Thread Subject: Subpart A Definitions- Assistive Technology-Action Needed

Note

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From: Deborah Buck
Date: Mon, Apr 30 2007 8:30 AM

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY
* This is a proposed revision to the current language founds in
Subpart A Definitions.


CURRENT DEFINITION:
Assistive Technology. Any item, piece of equipment, or system, whether
acquired commercially, modified, or customized, that is commonly used to
increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with
disabilities.

RECOMMENDED LANGUAGE:
Assistive Technology. Any item, piece of equipment, SERVICE, or system,
whether acquired commercially, modified, or customized that is commonly used
to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals
with disabilities.


ACTION:
Please indicate whether you can support this definition or if you think it
should be changed- please include your suggested changes:

___ I can accept this definition.
___ I can accept this definition with changes. I'm recommending that the
group consider the following changes:


COST BENEFITS OF PROPOSED CHANGE
Do you think this change will result in increased costs?
Do you think this proposed change will result in benefits such as increased
access for people with disabilities, increased implementation of Section
508, improve the likelihood that developers and manufacturers can and will
build products to meet the applicable standards?


BACKGROUND/EXPLANATION OF THESE EMAILS
Subpart A Workgroup Members- In the next few days you will receive several
emails from the Subpart A co-chairs. We have made significant progress in
our work of late, but need to come to some resolution. Recognizing that not
all of you have been able to join the conference calls and participate in
our discussions, we have decided to take this approach to determine whether
we have reached consensus.

You will receive several emails- the emails will be broken down between the
2 sections of Subpart A that we have been addressed to date- Definitions and
Exceptions. Within each of these categories you will received an email on
each of the issues or topics. For example, under the Definitions section we
have been reviewing and have made recommendations for definitions on
accessibility, assistive technology, comparable access, etc. You will
receive individual emails on each of the terms we've addressed. You will be
asked to take action on the terms.
* After reviewing the information you will be asked to indicate
whether you agree with the recommendation or disagree.
* If you disagree, specify the changes you think are needed. If you
need to explain your rationale, please do so. If at all possible, please do
not disagree, but then not provide alternative language.
* The group also needs to deal with cost-benefit impact of the
recommendations. Please indicate whether you think the recommended changes
will have an impact on cost of implementation and what the benefits will be
as a result of the proposed change.
* If you want, you can modify the subject in your response to indicate
whether you accept or reject the proposed language. This will enable us to
sort and categorize the responses more quickly and be prepared to see where
our efforts might need to be focused for our meeting on Thursday, May 3,
2007.
* Our plan is to have resolution of these topics and transmit the
information to the Access Board. We will then move to developing
recommendations on Subpart A: Application and hopefully close out our work.

If you need back ground information on some of the discussions- you should
refer to the Subpart A Report



Deborah V. Buck, Executive Director
Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs (ATAP)
PO Box 32
Delmar, NY 12054
518.439.1263 (voice)
518.439.3451 (fax)
518.441.7204 (cell)
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
http://www.ataporg.org

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