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It's Official - New Sec. 508 is out

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From: Bourne, Sarah (ITD)
Date: Mar 19, 2015 7:07AM

Reviving an old thread. Jon was considering a recommendation to reference "the latest version" instead of specific version of standards incorporated by reference. I have found the reason why they are not doing this:

"The Board cannot accept the suggestion of software industry representatives that the proposed rule permit compliance with any follow-on versions of WCAG 2.0. Federal agencies cannot $B!H(Bdynamically$B!I(B incorporate by reference future editions of consensus standards. Such action is legally prohibited since it would, among other things, unlawfully delegate the government$B!G(Bs regulatory authority to standards development organizations, as well as bypass rulemaking requirements (which would typically include a public notice$B!>(Band$B!>(Bcomment period). Federal agencies are required to identify the particular version of consensus standards incorporated by reference in a regulation. When an updated edition of a consensus standard is published, the agency must revise its regulation if it seeks to incorporate any of the new material. Nevertheless, the Access Board plans to remain abreast of updates to voluntary consensus standards bearing on ICT, and will consider incorpo
rating them into future rulemakings, as appropriate."
(Source: page 23 of the PDF version of the NPRM, http://www.access-board.gov/attachments/article/1702/ict-proposed-rule.pdf)

This includes a link to a footnote:
"See, e.g., 1 C.F.R. $B!x(B 51.1(f) (2014) ($B!H(BIncorporation by reference of a publication is limited to the edition of the publication that is approved [by the Office of Federal Register]. Future amendments or revisions of the publication are not included.$B!I(B); Office of Mgmt. & Budget, Exec. Office of the President, OMB Circular A-119, Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities (1998); see also Nat$B!G(Bl Archives & Records Admin., Federal Register Document Drafting Handbook, Ch. 6 (April 2014 Revision)."

In light of this, recommendations should focus on improving their processes for timely review and updates. For instance, perhaps annual review of incorporated standards could result in a quicker update process because it would limit the areas of concern. More substantive updates, such as including a new standard, could happen on a more deliberative track.

sb
Sarah E. Bourne
Director of IT Accessibility, MassIT
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
1 Ashburton Pl. rm 1601 Boston MA 02108
617-626-4502
<EMAIL REMOVED>
http://www.mass.gov/MassIT