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The Accessibility Committee serves as the principal interagency forum to improve the Federal government’s implementation of Section 508. Working in conjunction with the U.S. Access Board, the Department of Justice, and the General Services Administration, the Accessibility Committee provides a forum for federal agencies, disability advocacy groups, industry, and academia stakeholders to enable and support the Federal government’s implementation of accessible information technology by::

• Promoting accountability and transparency for agency progress on implementing the Section 508 standards;
• Identifying and promoting best practices for implementing the Section 508 law and the Section 508 Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards;
• Engaging disability advocacy groups, industry, and academia to tap into new sources of information and innovation for accessible technology;
• Establishing and promoting a Community of Practice approach to Section 508 implementation and encouraging agencies to share successful practices and information with each other;
• Providing a forum for discussing cross-agency issues regarding Section 508 implementation;
• Providing resources such as training curricula, tools and guidance to assist agencies with Section 508 implementation; and
• Increasing awareness of the Section 508 law, regulations, and expectations for Federal employees.

Subcommittees:

Best Practices and Resources Subcommittee

The Best Practices and Resources Subcommittee serves as a forum for the development and promotion of best practices for Federal Section 508 programs and policies. The subcommittee brings together a team of information technology (IT) professionals committed to identifying the most successful IT accessibility practices being implemented in industry, government, and academia and sharing them with agency Chief Information Officers (CIOs) as best practices to be considered for emulation across the Federal government. The subcommittee will create an IT Accessibility Best Practices clearinghouse to facilitate information sharing. In the future, the subcommittee hopes to establish Accessibility Centers of Excellence in agencies which are currently leaders in Section 508 implementation. The centers will provide a source of highly trained, experienced accessibility practitioners to assist Federal agencies with implementing the Section 508 law, regulations, and policies, including the refresh of the Section 508 standards.

Chair: Robert Baker, SSA, Robert.C.Baker@ssa.gov
Co-Chair: Deborah Kaplan, SSA, deborah.kaplan@ssa.gov

Communications/Public Outreach

The Communications/Public Outreach Subcommittee focuses on message, media and marketing. Working with the other subcommittees, the Communications/Public Outreach Subcommittee identifies key accessibility messages, develops a variety of media products, and seeks out opportunities to inform stakeholders (Federal agencies, persons with disabilities, advocacy/consumer groups, industry/industry associations, and other governmental entities) about the federal government’s Section 508 implementation efforts.

Chair: Timothy Creagan, U.S. Access Board, creagan@access-board.gov
Co-Chair: Helen Chamberlain, GSA, helen.chamberlain@gsa.gov

Education Subcommittee

The Education Subcommittee serves as a forum for educating Federal employees in the understanding, improvement, and application of the Section 508 law, regulations, policies, standards, and procedures. It explores ways to gather education resources and promote their dissemination throughout the government. In the future, the subcommittee hopes to establish an IT Accessibility clearinghouse which will identify resources for awareness, training, and educational materials as well as maintain a list of recommended speakers to address IT accessibility issues and concerns.

The Education Subcommittee has initiated a series of webinars based on Accessibility Best Practices. The first one was held on May 24, 2012 on the topic "Ten Top Strategies for Implementing Section 508". The archive of that webinar can be found at https://efedlink.org/allqual/resource-shared-webinars.cfm.

Please check back to this site for an announcement about the date and time of the next webinar in the series, planned for early Fall.

Chair: Timothy Creagan, U.S. Access Board, creagan@access-board.gov
Co-Chair: Helen Chamberlain, GSA, helen.chamberlain@gsa.gov

Vendor Outreach

The Vendor Outreach Subcommittee develops strategies and initiatives to increase vendor awareness about the Federal requirements for accessibility and provides encouragement and support for vendors to maintain serious accessibility capacity. The Subcommittee assists Federal CIO’s to communicate the importance of accessibility to the private sector. Most of the Subcommittee’s work focuses on selected technology industry segments where there is a need for enhanced accessibility.

Chair: Deborah Kaplan, SSA, deborah.kaplan@ssa.gov
Ellen Crowe, VA, Ellen.McMahon2@va.gov

Listening Sessions Page