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Re: Accessible Applications

for

From: Darian Glover
Date: May 13, 2008 8:30AM

Karl,

I cannot cite every Department's and Agency's procurement rules within the
Federal Government, mostly because government procurement is such a mess.
Here is one Department that does require VPATs:

http://www.state.gov/m/irm/impact/52675.htm


Darian.


On 5/12/08, Karl Groves < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
> That's quite a list you have, Kara.
> One step that may help you in finding what you seek is to look for a VPAT
> for these products. Contrary to Darian's response, VPATs are not
> mandatory
> (what is mandatory is that the FAR Part 10 requires market research, for
> which VPATs help.).
>
> The other thing about VPATs is that, in my experience, they're often
> inaccurate. I don't want to say that vendors lie on their VPATs (though
> they could) but that sometimes it seems like the person filling them out
> doesn't seem to understand 508 or that the version of the application
> currently in release is not the same as the version discussed in the VPAT.
> There seems to be a lot of reasons why a VPAT could be inaccurate. The
> bottom line is, be skeptical. In cases where a VPAT was supplied by a 3rd
> party, accuracy seems to increase (because those 3rd parties don't want to
> be grilled about inaccuracies).
>
> A VPAT is NOT a legal document and does not, in and of itself, prevent or
> permit any acquisition.
>
> > Also, has anyone contacted vendors directly asking for changes to be
> > made in response to accessibility if contract language wasn't
> > originally
> > in the picture
>
> In practice: Your chances are relatively slim and directly proportional to
> your purchasing power. For example, let's say GMU is purchasing something
> from Microsoft. The chance of them remediating something for GMU is
> nonexistent compared to the chance they'd do it for a major government
> agency such as IRS or SSA and, unless it is in the original contract is
> already slim-to-none. A contract is a contract and must clearly define
> the
> work to be performed, including adherence to any standards for
> accessibility. It would be like trying to take a car back to the
> dealership because it came with the wrong engine when you didn't tell the
> dealer which engine you wanted in the first place. The best you can do is
> learn from mistakes and make sure they're not made again.
>
>
>
> Karl Groves
> AIM/YIM: karlcore
> Skype: eight.pistons
> www.WebAccessStrategies.com
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: <EMAIL REMOVED> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
> > On Behalf Of Kara Zirkle
> > Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 3:01 PM
> > To: <EMAIL REMOVED> ; <EMAIL REMOVED> ;
> > <EMAIL REMOVED> ; <EMAIL REMOVED> ;
> > <EMAIL REMOVED> ; <EMAIL REMOVED> ;
> > <EMAIL REMOVED> ; <EMAIL REMOVED> ; <EMAIL REMOVED> ;
> > Korey J Singleton
> > Subject: [SEC508] Accessible Applications
> >
> > Is anyone using any of the following applications or products and if so
> > could you please give me some input on whether or not they are
> > accessible to individuals with disabilities or meet Section 508
> > Compliance? Also, if anyone has done research on similar applications
> > and chose not to go with one of the following applications what
> > application did you go with that was more accessible?
> >
> > Applications such as:
> >
> > Adobe Breeze; Townhall; Blackboard; Respondus; CMS' Droople, Paperthin,
> > Commonspot and Figleaf; Luminous; Hawkeye software assets tracking;
> > Email applications GoogleApps, Microsoft Live or Exchange Labs; various
> > Blog Platforms (ex. Wordpress); various Survey Software; Banner and
> > other Sunguard applications; SkillPort; iTunes U Podcasting; Accordent
> > Capture; SharePoint 2007; Microsoft VISTA; ILLiad (interlibrary loan
> > management system); VuFind; Basecamp; GMPLS (generalized multiprotocol
> > label switching); AppWorx; and Touchnet software
> >
> > Also, has anyone contacted vendors directly asking for changes to be
> > made in response to accessibility if contract language wasn't
> > originally
> > in the picture? Can anyone make any suggestions about this?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > --
> > Kara Zirkle
> > IT Accessibility Coordinator
> > Assistive Technology Initiative
> > Thompson Hall RM 114 Mail Stop: 6A11
> > Fairfax Campus
> > 4400 University Drive
> > Fairfax, VA 22030
> > Phone: 703-993-9815
> > Fax: 703-993-4743
> > http://www.gmu.edu/accessibility/ati/home.html
> >
> >