboration of consumers, government and industry. If each group represents one leg of a triangle, access to technology will collapse if any one of these legs is missing. That is why I am pleased that all three legs of this triangle are represented on our panel today.

Our first speaker will be Cheryl Cummings, Minority Outreach Coordinator, Massachusetts Commission for the Blind. After Cheryl, we will hear from Dave Capozzi, Director, Technical and Information Services, U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board. Following Dave will be Laura Ruby, Program Manager for Regulatory and Industry Affairs, Microsoft.

Remarks by Cheryl Cumings

Research has shown that there is a digital divide based on many variables including race and disability. For those of us who use technology every day it is hard to imagine not having a computer with speech or a scanner available. However, for many people of color with disabilities this is a reality.

The current reality is that although computers are relatively inexpensive, for someone who is blind, the true cost of a computer system includes the computer which you may purchase from a Comp USA or a radio shack and the adaptive technology which can run into hundreds of dollars. This means that even though a high powered computer can cost $900.00 to use it, you must also purchase a $700.00 software package for speech access, $300.00 for an external speech synthesizer, $90.00 for a scanner and $500.00 for the software to make it accessible. For many people, these costs are prohibitive.

Today as more and more technology becomes accessible, a blind person can begin to assume that he/she can live a life which permits privacy and independence. Prior to accessible technology in order to pay a bill I had to find someone to read my mail and to write a check. For me this meant that I had no privacy. Similarly with withdrawing money from an ATM, I had to either memorize the button sequence or find someone to go with me to the ATM. Today, I'm fortunate to belong to a bank which has recently installed talking ATMs and I can withdraw my money by myself.

Yet even as adaptive technology catches up with mainstream electronic and information technology the pace at which advances are being made, makes me concerned for the future. I'm concerned on two levels. One that we will always have to play catch up. I am concerned that mainstream producers of technology will continue to disregard the principles of universal design and that we will always have to rely on adaptive technology. My hope is that mainstream producers through the implementation of universal design principles will eliminate the need for adaptive technology.

This report The Accessible Future has clearly shown that electronic and information technology has become endemic to modern life. If there is no real commitment by the producers to make this technology usable by people with disabilities then we will be left behind. We will be left behind in education because text books are being produced in electronic formats we can not use and classroom instruction is provided via inaccessible web sites. We will be left behind in employment because the business uses software which is graphically based without any keyboard alternatives.

My second concern is for people of color with disabilities who do not have access to technology. I think if specific attention is not paid to the current digital divide, then we run the risk of it deepening and expanding. Even though the American economy has grown drastically in the last few years, it is a boom which did not include many people of color with disabilities. Although I view a computer and other electronic aids as a necessity when you are concerned with paying rent, putting food on your table and just surviving, an accessible computer is a pricey luxury.

I hope my concerns for the future will be mitigated by the realization of electronic and information technology producers that accessible technology is good business and benefits everyone in the society. I believe we are at the beginning of a revolution and we still have the opportunity to ensure that this revolution includes everyone.

Remarks by David M. Capozzi

The National Council on Disability is to be congratulated for drawing attention to the impact of the nation's laws and regulations that affect the accessibility of today's technology.

The Access Board's goal in developing accessibility guidelines and standards is to ensure that technology does not stand as a barrier to employment and the full productivity by people with disabilities. In a sense, the purpose of these requirements is to ensure that the information age does not pass people with disabilities by.

Where steps and physical barriers have kept people with physical disabilities out of the work force and out of government and private buildings, inaccessible web pages, inaccessible software, videos without captioning, and office equipment such as copiers with inaccessible controls are the barriers of today. Section 508 and section 255 were enacted to address those information technology barriers.

Just as in 1968, Congress has identified the Federal government as the proper place to start tackling these problems for section 508. The Federal government has been given the responsibility to set an example for the rest of the country by being a model employer, and providing exemplary service to its customers with disabilities by showing that access can be achieved in a reasonable way and that information technology access will benefit all people.

The Access Board believes in consultation with Federal agencies, the electronic and information technology industry, telecommunications industry, and organizations representing individuals with disabilities, in order to develop and maintain our accessibility requirements.

We convened the Electronic and Information Technology Access Advisory Committee - a 27 member Federal Advisory Committee to make recommendations on the standards to be developed by the Board under section 508.

We convened the Telecommunications Access Advisory Committee - a 33 member Federal Advisory Committee to make recommendations on the accessibility guidelines for telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment that the Board was required to issue under section 255 of the Telecommunications Act.

We believe that a combination of technical criteria specific to various types of technologies and performance-based requirements, which focus on the functional capabilities of covered technologies is the best way to regulate in this area.

Full implementation of section 508 is especially important in these days of rapidly developing technology. According to a UCLA Internet Report, "Surveying the Digital Future" some 19 million Americans were using the Internet. That number tripled in one year, and then passed 100 million in 1999. In the first quarter of 2000, more than five million Americans joined the online world - roughly 55,000 new users each day, 2,289 new users each hour, or 38 new users each minute. Every 24 hours, the content of the Worldwide Web increases by more than 3.2 million new pages and more than 715,000 images. Late last year, the total number of hits on U.S. web pages passed the one billion per day mark.

E-mail, perhaps the most basic of online services, continues to grow beyond all expectations. The number of electronic mailboxes worldwide reached almost 570 million in 1999. In 1998 the U.S. Postal Service delivered 101 billion pieces of paper mail; estimates of the number of e-mail messages transmitted that year range as high as four trillion. In less than a decade, e-mail has become a fundamental communication tool in America.

Help in understanding the new requirements is on the way. The Board is developing technical assistance materials on the final standards and section 508. A good deal of material is already on our website http://www.access-board.gov. The General Services Administration and the Access Board have offered seven free procurement forums on section 508 across the county and the government has a web site devoted solely to section 508 issues. It's address is http://www.section508.gov.

With the enactment of section 508 and the publication of the Board's final standards on access to electronic and information technology, we have seen a substantial increase in our technical assistance activities. Since December 2000, when the Board issued its final standards we have conducted the following technical assistance activities (with essentially two full-time staff):

Telephone, E-mail, and Written Requests for Technical Assistance - Responded to 2,143 telephone, e-mail, and written requests for technical assistance.

Web Site User Sessions and Hits - Web site user sessions have totaled 434,714 and our hits have totaled 4,075,818.

Press Accounts - There were 68 stories in the press on section 508 and the Access Board's work.

Training Sessions - Provided 42 training sessions, reaching over 2,900 individuals.

Prepared remarks delivered by Laura Ruby, on behalf of Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Compaq, Motorola and Cingular Wireless.

First, I would like to thank the National Council on Disability for the opportunity to participate in this important event that brings together industry, government and consumers with disabilities. My name is Laura Ruby, Regulatory and Industry Affairs Manager for Microsoft's Accessible Technology Group. I also chair the Information Technology Industry Council's Accessibility Working Group, which has been an integral part of industry's current efforts.

I'd like to start by introducing my industry colleagues who are actively working on Electronic & Information Technology accessibility. Together we represent a broad range of products and services including hardware, software and telecommunications equipment and services.

• Denice Gant, Director of Hewlett Packard Accessibility Solutions
• Michael Takemura, Director of Compaq's Accessibility Program Office
• Mary Brooner, Director of Telecommunications Strategy & Regulation at Motorola's Global Government Relations Office
• Susan Palmer, Associate Director of Government Affairs for Cingular Wireless

We are all very excited to be a part of the activities celebrating accessibility this week -- President Bush's speeches on disability policy at the Pentagon on Tuesday, the Department of Labor's 21st Century Workforce Summit yesterday, and, of course, NCD's event today.

We are here today representing the ongoing efforts of industry in support of advancing technology in the area of accessibility. At Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Compaq, Motorola, and Cingular, we have had longstanding commitments to people with disabilities. Our companies all believe that our success depends on our ability to make our technology accessible to all people, including people with disabilities. Along with many other members of industry, we believe that accessible technology is good for industry, government and consumers.

This is a journey we started together (along with many of you) ten years ago with the Americans with Disabilities Act. We continued in 1996 with Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act and now add another phase to our journey with the amendment to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and the President's New Freedom Initiative.

The ADA, Section 255, Section 508 and the New Freedom Initiative each raise the awareness of the need for accessibility within mainstream technology. They promote the inclusion of accessibility into product design and foster competition in this area of great importance.

Our efforts to address accessibility include widespread changes in our companies' internal processes, in our products and services. The following examples are a testimony to our on-going efforts:

Microsoft: Microsoft's commitment to making our products accessible to people with disabilities has resulted in the release of our third generation operating system, Windows 2000, which includes an accessibility Wizard that allows users customize the operating system according to their needs. And, our newly released Office XP features basic speech recognition capabilities.

HP: Hewlett Packard is committed to integrating accessibility into its mainstream products. HP's new line of laser jet printers provide printer status and alert information so that a screen reader alerts a user who is blind of the print job status, such as when it's out of paper and when an error has occurred. Additionally, Hewlett Packard's new line of Vectra mini tower PC's has concave buttons and high contrast icons resulting in improved accessibility for people with mobility and visual disabilities.

Compaq: Earlier this week, Compaq posted Accessibility Product Information in an ITI-GSA jointly developed internet-based template to assist Federal Agencies with their Section 508 market research. Compaq also recently partnered with Lighthouse for the Blind in a research project aimed at making future Compaq products more accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired

Motorola: Motorola has introduced accessibility and usability into its gated design and development processes for all consumer devices. New products have high contrast display technology and increased screen size and nibs on the 5 key for keypad orientation. Significant research and development for both TTY and Hearing Aid Compatibility are on-going and Motorola believes the improvements to devices and to the telecommunications networks that will be introduced will significantly benefit consumers who are deaf or experience significant hearing loss.

Cingular: Cingular lives up to its commitment to the value of Human Expression by listening to consumers with disabilities. This includes guidance from its Wireless Access Task Force, and active participation in industry, consumer and government efforts. Cingular's commitment to accessibility is demonstrated by direct access customer care for TTY users, bills in Braille and large print, and most visibly inclusion of Dan Keplinger, a gifted artist with a disability, in one of its Super bowl commercials.

Most recently, industry's activities have been focused on the development and implementation of the Electronic & Information Technology Standards for Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Section 508 gives industry the flexibility and freedom to innovate accessibility solutions outside of the constraints of prescriptive regulation. These solutions will benefit people with disabilities both in the workplace and at home, and they will help federal agencies to comply with Section 508.

To help ensure government's successful implementation of Section 508, industry has been working collaboratively with federal government agencies to develop a common method for industry to provide information regarding the accessibility features of our technologies. We plan to post this information on many of our web sites. This effort will enable our government customers to complete their market research and make wise purchasing choices in regard to accessibility. These wise purchasing choices will help to bring the true intent of Section 508 to fruition by enabling people with disabilities to have access to the Information Technology they need in their workplaces.

While we continue to work to integrate accessibility into mainstream technology, many of our customers with disabilities continue to need fully featured, specialized assistive technologies such as screen readers and TTYs to interoperate with their mainstream Information Technologies. The interoperability between Assistive Technologies and Information Technologies is one of the more complex issues that deserves our further attention. Collaboration between Assistive Technology vendors, Information Technology providers, and consumers is critical to exploring new solutions.

Making Electronic and Information Technology accessible is an ongoing journey not a destination. Industry, government and consumers need to continue to work together and each play our distinct and important role in furthering the state of accessible technology for people with disabilities.

At Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Compaq, Motorola and Cingular, we are committed to embarking on the next phase of this important journey with all of you.

Thank you.

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