Annotated Bibliography

The following selected resources are suggested reading to prepare for the first meeting of the Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee.  Additional supplementary reading may be added later.

The Laws

• Rehabilitation Act
• Telecommunications Act

Section 508 Rulemaking

Please note the historical flow of these links.  The communication in the EITAAC workspace is followed by their Committee report.  Then the NPRM is followed by the final rule.  Note also that not all committee recommendations were taken up by the Access Board.  Consider that some discussions of the current Committee may parallel similar discussions of the previous advisory committees.

1. EITAAC Work Space (includes archived emails)
2. EITAAC Report to the Access Board (May 12, 1999)
3. Section 508 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) (March 31, 2000)
4. Section 508 Final Rule (December 21, 2000)

Section 255 Rulemaking

In a similar fashion as the 508 resources above, the TAAC meeting information is followed by a TAAC Report. The 255 NPRM is followed by the 255 Final Guidelines.

1. TAAC minutes
2. TAAC handouts
3. TAAC Report to the Access Board
4. Section 255 NPRM
5. Section 255 Final Rule

Enforcement Steps for 508 and 255

• The Section 508 Standard was incorporated into the FAR
• The Section 255 Guidelines were incorporated into an FCC Report and Order and Further Notice of Inquiry
  (It is recommended that you read pages 1-8, “Summary” if you have limited time.)
• The original Notice of Proposed Rulemaking promulgated by the FCC discussed the work of the Access Board’s Telecommunications Access Advisory Committee
  (It is recommended that you read pages 1-30 for a good overview of the TAAC Committee, its report and the guidelines.)

Technical Assistance for 508 and 255

Technical assistance is information published after the final rules and should not be confused with the actual design provisions.  Technical assistance is intended to clarify the requirements and provide a deeper understanding of how to apply the provisions.

• Guide to the Section 508 Standards for E&IT
• Designing Accessible Software Tutorial
• Accessible Telecommunications Product Design
• Trace Center Collation of Access Board’s 508 Final Rule and Guides
• Technical Bulletin: Access To Telecommunications
• Frequently Asked Questions about the Telecommunications Act (Section 255)
• Section 508 Acquisition FAQs
• Training courses in the 508 Universe

Other Resources

• IVR Accessibility Forum Disability Implications Matrix
  (It can be searched 3 ways: by application, interface or disability.)
• 255 Market Monitoring Report
  (A view of telecommunications products and features available to help people with disabilities overcome access barriers.)
• Election Assistance Commission Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines
  (This is the most recent federal work on accessibility requirements for technology — published in December 2005.)