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Re: Deltek Accessibility

for

From: Thomas McKeithan II
Date: Jan 8, 2014 5:57AM

Tim,


I appreciate your insight and will keep this in mind as I craft my note to them.

Respectfully,
Thomas Lee McKeithan II
QSSI
http://www.qssinc.com
508 Tester, CMS - EIDM Project
10440 Little Patuxent Pkwy , Suite 1200
Columbia , MD 21044
(301 )977-7884 x1038 (Work)
(202) 276-6437 (Cell)
 

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-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Tim Harshbarger
Sent: Wednesday, January 08, 2014 7:19 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Deltek Accessibility

I will offer my suggestions for whatever they might be worth...


When you talk with them about improving the accessibility of their software, you should be prepared with an understanding of what end result you seek and how to explain that to them in a manner they will comprehend. The more specific you can be, the better--particularly if they don't have anyone that works there that knows much of anything about accessibility. It is also probably a good idea to know what the relationship is between your firm and theirs--both the working relationship and the contractual relationship. You may also need to be prepared to explain what is in it for them beyond keeping a good customer happy. And last but not least, you are going to want to talk timelines and commitments with them--even if it is just to bring up the subject as something that needs to be determined later.

The fact is that improving the accessibility of their existing product is going to require them to invest resources and time in the work which is. If they are like most companies, they probably have a large number of items they want to accomplish already and not enough resources or time to get them all done as quickly as they want. My thought is that you want to provide them with as much of the information as they need to make a decision about the work and schedule it so that you can get a commitment and timeline from them that produces the results you need.

If there are challenges in getting them to do this work, I suspect they most likely involve resources (people, time, and money) and the reasonableness of the goal.

The first just has to do with the fact that if they use their resources for one opportunity, those resources won't be available to take advantage of another opportunity. While accessibility may pose more of a question than normal for them since it might be an unknown quantity, the resource question is just a standard question everyone has to deal with--until we figure out a way for human beings to do 2 or more things simultaneously.

The second question is going to be based likely on a concern over knowing how much accessibility is enough. While most of us agree that accessibility is more of a way of doing things and thinking, they are likely more use to deal with concrete things. They are going to be thinking along the lines of wanting to know what feature set or bug fixes you want. However, you might be able to resolve those questions by being as specific as possible and working out an acceptance process with them that takes the mystery out of knowing when enough is enough.

Hopefully, something in what I said will be useful to you. I wish you good fortune in your endeavour.

Tim

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Thomas McKeithan II
Sent: Tuesday, January 07, 2014 4:31 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Deltek Accessibility

I shall I'll send a note in the morning and I'll let you know via this list if I hear back


Sent from my iPhone
Thomas Lee McKeithan II

202-276-6437 Mobile

> On Jan 7, 2014, at 5:27 PM, "Olaf Drümmer" < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
> Hi Thomas,
>
> many software developers are never confronted with the need of people with disabilities. Some of them are actually pretty open minded - once they understand what's needed, they might come up with really useful stuff. If nobody tells them, not much will change any time soon.
>
> So maybe you should give it a try? Their UK contact URL is
> http://www.deltek.co.uk/company/contactus
>
> Olaf
>
>
>> Am 7 Jan 2014 um 23:14 schrieb Thomas McKeithan II < <EMAIL REMOVED> >:
>>
>> I have not reached out to them as of yet I thought I would try
>> posting a note here first
>
>
> > > list messages to <EMAIL REMOVED> This electronic mail
> (including any attachments) may contain information that is privileged, confidential, and/or otherwise protected from disclosure to anyone other than its intended recipient(s). Any dissemination or use of this electronic email or its contents (including any attachments) by persons other than the intended recipient(s) is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender by reply email and delete the original message (including any attachments) in its entirety.