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Re: Procurement language for web accessibility

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From: Bevi Chagnon | PubCom
Date: Aug 19, 2010 7:45PM

For US Federal Government contracts, I build my contract language based on
the U.S. Access Board's ITC Standards and Guidelines, especially draft 2
that should be finalized later this year.
http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/refresh/draft-rule.htm

For non-government contracts, you can still cite the fed's ITC standards,
but also cite WCAG 2.0.

In the RFQ, you should put in an "incorporated by reference" clause that
cites the document online. This means that everything in the document is
automatically made a requirement for your contract.

In the final contract, or even in the RFQ, state the key parts of the
ITC/WCAG standards that you want to emphasize, including any
methods/techniques to meet your specific design requirements. Example:
In addition to all the guidelines in the ITC, we are especially concerned
with accessible tables and forms on the proposed website, which are
documented in the following sections of the ITC:
- Section 503.2
- Section 503.2.1
- Section 503.2.2

Also add any other features you want, beyond accessibility requirements.

Don't forget electronic deliverables of any documentation, such as user
manuals, guidebooks, etc. including Word documents and PDFs. They must meet
Chapter 5 guidelines in the ITC standards.

And add a section about how you'll test and assess the project. What will
make it "pass" and be accepted, how any failures will be remediated by the
contractor, contract modifications (more money, time), and which assistive
technologies will be used to test the website (JAWS, Windows Eyes, Acrobat
Read Out Loud, etc.)

Hopefully you've also included a SOW (statement of work) and functionality
document as part of the RFQ/contract, so these guidelines will complete the
paperwork.

To be fair to the contractor, you might want to require an accessibility
test at one or two points during the development phase, just to be able to
flag problems before the contractor spends a lot of resources going down the
wrong path.

Hope this helps.
- Bevi Chagnon

PS:
The new federal ITC standards specifically state that all federal agencies
are covered (some exceptions, see E102). It does not apply to state
agencies, private sector organizations, or recipients of federal money, like
your Univerisity (most likely).

But based on my professional experience, I think eventually all recipients
of federal money will need to meet ITC requirements for their websites and
electronic documents, just like they have had to provide handicapped access
to buildings, restrooms, public transportation, and other facilities under
the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968.

If that does happen, it will be a few years from now. But my theory is to
incorporate ITC standards now along with WCAG 2.0 and get the job done.

From a teaching viewpoint, the language and guidelines in the ITC are much
easier for my adult students (federal webmasters and publishers) to grasp
and put into practice than WCAG 2.0. It's something about how both
gudelines are written. Plus the ITC covers electronic documents (.doc, PDF,
etc.) and software interfaces, while WCAG only addresses websites.

If I had to choose just one, it would be ITC. It's a better document.

Sorry. This became a long PS!

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Bevi Chagnon | PubCom | <EMAIL REMOVED> | 301-585-8805
Government publishing specialists, trainers, consultants | print, press,
web, Acrobat PDF & 508
Online at the blog: It's 2010. Where's your career heading?
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