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Thread: US accessibility regulations
Number of posts in this thread: 5 (In chronological order)
From: Steve Green
Date: Sun, Oct 13 2013 2:32PM
Subject: US accessibility regulations
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We have a client in the US for whom we have been conducting WCAG audits and expert reviews with assistive technologies for a web-based service that they provide. They now say they want accessibility consultancy from a company with "deep US regulation understanding".
We are fully conversant with WCAG, Section 508 and VPATs but our client is convinced there is more that they need to know. However, they are entirely unable to articulate what it is.
Is there some relevant US regulation that we are not aware of? If there is, I am happy to introduce other consultants to our client.
Regards,
Steve Green
Managing Director
Test Partners Ltd
5 Percy Street, London W1T 1DG
0800 612 2780 (switchboard)
07957 246 276 (mobile)
020 7692 5517 (fax)
Skype: testpartners
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
www.testpartners.co.uk
Connect to me on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stevegreen2
See us on stand 465 at AppsWorld, 22nd & 23rd Oct 2013 Earls Court 2 London
From: Patrick H. Lauke
Date: Sun, Oct 13 2013 3:12PM
Subject: Re: US accessibility regulations
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On 13/10/2013 21:32, Steve Green wrote:
> We have a client in the US for whom we have been conducting WCAG audits and expert reviews with assistive technologies for a web-based service that they provide. They now say they want accessibility consultancy from a company with "deep US regulation understanding".
>
> We are fully conversant with WCAG, Section 508 and VPATs but our client is convinced there is more that they need to know. However, they are entirely unable to articulate what it is.
>
> Is there some relevant US regulation that we are not aware of? If there is, I am happy to introduce other consultants to our client.
Call me a cynic, but this smells to me like "we need somebody who can
guarantee that we won't get sued and can find any relevant loopholes we
may need"...
P
--
Patrick H. Lauke
re·dux (adj.): brought back; returned. used postpositively
[latin : re-, re- + dux, leader; see duke.]
www.splintered.co.uk | www.photographia.co.uk
http://redux.deviantart.com | http://flickr.com/photos/redux/
twitter: @patrick_h_lauke | skype: patrick_h_lauke
From: Brian Richwine
Date: Sun, Oct 13 2013 3:16PM
Subject: Re: US accessibility regulations
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If they are covered by Section 504, or the ADA, then their responsibilities
(or that of their clients/customers) may go beyond that of meeting
technical (WCAG/508) requirements.
For instance, public education institutions (like state universities) must
provide accessible programs and services (either directly, or through
equivalent facilitation). In the end, individuals with disabilities must
have the opportunity to:
- acquire the same information
- engage in the same interactions
- and enjoy the same services
in an
- as timely a manner
- an equally effective and equally integrated manner
- and with substantially equivalent ease of use
as everyone else. So, while a vendor might not be directly responsible to
provide full accessibility, some clients might be... and they might pass
that responsibility down to the vendor contractually. For instance, we ask
vendors to help us by either providing workarounds or by helping us provide
workarounds that form equally effective forms of alternate access to the
functions their technologies would provide our users. If we can't use the
product accessibly or find an equally effective alternative, then we can't
use it.
See the following publication from the U.S. Department of Education for
more:
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/dcl-ebook-faq-201105.pdf
-Brian
On Sun, Oct 13, 2013 at 4:32 PM, Steve Green < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> wrote:
> We have a client in the US for whom we have been conducting WCAG audits
> and expert reviews with assistive technologies for a web-based service that
> they provide. They now say they want accessibility consultancy from a
> company with "deep US regulation understanding".
>
> We are fully conversant with WCAG, Section 508 and VPATs but our client is
> convinced there is more that they need to know. However, they are entirely
> unable to articulate what it is.
>
> Is there some relevant US regulation that we are not aware of? If there
> is, I am happy to introduce other consultants to our client.
>
> Regards,
> Steve Green
> Managing Director
> Test Partners Ltd
> 5 Percy Street, London W1T 1DG
> 0800 612 2780 (switchboard)
> 07957 246 276 (mobile)
> 020 7692 5517 (fax)
> Skype: testpartners
> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> www.testpartners.co.uk
>
> Connect to me on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stevegreen2
>
> See us on stand 465 at AppsWorld, 22nd & 23rd Oct 2013 Earls Court 2 London
>
>
> > > >
From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Sun, Oct 13 2013 3:18PM
Subject: Re: US accessibility regulations
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As far as I know there really isn´t anything else.
- There is the CVAA, though people are just building their expertese,
as it is a pretty recent regulation, and it is specific to multimedia.
- They could be worrid about how WCAG is interpreted in ADA, Section
504 (education), AODA (Ontario, which is not part of the U.S. - at
least not yet *grin .. and, no, no insult to my Canadian friends or
listers, heck I am a citizen of Iceland and not sure which nation will
decide to grab that piece of rock at some point, it has lots of clean
water) or individual state regulations.
- There is also the NFB NVA certification scheme, which some people go
after. It is a WCAG, or at least 99% of WCAG with some stricter
interpretations at times. I have assisted on some of those
certifications for the Deque team, and it has been an enlightening
experience, but it is basically a WCAG audit.
I am definitely surprised that the client is still worried about this,
as you clearly do a super thorough and knowledgable job of
accessibility testing, at least based on your feedback and
contribution to this list.
Of course you are always welcome to contact me or other Deque people
directly for more detailed questions (no advertising, but you did
ask).
Cheers and best of luck.
-Birkir
Birkir Gunnarsson
Accessibility SME | Deque Systems
http://www.deque.com
On 10/13/13, Steve Green < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> We have a client in the US for whom we have been conducting WCAG audits and
> expert reviews with assistive technologies for a web-based service that they
> provide. They now say they want accessibility consultancy from a company
> with "deep US regulation understanding".
>
> We are fully conversant with WCAG, Section 508 and VPATs but our client is
> convinced there is more that they need to know. However, they are entirely
> unable to articulate what it is.
>
> Is there some relevant US regulation that we are not aware of? If there is,
> I am happy to introduce other consultants to our client.
>
> Regards,
> Steve Green
> Managing Director
> Test Partners Ltd
> 5 Percy Street, London W1T 1DG
> 0800 612 2780 (switchboard)
> 07957 246 276 (mobile)
> 020 7692 5517 (fax)
> Skype: testpartners
> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> www.testpartners.co.uk
>
> Connect to me on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stevegreen2
>
> See us on stand 465 at AppsWorld, 22nd & 23rd Oct 2013 Earls Court 2 London
>
>
> > > >
From: Steve Green
Date: Sun, Oct 13 2013 4:37PM
Subject: Re: US accessibility regulations
← Previous message | No next message
Thanks to everyone who has replied. It appears that the CVAA does apply to our client because they provide a web-based messaging service, which is explicitly included in Title 1 of the CVAA.
The CVAA all looks very straightforward but our client is questioning our credentials and it is true that we have not provided consultancy on this specific piece of legislation.
I will contact Birkir off-list and would be happy to hear from anyone else who has the credentials to advise our client. Please email me at = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
Regards,
Steve
-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Sent: 13 October 2013 22:18
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] US accessibility regulations
As far as I know there really isn´t anything else.
- There is the CVAA, though people are just building their expertese, as it is a pretty recent regulation, and it is specific to multimedia.
- They could be worrid about how WCAG is interpreted in ADA, Section
504 (education), AODA (Ontario, which is not part of the U.S. - at least not yet *grin .. and, no, no insult to my Canadian friends or listers, heck I am a citizen of Iceland and not sure which nation will decide to grab that piece of rock at some point, it has lots of clean
water) or individual state regulations.
- There is also the NFB NVA certification scheme, which some people go after. It is a WCAG, or at least 99% of WCAG with some stricter interpretations at times. I have assisted on some of those certifications for the Deque team, and it has been an enlightening experience, but it is basically a WCAG audit.
I am definitely surprised that the client is still worried about this, as you clearly do a super thorough and knowledgable job of accessibility testing, at least based on your feedback and contribution to this list.
Of course you are always welcome to contact me or other Deque people directly for more detailed questions (no advertising, but you did ask).
Cheers and best of luck.
-Birkir
Birkir Gunnarsson
Accessibility SME | Deque Systems
http://www.deque.com
On 10/13/13, Steve Green < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> We have a client in the US for whom we have been conducting WCAG
> audits and expert reviews with assistive technologies for a web-based
> service that they provide. They now say they want accessibility
> consultancy from a company with "deep US regulation understanding".
>
> We are fully conversant with WCAG, Section 508 and VPATs but our
> client is convinced there is more that they need to know. However,
> they are entirely unable to articulate what it is.
>
> Is there some relevant US regulation that we are not aware of? If
> there is, I am happy to introduce other consultants to our client.
>
> Regards,
> Steve Green
> Managing Director
> Test Partners Ltd
> 5 Percy Street, London W1T 1DG
> 0800 612 2780 (switchboard)
> 07957 246 276 (mobile)
> 020 7692 5517 (fax)
> Skype: testpartners
> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> www.testpartners.co.uk
>
> Connect to me on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stevegreen2
>
> See us on stand 465 at AppsWorld, 22nd & 23rd Oct 2013 Earls Court 2
> London
>
>
> > > list messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>