Thread Subject: Re: BIOS Summary, Questions,Answers and Recommendations

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From: Robinson, Norman B - Washington, DC
Date: Mon, May 07 2007 10:55 AM

I'll chime in with a hearty "no new sections" chant.

Firmware is software embedded in hardware. Abstractly we shouldn't much care if the installation process is "flashing" after flipping a switch or "installing" after insertion of a CDROM. There should be no new exceptions simply because something is firmware.

- the existing BIOS implementations that provide video screens to modify BIOS settings are _SOFTWARE_ and should follow the software provisions.
- the BIOS chipset themselves are somewhat standardized and if any Section 508 hardware provisions apply, they should already be present.
- if vendors do this on the motherboard I would expect this to be currently categorized as "1194.25 Self-contained, closed products" until an operating system is installed. That brings up another interesting question if vendors can claim "compatible AT" includes having a specific OS installed and using specific software for access.

Regards,


Norman B. Robinson
Section 508 Coordinator
IT Governance, US Postal Service
phone: 202.268.8246



-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Takemura, Michael (HP Accessibility)
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2007 12:40 PM
To: TEITAC General Interface Accessibility Subcommittee
Subject: [teitac-general] [teitac-hardware] BIOS Summary, Questions,Answers and Recommendations
Importance: High


From previous discussion on BIOS.

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