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Re: W3C structure, Standards bodies, and more (wasHow is PDF accessibility evaluated?)

for

From: Karlen Communications
Date: Feb 8, 2015 4:20AM

Thanks Bevi!

I too don't understand the "advice."

For the most part the webinar provided a good set of best practices. It was
the three standards/guidelines/requirements/best practices that I mentioned
that I have a real problem with...and the fact that this seems to be a
closed process.

I would add that a document using tables for design layout would require a
lot of remediation to be put into Braille or large print.

My comments were to say that I don't understand, with all we know about
accessible document design and the wealth of knowledge in our community, how
three items that promote the creation of inaccessible documents could be in
a set of standards/requirements for "accessible documents."

I would think that knowing that these requirements are moving forward and
being taught now would motivate our community toward asking questions,
challenging and changing this not accepting that within a short time Section
508 looks like it will mandate the creation of inaccessible content and the
use of techniques that don't work in a word processing environment.

...and then there's the potential for litigation that could result from
publishing these inaccessible documents.

Cheers, Karen


-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Chagnon | PubCom
Sent: February 7, 2015 5:01 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] W3C structure, Standards bodies, and more (was RE: How
is PDF accessibility evaluated?)

Katie wrote: "...You might actually want to get off the back of the US
Access Board..."

No. I won't. We should have been at this point a few years ago.
Having been a publishing consultant to all US Federal government publishing
offices for 40 years, I have to honestly say that the Access Board has acted
at a snail's pace.
Slowest.
Speed.
Ever.

I have several family members, close friends, colleagues, and clients with
disabilities that include pretty much everything covered by Sec. 508. It
sickens me to see them struggle year and year while they wait for the
revised guidelines to give them equal access to information for both their
personal and work lives.

Reviewing the timeline, which is excerpted from the Access Board's website:
- February 3, 1998 - Board publishes original Telecommunications Act
Accessibility Guidelines.
- December 21, 2000 - Board issues original Section 508 Standards.
- March 22, 2010 - Board releases draft ICT proposed rule to update the
Section 508 standards and Telecommunications Act guidelines.
- December 8, 2011 - Revised draft proposed rule released for comment.
- February 23, 2014 - Proposed rule submitted to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for review (OMB has 90 days to complete its review).

It is now 15 years and 2 months after the first Sec. 508 standards and we
are still waiting for it to be fixed. Per law, we must follow
regulations/standards/guidelines that are 15 years out of date and no longer
reflect today's technology and people's needs.

If OMB had 90 days from last February - one year ago - to review the draft,
what's stalling the process 9 months later?
Why, in the first place, did it take the Access Board 14 years to develop
the revised standards now under review?
Since OMB is under direct White House control, is there any chance we'll see
new standards by the time President Obama leaves office in 2 years? I worry
what our chances will be with the successor White House administration.

I don't make these comments off the top of my head.
I speak as someone who has worked inside countless US federal agencies and
helped them publish millions (and probably billions) of pages of government
regulations, legislation, and public documents.

I don't understand why it's taking so long for the 508 Refresh. Yes, it's a
complex issue, but not nearly as complex by, say, EPA regulations. Yes, the
standards have to go through legally mandated procedures and review. But
it's 4 years and 2 months since the 2011 draft (the latest one that's
public).
Why.
So.
Long?

If OMB is the bottleneck, maybe we ordinary citizens should organize a
protest in front of their offices near the White House. Can you imagine the
PR? A few hundred disabled Americans chanting, "Hell no we won't go, until
you give us the 508 refresh!" OK, the rhyme needs some work. But I can get
all the major news outlets to cover event, local and national. That could
move the 508 Refresh up to the top of the stack of paper on someone's desk!

--Bevi Chagnon
(Proud US citizen, but still not a happy 508-camper) (And apologies for the
Washington shoptalk)

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Katie
Haritos-Shea
Sent: Saturday, February 7, 2015 7:15 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] W3C structure, Standards bodies, and more (was RE: How
is PDF accessibility evaluated?)

Just as an aside. You might actually want to get off the back of the US
Access Board - they are awaiting on the oversight and approval of their
proposed new standards' financial/budgetary implementation by OMB. There are
still a few more steps before a final rule is published in the Federal
Register - which in the US government space is the official launch of a new
standard or regulation.

* katie *

Katie Haritos-Shea @ GMAIL
On Feb 7, 2015 12:27 AM, "John Foliot" < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Chagnon | PubCom wrote:
> >
> > Thanks for catching those details, John (JF).
>
> NP, and really, it was only to be specific about the roles we and they
> all play.
>
> > I'll refrain from more discussion about who controls what at the ISO
> > as it's not for this public discussion.
>
> I'll agree that it is off-topic at this point, however at some level I
> think that it is important that we all have a basic understanding of
> how all the pieces fit together. And if anyone ever wants to ask a
> question in that realm, they can contact me directly, and I'll try to
> help.
>
> > I think we all agree on one issue:
> > There are a lot of standards-writing organizations (boards,
> > committees, whatever), but none of those standards can be enforced
> > until someone adopts them, such as through government legislation
> > that mandates adhering to particular standards.
>
> Yep.
>
> > And those of us in the US probably unanimously agree on another:
> > Please please please, US Access Board, get the 508 refresh out!
> > This is a huge embarrassment. We have the tools and software to make
> > most documents fully accessible, without blowing the US budget. It's
> > "do-able."
>
> Agreed! It will be interesting to see how hot a topic this will be at
> this year's CSUN.
>
> JF

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