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Re: Section 508 Testing/Section 508 Refresh

for

From: John E Brandt
Date: Jun 6, 2011 1:03PM

Gary,

Are you saying that the "testing" that Jennifer's group will be experiencing
will include all parts of the Section 508 Standards? She specifically
referenced "... our website and web-based applications will be tested ..."

There are a number of subsections in Subpart B: Technical Standards which
includes the Video and multimedia products (substandard 1194.24) - where the
reference to audio descriptions is made. Subsection 1194.22 that deals with
Web-based intranet and internet information and applications does not appear
to have the audio description requirement.

I am curious since I've always heard that Section 508 only really applies to
federal agencies and the Post Office. Many states and organizations have
adopted the Subsection 1194.22 for the accessibility standard for their
websites, but not the other standards.

If the Fed is now auditing all of their contractors for full compliance to
all of standards of Section 508 - that would be BIG news.

John E. Brandt
www.jebswebs.com
<EMAIL REMOVED>
207-622-7937
Augusta, Maine, USA


-----Original Message-----
From: Morin, Gary (NIH/OD) [E] [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Monday, June 06, 2011 2:11 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Cc: 'McDonald, Jennifer'; ' <EMAIL REMOVED> '
Subject: RE: [WebAIM] Section 508 Testing/Section 508 Refresh

Videos and multimedia need Audio-Description, in addition to captioning
(transcriptions being provided only for audio-only files). And the
multimedia players need to be tested - rarely are they accessible to those
of us who use speech recognition, as well as to screen readers, from what
I've heard. Audio Description is no less required, just less provided.

Gary M. Morin, Program Analyst
NIH Office of the Chief Information Officer
10401 Fernwood Rd, Room 3G-17
Bethesda, MD 20892, Mail Stop: 4833

(301) 402-3924 Voice, 451-9326 TTY/NTS
Videophone (240) 380-3063; (301) 402-4464 Fax

NIH Section 508 Team: mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ?subject=Section 508
Help or, for Section 508 Guidance, http://www.hhs.gov/web/508/index.html

WHAT IF THE FIRST QUESTION WE ASKED WAS, "WHAT IS SO UNIQUE ABOUT THIS
SITUATION THAT IT JUSTIFIES EXCLUSION? INSTEAD OF, "HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO
MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE?"


-----Original Message-----
From: John E Brandt [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Monday, June 06, 2011 1:40 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Section 508 Testing/Section 508 Refresh

Don't forget to make sure all videos are captioned and all audio file
transcribed.

If you use animations or Flash, you are going to have to ensure these are
also accessible.

John E. Brandt
www.jebswebs.com
<EMAIL REMOVED>
207-622-7937
Augusta, Maine, USA


-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of McDonald,
Jennifer
Sent: Monday, June 06, 2011 12:20 PM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: [WebAIM] Section 508 Testing/Section 508 Refresh

The company that I work for has been notified that our website and web-based
applications will be tested to determine "how well it complies with the
standards of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended in 1998". We do work
on behalf of the Department of Education. Has anyone been through this
before? While we feel confident that we're indeed accessible, we're
wondering which standards they'll use to test by.
I've been performing all of my analysis based on WCAG 2 - and I've been
researching Section 508 Refresh. Do they use real people to test
objectively? Or do they run it through a validator?

If anyone has had any experience with a government accessibility review I
would love to hear about it.

Thanks,

Jennifer McDonald
Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation Ecommerce - Assistant Web Producer
Web Design and User Experience



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