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Individuals with Disabilities Program

Background

On July 26, 2010, President Obama issued Executive Order 13548, which provides that the Federal Government, as the Nation's largest employer, must become a model for the employment of individuals with disabilities. The order directs Executive departments and agencies to improve their efforts to employ Federal workers with disabilities and targeted disabilities through increased recruitment, hiring, and retention of these individuals. The Executive Order also adopts the goal set forth in Executive Order 13163 of hiring 100,000 people with disabilities into the Federal Government over 5 years, including individuals with targeted disabilities.

In addition to the Executive Order, federal agencies are obligated under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended to affirmatively employ people with disabilities and to provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and qualified employees unless doing so would cause undue hardship. The specific requirements of this obligation are spelled out in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Management Directive (MD) 715.

The Disability Program is responsible for providing policy guidance and oversight to ensure the Department complies with these legal and statutory requirements. Also, through the Disability Program, the Department develops strategies to increase the recruitment, hiring, and retention of employees with disabilities, ensure procedures for the reasonable accommodation program and accessibility standards are met, and conducts inclusion and awareness training.

National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM)

NDEAM is observed each October to recognize and celebrate the contributions of workers with disabilities and to educate on the value of a workforce inclusive of their skills and talents. NDEAM dates back to 1945, when Congress declared the first week in October "National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week." The return of service members with disabilities from World War II sparked the public interest in the contributions of people with disabilities in the workplace. In 1962, the word "physically" was removed to acknowledge the employment needs and contributions of individuals with all types of disabilities. Then in 1988, Congress expands “National Employ the Handicapped Week” to “National Disability Employment Awareness Month.” To learn more about the origins and evolution of NDEAM and other important disability employment information, visit the Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), website at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep

2021 Commerce Accessibility Expo- Access is Power

In honor of NDEAM, the Department of Commerce hosted a virtual Accessibility Expo.  Participants had the opportunity to learn about accessibility requirements for the virtual and physical work environment, as well as the creative and innovative things the Department is doing to ensure access and inclusion in the workplace. Check out the featured presentations in the following video.

  • 00:00

    before we get started

    00:01

    let me go ahead and welcome everybody

    00:03

    and say good morning thank you again for

    00:06

    joining

    00:07

    today's event in honor of national

    00:09

    disability employment awareness month we

    00:11

    are so happy to have you join us

    00:13

    but my name is monique dismuke and i'm

    00:16

    the disability program manager for the

    00:18

    department of commerce

    00:20

    um before we get started i just want to

    00:22

    go over just a few administrative

    00:23

    functions uh just to let you know closed

    00:26

    captions are available and they can be

    00:28

    enabled in your team's app you just

    00:30

    click on the three dots at the top of

    00:32

    the screen and you will see an option to

    00:35

    enable captions so if you need captions

    00:37

    feel free to turn them on

    00:39

    uh you may also use the link in the chat

    00:42

    function for live captions so if you

    00:44

    need that

    00:45

    option if you like that option you can

    00:46

    use the link that has been placed in the

    00:48

    chat function and you can get the live

    00:50

    captions

    00:52

    we also ask that everyone please place

    00:54

    yourself on mute and turn your cameras

    00:56

    off

    00:57

    um

    00:58

    we're going to have a q a session and at

    01:00

    that time you'll be able to put your

    01:03

    questions in the chat and again if we

    01:05

    need further clarification we might ask

    01:07

    you to you know raise your hand or

    01:09

    unmute yourself so that you can um

    01:11

    clarify the question

    01:12

    but at the end of each uh presentation

    01:15

    we're going to allow a little time for q

    01:16

    a so please we ask you please if you

    01:18

    have any questions bring them up perfect

    01:21

    time you got subject matter experts here

    01:23

    today so be sure to

    01:25

    ask your questions we also want to

    01:28

    inform you that the event is being

    01:30

    recorded you should have gotten a

    01:31

    notification at the top of your screen

    01:33

    that the event is being recorded so

    01:35

    be aware of that

    01:37

    thank you and we

    01:39

    before i turn it over to

    01:41

    um

    01:42

    our miss lao hannah to do our opening

    01:44

    remarks i just want to just kind of uh

    01:47

    introduce our panel now when they do

    01:49

    their presentation they will introduce

    01:51

    themselves so they'll give you more

    01:52

    information about themselves so this

    01:54

    morning we have joining us miss carl

    01:56

    westholm

    01:58

    who works in the office of facilities

    02:00

    and environmental quality we have mr

    02:02

    darwin jen who will be joining us also

    02:05

    doing a presentation

    02:07

    this morning he works in the office of

    02:09

    the chief information officer

    02:12

    and we have miss jennifer jessup who

    02:14

    will be joining us uh this morning she

    02:17

    also works in the office of the chief

    02:18

    information officer and then we have mr

    02:21

    david whittington who is from the census

    02:24

    he works i'm doing section 508 out at

    02:26

    the census department so

    02:28

    we are

    02:29

    so happy to have you all join us this

    02:31

    morning so without further ado

    02:34

    i'm going to turn this over to ms lyle

    02:35

    hannah for opening remarks thank you

    02:37

    miss hannah

    02:39

    thanks for inviting me so my name is

    02:41

    lyle hannah and i'm the acting deputy

    02:43

    assistant secretary for administration

    02:45

    at commerce and the director for

    02:48

    facilities and environmental quality so

    02:49

    i have the great

    02:51

    um luck to work frequently with kara

    02:53

    west home and i think you'll really

    02:54

    enjoy when she speaks

    02:56

    so we we're so pleased you've joined us

    02:58

    today to focus on national disability

    03:01

    employment awareness month this allows

    03:03

    us to focus on the important work of

    03:05

    tying together inclusivity and

    03:07

    accessibility

    03:08

    as a long-time facilities manager i've

    03:10

    seen the direct impact of making

    03:12

    buildings accessible

    03:13

    it opens up a wider net for those who

    03:16

    work or visit the facility and the

    03:18

    changes make the space better for all

    03:21

    i recall at one point where facilities

    03:23

    added automatic door openers so that a

    03:25

    person's service dog could open doors

    03:27

    for the individual

    03:28

    the dog opened the doors with his nose

    03:30

    it was awesome that meant that an

    03:32

    organization had a capable person who

    03:34

    did great work and furthered the

    03:36

    mission's goals

    03:38

    we hope that today you'll take some time

    03:39

    to educate yourself on laws policies and

    03:42

    practices related to disability

    03:44

    inclusion including section 508

    03:46

    information technology requirements and

    03:49

    building accessibility today's program

    03:51

    for endeam will highlight some useful

    03:53

    information

    03:55

    within the doc we have about 4 000

    03:58

    employees who have self-identified with

    04:00

    a disability

    04:01

    that's actually less than eight percent

    04:02

    of our population

    04:04

    we want to improve our commitment to

    04:06

    hiring and to providing appropriate

    04:08

    space for all people

    04:10

    and

    04:11

    under the umbrella of the pandemic we

    04:13

    all know that hiring has become more

    04:15

    challenging for many people

    04:17

    this is our opportunity to get behind

    04:20

    inclusivity as a key to success in

    04:23

    employing people and helping our

    04:25

    economic recovery

    04:27

    so i challenge you to take some specific

    04:30

    steps

    04:31

    number one

    04:32

    make sure our facilities are accessible

    04:35

    to individuals with disabilities that's

    04:37

    both for employees and for visitors

    04:40

    contact your facilities office if you

    04:42

    note any deficiencies

    04:45

    number two

    04:47

    use accessible technology and create

    04:50

    accessible content

    04:53

    number three

    04:54

    when hiring cast a wide net for hiring

    04:57

    and ensure that you are allowing

    04:59

    qualified people with disabilities to

    05:02

    apply

    05:04

    number four

    05:06

    use recruitment and referral programs

    05:09

    such as the workforce recruitment

    05:11

    program or wrp

    05:13

    that connects highly motivated college

    05:16

    students and recent graduates who are

    05:18

    interested in showing us their

    05:20

    capabilities in the workplace your human

    05:22

    resources office can provide further

    05:24

    information on that program

    05:27

    and then educate yourself on the

    05:29

    reasonable accommodation process

    05:30

    remember that disabilities can happen to

    05:33

    anybody at any time

    05:35

    it's really important that you

    05:36

    understand the process and you can talk

    05:38

    to your reasonable accommodation

    05:39

    coordinator to get more information

    05:42

    so without further ado

    05:43

    i'm going to turn the program over to

    05:45

    kara west home so she can talk about

    05:47

    facilities work within doc and thank

    05:50

    you

    05:52

    thank you lyle

    05:54

    hello everyone my name is kara westholm

    05:56

    and at the moment i'm the acting deputy

    05:58

    director

    06:00

    for the office of facilities

    06:01

    environmental quality working for lyell

    06:04

    my normal role is the associate director

    06:07

    for the office of space and building

    06:08

    management

    06:09

    i'm a registered architect and i'm a

    06:12

    co-lead of the equity council's

    06:14

    accessibility committee along with

    06:16

    jennifer jessup so these

    06:18

    these issues and concerns and and um

    06:23

    events like this are really important to

    06:25

    us

    06:27

    i'm going to start off by sharing a

    06:28

    video of the that the office of public

    06:31

    affairs graciously put together for this

    06:34

    event

    06:34

    the video begins with footage of the

    06:36

    world war ii memorial on the national

    06:38

    mall right across constitution avenue

    06:40

    from the hchb and then it moves on to

    06:43

    highlight various accessible features

    06:45

    throughout

    06:46

    hchb which i'll discuss in more detail

    06:48

    after the video

    06:50

    so if you'll bear with me for a moment i

    06:52

    will share my screen

    07:43

    accessibility at the hchb

    07:49

    so many details go into the design of a

    07:52

    building to make it accessible for

    07:54

    everyone

    07:58

    this footage is of the accessible ramp

    08:01

    at the 15th street courier entrance

    08:03

    building entrances requiring accessible

    08:05

    means for access and can include ramps

    08:08

    lifts and accessible doorways

    08:12

    the hchb's main lobby is staffed 24 7

    08:16

    should anyone ever need accessible

    08:18

    accessibility assistance including

    08:20

    access to motorized chairs

    08:24

    wayfinding in the form of accessible

    08:26

    signage is incorporated in hchb to help

    08:30

    occupants successfully navigate the

    08:32

    building

    08:33

    this footage is of a new accessible

    08:35

    bathroom in phase 4 of hchb

    08:38

    wall-mounted items are placed at certain

    08:40

    heights to make sure that everyone can

    08:41

    reach them

    08:42

    doors toilets and sinks are designed to

    08:45

    be operational by all

    08:47

    the video shows a hands-free toilet and

    08:49

    hands-free sink which we all benefit

    08:51

    from

    08:57

    different times in our lives we might

    08:59

    find ourselves in need of various

    09:01

    accessibility features

    09:03

    this could be due to a temporary or

    09:05

    permanent disability or declining

    09:07

    mobility as we age

    09:09

    or when we become a parent and have a

    09:11

    stroller and child in tow

    09:14

    at the hchb we recently completed

    09:16

    construction of a new lactation room for

    09:19

    nursing mothers

    09:20

    it provides them a private and

    09:22

    accessible space

    09:30

    this footage is of an accessible atm

    09:32

    machine located at the commerce credit

    09:34

    union on the basement level

    09:39

    accessible parking spaces are not only

    09:42

    needed to be near the door but they also

    09:44

    need to be large enough so that an

    09:46

    accessible

    09:47

    vehicle with accessible features can

    09:49

    park and its occupants safely exit

    09:52

    this footage is of an accessible parking

    09:54

    spot and ramp at the hchb south

    09:57

    courtyard

    10:04

    thank you again to the office of public

    10:07

    affairs for putting together this video

    10:09

    for us i'm now going to switch over to

    10:14

    a short powerpoint presentation

    10:28

    i want to discuss with everybody the

    10:30

    importance of accessibility in the built

    10:33

    environment

    10:34

    this photo shows a wheelchair friendly

    10:38

    series of ramps paving their way around

    10:40

    a garden

    10:41

    in a development in singapore called the

    10:44

    gardens by the bay which won a building

    10:46

    construction authority universal design

    10:48

    mark platinum rating

    10:51

    the reason i like this design is that

    10:53

    accessible pads weave through the lush

    10:56

    gardens so that the experience is equal

    10:59

    for all

    11:01

    when we think about accessibility our

    11:03

    minds often just go to what's obvious

    11:05

    like parking spots or restrooms that

    11:08

    have signage saying they're accessible

    11:10

    but accessibility goes really quite far

    11:13

    beyond that

    11:14

    beyond what's labeled and applies to

    11:16

    every aspect of our belt environment

    11:19

    it applies to our homes our public

    11:21

    transportation systems

    11:23

    our workplaces

    11:25

    recreation venues and where we get goods

    11:28

    and services

    11:30

    the goal of accessibility is to ensure

    11:32

    that those with differing abilities are

    11:34

    able to access everywhere they might

    11:36

    need or want to go on a day-to-day basis

    11:39

    with as little extra effort as possible

    11:42

    but how do we do that

    11:44

    architects engineers and interior

    11:46

    designers ensure that accessibility

    11:48

    requirements are incorporated into their

    11:50

    designs you've likely heard of the

    11:52

    architectural barriers act ada

    11:55

    and the american with disabilities act

    11:57

    ada

    11:59

    these accessible accessibility codes are

    12:02

    important and ensure that spaces are

    12:04

    designed so that someone in a wheelchair

    12:07

    with a visual impairment or any other

    12:09

    differing ability has equal access in a

    12:11

    building

    12:14

    but what if we could take this a step

    12:16

    further some of you might be familiar

    12:18

    with the term universal design

    12:20

    this photo is of the mary free bed ymca

    12:23

    in michigan

    12:24

    which received the world's first global

    12:26

    universal design certification for

    12:29

    features such as centrally this pictured

    12:32

    centrally located

    12:34

    brightly colored ramp with ample seating

    12:36

    located at its base

    12:39

    universal design is the design of

    12:41

    products and environments to be usable

    12:44

    by all people

    12:45

    to the greatest extent possible without

    12:48

    the need for adaptation or specialized

    12:50

    design universal design as its name

    12:54

    implies aims to meet the needs of all

    12:56

    people regardless of their age size

    12:59

    ability or disability

    13:01

    it incorporates accessible design

    13:03

    requirements but then it goes beyond

    13:05

    those by making spaces more inclusive

    13:08

    and more intuitive

    13:10

    universal design aims to avoid

    13:12

    segregating or stigmatizing users and

    13:15

    strives to foster independence and

    13:17

    dignity

    13:22

    this is a photo of a hand railing in

    13:23

    italy and it's a great example of

    13:26

    universal design

    13:27

    the photo shows a hand railing installed

    13:29

    on a scenic overlook on the castle st

    13:32

    elmo in naples from the overlook you can

    13:35

    see the homes and businesses of naples

    13:36

    with their red tiled roofs in the

    13:38

    forefront

    13:39

    behind them there's a sweeping view over

    13:41

    the terrainian sea

    13:44

    and mount vesuvius is visible in the

    13:46

    distance

    13:47

    what's special about the handrail is

    13:49

    that it has a braille inscription which

    13:51

    describes the view that i just described

    13:53

    to you

    13:54

    the braille description is written in

    13:56

    both written and

    13:57

    written in english and italian so that

    13:59

    tourists who are visually impaired know

    14:01

    what is visible from the overlook

    14:04

    the braille description of the view is

    14:05

    not required by any code

    14:08

    but by including it visually impaired

    14:10

    visitors have a more full and inclusive

    14:12

    experience when visiting the castle

    14:17

    now that we've covered some of the

    14:18

    concepts of access accessible design and

    14:21

    universal design i want to talk about

    14:23

    our headquarters building here at hchb

    14:26

    and all the great projects we're doing

    14:28

    as many of you know that hchb is

    14:30

    undergoing an eight-phase long-term

    14:33

    renovation of our huge 1.7 million

    14:36

    square foot facility

    14:38

    and the reason we're so excited about

    14:40

    this project is that it provides new

    14:42

    spaces new systems

    14:45

    that have

    14:46

    really everything improved in them

    14:48

    including energy efficiency

    14:50

    and of course accessibility

    14:54

    this is a photo of a quarter in phase

    14:57

    four

    14:58

    adequate quarter widths and door

    15:01

    clearances are designed into the spaces

    15:03

    which is so important to ensure

    15:04

    wheelchairs can successfully navigate

    15:06

    the spaces and make turns

    15:10

    this is a photo of six of our typical

    15:13

    phase four workstations

    15:16

    and within the workstations you'll find

    15:18

    adjustable height desks which we're so

    15:21

    excited about

    15:23

    they're ergonomically friendly you have

    15:25

    the choice to

    15:27

    adjust it to whatever level you'd like

    15:30

    to work at

    15:31

    and

    15:32

    they're easily adjustable adjustable

    15:35

    with these motorized

    15:36

    buttons

    15:40

    i mentioned

    15:41

    we have the major renovation project

    15:43

    which is about halfway complete

    15:47

    but that means that the other half of

    15:49

    our building has not been fully

    15:50

    renovated yet

    15:52

    but our office is continually doing

    15:54

    projects to improve the unrenovated

    15:57

    space for all sorts of things

    15:59

    um including accessibility

    16:02

    one of our more recent projects was we

    16:04

    replaced all the signage bathroom

    16:06

    signage on the unrenovated side so that

    16:09

    it was

    16:10

    ada compliant with raised letters and

    16:13

    braille

    16:19

    another project we're very excited about

    16:22

    is the recently completed lactation room

    16:25

    this was scheduled to be built out in a

    16:27

    later phase of the renovation but we

    16:30

    heard from a group of employees who

    16:32

    reached out to our office to see if we

    16:34

    could accelerate the project so we did

    16:37

    we found funding we found a space

    16:40

    we designed put together a design and we

    16:43

    were able to build out this much

    16:46

    improved lactation room for

    16:48

    nursing mothers

    16:51

    that includes a number of features that

    16:54

    they were missing in the the older one

    16:56

    including a sink

    17:04

    i'm going to conclude the presentation

    17:05

    by starting a short video from gsa which

    17:09

    discusses

    17:11

    accessibility excuse me in our federal

    17:13

    buildings it features the well-known

    17:16

    well-known architect many of you

    17:18

    probably are familiar with michael

    17:19

    graves who's a leader in excess

    17:22

    accessible design

    17:26

    bear with me just a moment

    17:50

    [Music]

    17:57

    michael graves 1934 to 2015 after

    18:01

    becoming paralyzed from an infection in

    18:03

    2003 michael graves became a particular

    18:06

    advocate for disabled people in the

    18:07

    design of public spaces

    18:09

    while physical accessibility has been a

    18:12

    federal requirement for decades he

    18:14

    gained newfound sensitivity to the

    18:16

    mobility and dignity of all buildings

    18:18

    and thanks to him today's architects are

    18:20

    pursuing accessibility to the fullest

    18:22

    letter and spirit of the mandates

    18:32

    well the way my life has changed in

    18:34

    terms of the wheelchair that i'm sitting

    18:36

    in i start to think about how i would

    18:39

    have done it

    18:40

    before and afterwards there are simple

    18:43

    things like tolerances of

    18:45

    getting through doorways and so on

    18:48

    one day in the chair you start to

    18:50

    realize how little is done and how

    18:52

    little is how much is backward

    18:56

    in particular

    18:58

    how you turn your chair around in a in a

    19:00

    public place

    19:02

    in small confines you're hitting your

    19:05

    head or whatever

    19:06

    all the way and turning 360 degrees

    19:09

    little things like that

    19:12

    you know the ada requirements are one

    19:14

    thing but

    19:15

    there's so much more we can do

    19:18

    but you know

    19:20

    it depends on a lot of factors and

    19:22

    and i hate for it to be part of the

    19:24

    budget

    19:25

    left out and do the minimal kind of

    19:28

    engagement with a wheelchair on the side

    19:30

    of the building please don't look and

    19:31

    all of that you know and just have the

    19:35

    ceremonial front door

    19:37

    that might be up one or two steps you're

    19:39

    gonna you have to find another way into

    19:41

    the building

    19:42

    because some of the apparatus that

    19:44

    paraplegics and quantum

    19:46

    quadroplegics

    19:48

    uh

    19:49

    experience is that the chair is very

    19:50

    heavy a smaller

    19:53

    disability such as a broken leg or

    19:55

    something like that

    19:57

    you can have a collapsible chair that's

    20:00

    actually pretty

    20:01

    pretty light and you can be turned

    20:03

    around by somebody and lift it up uh

    20:06

    wheel to wheel the wheel uh about up at

    20:09

    the risers and get into the building

    20:11

    but you got to be with somebody you

    20:12

    can't do it on your own

    20:15

    you don't want to necessarily chop the

    20:17

    steps away and make everything in ramp

    20:19

    but i think there are inventive ways to

    20:21

    get into a situation uh in into a

    20:24

    building fabric without

    20:26

    having to tear up the former one when

    20:28

    it's so significant

    20:30

    but find a way which is equally

    20:32

    interesting to get this disabled up to

    20:36

    let's say the floor of the church or

    20:38

    whatever

    20:40

    never seeing it as a compromise

    20:48

    so this concludes my portion of the

    20:51

    presentation um and

    20:57

    i'm sorry about that

    21:00

    um

    21:01

    so

    21:02

    um i'll open it up now for any questions

    21:08

    okay so if you have a question if you

    21:10

    would please um

    21:12

    you can either put your hand up and i

    21:13

    can call on you if you don't have if you

    21:15

    don't uh have an opportunity to put into

    21:17

    chat

    21:18

    um i did not get any questions

    21:21

    specifically related to

    21:24

    um

    21:26

    to your

    21:27

    to your side just yet

    21:28

    um

    21:30

    [Music]

    21:31

    okay so here's one question um for you

    21:35

    cara if we need an ada compliant door to

    21:37

    our office how do you request one

    21:41

    great

    21:42

    great question so um your

    21:45

    you can call the help desk um it's

    21:49

    202-482-1340

    21:52

    or you can contact

    21:54

    me directly and i'll put up my um

    21:58

    my contact information on the screen

    22:01

    right now so um and what we do is we

    22:04

    have each bureau each office has a

    22:07

    facilities liaison who we work with and

    22:10

    so i can if you reach out to me i can

    22:12

    give you the name of that person

    22:14

    and whoever your space facilities

    22:16

    liaison is very familiar with our

    22:18

    process um

    22:20

    and we are we'll we'll work with them to

    22:24

    get

    22:25

    figure out what kind of alterations

    22:27

    possible and as needed and

    22:30

    get what you need installed to make your

    22:32

    office accessible

    22:35

    thank you cara that that goes along with

    22:38

    the uh the other question i also see on

    22:40

    the screen right now is can the

    22:42

    panelists please discuss how

    22:44

    accessibility goals

    22:45

    interact with doc open office

    22:48

    requirements i've been working at my

    22:50

    agency for over a year to correct them

    22:52

    too narrow design for some aisles and

    22:54

    barely compliant with for others in an

    22:57

    open office design that is about to go

    22:59

    to procurement i have faith that this

    23:01

    small design issue will be addressed but

    23:03

    i have additional concerns that the

    23:05

    entire open office concept reduces

    23:07

    access to the space for people with

    23:09

    compromised immune systems so basically

    23:12

    can you answer that question

    23:15

    or

    23:16

    is that one of the questions that you

    23:17

    may have to speak to a person

    23:19

    individually

    23:21

    i am certainly available to speak

    23:23

    individually um

    23:25

    and i um

    23:27

    i

    23:28

    it mentioned the the

    23:31

    person mentioned clearances so i assume

    23:34

    that means there's a space that was

    23:36

    designed

    23:38

    perhaps not to code but what i can say

    23:40

    is that whether it's open office closed

    23:43

    office there's

    23:44

    ada and aba criteria that goes into the

    23:48

    design and

    23:52

    should never be messed up that doesn't

    23:54

    mean that it doesn't happen occasionally

    23:56

    but there's a series of design reviews

    23:59

    that

    24:00

    go go on and there's licensed architects

    24:02

    and interior designers who

    24:05

    make sure that the spacing requirements

    24:08

    meet the accessibility

    24:11

    codes so

    24:12

    in a perfect world what you described

    24:14

    should never happen it sounds like

    24:16

    perhaps it has on a project

    24:18

    but certainly if it's something you'd

    24:20

    like to

    24:21

    discuss further this is my contact

    24:23

    information

    24:31

    okay okay i see two hands up now cara

    24:35

    uh

    24:36

    i hope that answered the question and

    24:38

    again as as kara mentioned she has her

    24:40

    information on the screen so if you need

    24:43

    further clarification please feel free

    24:45

    to reach out to her um i see miss kelly

    24:47

    seidel

    24:48

    uh

    24:49

    she has a question

    24:52

    and

    24:53

    laura are you able to uh mute her too

    24:56

    i think the hand went down never mind

    24:58

    okay

    25:02

    all righty if anyone else has questions

    25:04

    please feel free to either put them in

    25:06

    the chat oh i see your hand back up

    25:08

    again okay so

    25:10

    what is happening is we are um there is

    25:12

    a a a thing in the system that

    25:15

    um we are able to control the uh cameras

    25:19

    and the mute now i'm not sure this is

    25:22

    kind of new for us if we're going to be

    25:23

    able to really unmute everybody uh laura

    25:25

    you can let us know is that something

    25:26

    you can do automatically are we going to

    25:28

    have to have them put the question in

    25:30

    the chat um i can unmute people

    25:33

    individually but it looks like the hands

    25:35

    have gone down so if you have a question

    25:37

    and put your hand up i can uh

    25:38

    individually unmute you

    25:43

    but it looks like the hands came down

    25:45

    okay

    25:46

    yeah

    25:47

    kelly's handbag is back up again you

    25:49

    want to try to unmute kelly because

    25:51

    maybe she's having some difficulty kelly

    25:54

    seidel you see her in hannah yes

    25:56

    okay there you go kelly you're unmuted

    26:01

    okay um

    26:03

    hi everybody um i actually um saw that

    26:07

    everybody was putting their questions in

    26:08

    the chat so um i put mine in the chat as

    26:12

    well so that's why i kept raising my

    26:14

    hand oh i see okay sorry about that

    26:17

    that's okay

    26:21

    you want to go ahead and ask questions

    26:23

    since you have the floor now

    26:25

    okay um

    26:27

    i'm low vision

    26:29

    and um

    26:30

    i'm just kind of curious and

    26:33

    working for space management division as

    26:36

    an interior designer i should know this

    26:39

    but i don't

    26:40

    i am low vision and

    26:42

    i notice

    26:44

    when accessing like the secretary's

    26:46

    entrance

    26:48

    um

    26:49

    the lighting in the lobby is really bad

    26:52

    as well as the elevators um

    26:55

    and i was just wondering

    26:57

    um because i know sometimes i go into an

    27:00

    elevator and i will literally mow

    27:02

    somebody over

    27:05

    without because i you know it's so dim

    27:07

    in there and i was just wondering are

    27:09

    there plans to address that and the

    27:12

    renovation of that

    27:15

    great question so um as we go through

    27:18

    and do the major renovation

    27:21

    everything including the electrical and

    27:23

    the lighting which there are certain

    27:25

    codes that that require certain minimum

    27:29

    light

    27:30

    levels in different locations

    27:33

    we ensure that those are met um it's

    27:35

    it's a big project as you know and so

    27:38

    um

    27:39

    it is being addressed via the renovation

    27:42

    however if there's any particular places

    27:45

    and i i know kelly so i'm going to

    27:47

    follow up with her after this

    27:49

    and kind of go through and see if

    27:51

    there's areas where we can improve

    27:54

    prior to the renovation

    27:56

    but certainly if anybody ever

    28:00

    notices any deficiencies like what

    28:02

    kelly's describing and a way that we

    28:04

    could make your life better please don't

    28:06

    hesitate to reach out

    28:10

    thank you cara we have a couple more

    28:12

    questions and

    28:13

    we can probably try to quickly get these

    28:15

    so i can turn it over to

    28:17

    our next panelists again if we don't get

    28:19

    to your question right now please put in

    28:21

    the chat and cara will definitely uh be

    28:24

    able to respond back as soon as possible

    28:26

    to your questions so the other one uh

    28:28

    the next one is about the bathrooms and

    28:30

    i know there's a little complication

    28:32

    with the bathrooms as far as especially

    28:34

    renovation you might want to talk to

    28:35

    that a little bit the question here is

    28:37

    um

    28:38

    the the closest bathroom to my office is

    28:40

    difficult to maneuver is there something

    28:42

    that can be done in the near term to

    28:44

    help with that

    28:46

    yeah if you could um message me offline

    28:49

    and

    28:50

    let me know which bathroom it is and we

    28:52

    will um

    28:54

    take a look at it and i am

    28:56

    i am sure that there's something we can

    28:58

    do so i will

    29:00

    if you tell me the door we will find out

    29:03

    thank you thank you so much and here's

    29:05

    our final question we can take at this

    29:07

    point is are there standards on ingress

    29:10

    egress

    29:11

    automatic doors they mostly open toward

    29:14

    you and others open away

    29:16

    seems like there should be directional

    29:18

    controls depending on the need for

    29:20

    accessibility like when you're carrying

    29:22

    items

    29:23

    yeah

    29:24

    so um

    29:26

    doors are

    29:28

    highly regulated um in terms of

    29:30

    clearances and um

    29:33

    and

    29:34

    those clearances do change depending on

    29:36

    if they are opening towards you or away

    29:39

    from you because um as anyone who's

    29:41

    tried to open a door in a wheelchair

    29:43

    knows the the it's it's very challenging

    29:47

    and there's minimum

    29:48

    space requirements now

    29:50

    those when there's an automatic door um

    29:55

    some of those

    29:57

    requirements are different so you to

    30:00

    answer your question i um

    30:02

    i'm fairly certain i can double check

    30:04

    and get back to you but that

    30:06

    both opening towards you and away from

    30:09

    you with an automatic door opening is

    30:12

    is allowed by code but obviously i i

    30:14

    think you're pointing out that some

    30:16

    methods are

    30:18

    preferable to others

    30:23

    okay

    30:24

    thank you very very much um

    30:27

    okay so we are going to and and cara

    30:29

    thank you so much for your presentation

    30:31

    we thank you for taking time out of your

    30:33

    busy schedule to be with us this

    30:35

    afternoon this morning actually this

    30:37

    morning still morning time to give that

    30:39

    wonderful presentation and really

    30:41

    highlight what we're doing in the

    30:42

    department of commerce in terms of

    30:44

    accessibility for all of our valued

    30:46

    employees with disabilities

    30:48

    now we're going to

    30:50

    also talk to the team from the office of

    30:53

    the chief information officer we have a

    30:54

    few questions already coming up in the

    30:56

    chat um for individuals who

    31:00

    have questions related to section 508

    31:03

    our information technology our websites

    31:06

    and so forth are

    31:07

    platforms for

    31:08

    um information so

    31:10

    we are going to turn this over now to ms

    31:14

    jennifer jessup and team and again i

    31:16

    will ask you to introduce yourselves

    31:19

    when you are on when you finally come up

    31:21

    on screen

    31:22

    and uh we will begin with uh i see mr

    31:26

    whittington is on the screen there's

    31:28

    jennifer here also

    31:30

    you're gonna mute yourself

    31:32

    if they don't meet yourself hi monique

    31:34

    yes i'm on i'm trying to share my

    31:36

    presentation now

    31:37

    okay and also is darwin on the screen

    31:40

    with you as well as darwin here because

    31:41

    we can turn your camera on now you feel

    31:43

    free to turn your camera back off but

    31:45

    i'd like to introduce everybody

    31:51

    darling are you there

    31:58

    hey there okay all right now you guys

    32:01

    are our presenter so all right

    32:07

    i'm turning okay i'll turn this over to

    32:09

    you

    32:10

    thank you thank you

    32:11

    wonderful monique thank you can you see

    32:13

    my presentation okay am i clear can you

    32:15

    hear me

    32:18

    yes yep we can hear you um

    32:21

    you can see the presentation we don't

    32:22

    see you so if you don't have your camera

    32:24

    on with you just let us know you don't

    32:25

    have your camera on just to be sure

    32:28

    sure i do not have my camera on i'm

    32:30

    having technical difficulties with my

    32:31

    computer um okay no problem

    32:34

    thank you

    32:35

    wonderful

    32:38

    well i just want to thank everybody for

    32:39

    joining us today section 508 is an

    32:41

    important topic

    32:43

    um and we just want to thank monique for

    32:45

    giving this opportunity

    32:46

    and this stage to be able to discuss

    32:49

    section 508 and bring it a little bit of

    32:51

    awareness to the department um i will be

    32:53

    presenting today and i will be joined by

    32:55

    dewan ginn who is a department of

    32:57

    commerce section 508 policy advisor as

    33:00

    well as david whittington from the

    33:01

    census bureau and he's a section

    33:04

    508 officer for

    33:06

    um this is bureau what we want you to

    33:08

    know today is accessibility is

    33:10

    everyone's business

    33:14

    and on

    33:15

    slide two here um this is the agenda

    33:17

    that we're going to

    33:18

    um

    33:19

    try to cover all these topics today um

    33:23

    i would like to take this time to hand

    33:24

    the first presentation off to dewan

    33:26

    again

    33:27

    um dewan will kick off her presentation

    33:29

    by providing you with an overview of the

    33:31

    section 508

    33:33

    and he will explain it's important to

    33:35

    you so and i'll kick it off to you

    33:39

    thank you jennifer good morning everyone

    33:42

    okay let's jump right in

    33:44

    so section 508 mission is to provide

    33:47

    individuals with disabilities access to

    33:49

    and use of information and data that's

    33:52

    comparable to that provided to federal

    33:54

    employees and the public who are not

    33:56

    individuals with disabilities

    33:58

    section 508 applies to all of the

    34:01

    federal government

    34:03

    section 508 applies to everyone

    34:07

    next slide please

    34:11

    in 1998 congress admitted the

    34:13

    rehabilitation act of 1973 to require

    34:16

    federal agencies to make their

    34:18

    electronic and information technology

    34:20

    accessible to people with disabilities

    34:23

    the law law was amended to eliminate

    34:26

    barriers and information technology

    34:29

    create new opportunities for people with

    34:31

    disabilities as well as to encourage the

    34:34

    development of technologies that will

    34:36

    help achieve these goals

    34:41

    next slide please

    34:45

    so section 508 ensures

    34:49

    all information and communication

    34:50

    technology ict that is procured

    34:54

    maintained developed as well as contract

    34:57

    vehicles and procurement actions

    34:59

    including micro purchases are 508

    35:02

    compliant

    35:04

    everyone is responsible to make sure

    35:06

    that all ict is in compliance with 508

    35:10

    especially those who are content

    35:11

    creators

    35:13

    document creators

    35:14

    training developers designers

    35:17

    testers and anyone involved in a

    35:19

    document and content creation

    35:22

    process

    35:24

    next slide please

    35:31

    so why is section 508 important

    35:34

    other than section 508 being the law

    35:41

    in 2018

    35:42

    the u.s access board issued a 508

    35:45

    refresh of the revised section 500

    35:47

    standards to reflect changes in the

    35:49

    techno technology as well as to better

    35:52

    reflect

    35:53

    web content accessibility guidelines wik

    35:57

    2.1 testing criteria

    36:00

    so the wig cag 2.1 was initiated with

    36:02

    the goal to improve accessibility

    36:04

    guidance for three major groups

    36:08

    users with cognitive or learning

    36:09

    disabilities

    36:11

    users with low vision

    36:13

    and users with disabilities on mobile

    36:15

    devices

    36:16

    the four major components of wik cag

    36:19

    the first

    36:21

    is the ict perceivable

    36:23

    an example would be

    36:25

    does the it have text alternatives

    36:28

    the second

    36:29

    is the ict operable

    36:32

    an example

    36:33

    is it it keyboard accessible

    36:36

    the third

    36:38

    is the ict understandable

    36:40

    an example

    36:41

    is the i.t readable

    36:44

    and lastly is the itrope ict robust

    36:48

    an example

    36:49

    is the i.t compatible so that it can be

    36:52

    interpreted by a wide variety of user

    36:55

    agents including excessive technology

    36:58

    a good way to remember the major

    37:00

    components is the acronym poor

    37:03

    p

    37:04

    o u r

    37:06

    perceivable operable understandable and

    37:09

    robust

    37:11

    section 508 allows plain language making

    37:13

    content usable for people with cognitive

    37:16

    and learning disabilities using simple

    37:19

    tense and voice benefits many people

    37:21

    such as people with language impaired

    37:23

    impairments

    37:25

    excuse me dyslexia or a memory

    37:27

    impairment

    37:31

    the last point

    37:33

    there are also consequences to agencies

    37:35

    for being non-compliant

    37:36

    departments and agencies can be

    37:38

    susceptible to litigation for not being

    37:41

    in compliance with section 508

    37:45

    next slide please

    37:48

    so why is accessibility important

    37:51

    more than a billion people are estimated

    37:53

    to live with some form of disability

    37:56

    which is about 15

    37:57

    of the world's population and growing

    38:00

    the number of people with disabilities

    38:02

    is growing as as national populations

    38:05

    grow older and global chronic

    38:07

    health conditions such as diabetes

    38:09

    increase

    38:11

    people are working longer

    38:13

    increasing the chance of having it

    38:15

    having a disability in the workplace

    38:19

    using digital technologies can be a

    38:21

    problem

    38:22

    not just for the visually impaired but a

    38:25

    much wider section of the community

    38:27

    hearing impairment dementia arthritis

    38:30

    attention deficit disorder and dyslexia

    38:33

    are just some of the conditions that can

    38:34

    make it hard for people to utilize the

    38:36

    web

    38:38

    by making websites and digital

    38:40

    technologies accessible

    38:42

    we help to create an inclusive

    38:43

    environment for people with disabilities

    38:46

    accessible websites enable people to

    38:48

    make independent decisions and and

    38:50

    provide greater opportunities for

    38:52

    participation

    38:54

    interaction education as well as

    38:56

    employment

    38:57

    next slide please

    39:02

    so the human side

    39:03

    why do 508 matters

    39:06

    plain language

    39:08

    section 508 is about doing the right

    39:11

    thing

    39:13

    an employee that is blind deaf or have

    39:16

    motor or cognitive disabilities can rely

    39:18

    on assistive technology as well as

    39:21

    as well as accessible web applications

    39:23

    to do his or her job

    39:27

    we also have our veterans section 508

    39:30

    benefits service disabled veterans who

    39:32

    are entering the federal workplace

    39:35

    in record numbers by providing job

    39:37

    opportunities in accessible environments

    39:41

    lastly

    39:43

    section 508 benefits persons with

    39:45

    disabilities who work for

    39:47

    or seeking employment with the federal

    39:49

    government by providing accessible

    39:52

    workplace

    39:54

    this concludes my propor my portion of

    39:57

    the presentation and i will be handing

    39:59

    the presentation over to dave winton

    40:02

    dave

    40:04

    thank you duan hello everyone i'm dave

    40:07

    whittington um let's start off with a

    40:10

    brief um

    40:11

    timeline in history of how we got here

    40:14

    so the rehabilitation act was originally

    40:17

    signed into law in 1973.

    40:19

    now this act required government

    40:21

    agencies to make their physical space

    40:23

    accessible to the disabled

    40:25

    in 1998 the rehabilitation act was

    40:28

    amended to make electronic and

    40:30

    information technology accessible

    40:32

    the goal was to eliminate barriers in

    40:34

    i.t and ensure all americans have equal

    40:37

    access to federal data and systems

    40:40

    now in 2017 the u.s access board issued

    40:43

    a final rule

    40:44

    that updated accessibility requirements

    40:46

    covered by section 508

    40:48

    the ruling went into effect in 2018 and

    40:51

    was created in response to market trends

    40:54

    new innovations and technology

    40:57

    the board also sought to align

    40:59

    accessibility requirements with

    41:00

    international standards and guidelines

    41:03

    such as the web website content

    41:06

    accessibility guide guidelines which we

    41:09

    affectionately refer to as ykk which

    41:11

    dewan actually explained a little

    41:13

    earlier

    41:14

    now over the years other regulations

    41:16

    such as

    41:17

    plain language and idea act have for

    41:20

    have further sought to improve the

    41:22

    digital experience for users of federal

    41:25

    systems

    41:27

    okay next

    41:32

    slide now the rehabilitation act

    41:35

    established both section 504 and section

    41:38

    508 but the two are different in nature

    41:42

    section 504 requires agencies to provide

    41:45

    people with disabilities and equal

    41:47

    opportunity to participate in programs

    41:49

    and services

    41:51

    agencies must provide accommodations to

    41:54

    ensure equitable

    41:55

    opportunities for its employees

    41:58

    section 508 however requires federal

    42:01

    agencies to make ict accessible

    42:04

    now this applies to all federal agencies

    42:07

    and the ict that we develop

    42:09

    procure use and maintain

    42:14

    next slide

    42:18

    you may ask

    42:19

    what are some examples of information

    42:21

    and communication technology

    42:23

    ict includes software and operating

    42:27

    systems

    42:28

    internal and external websites these

    42:30

    include our sharepoint sites that we all

    42:33

    use internally

    42:35

    telecommunications products

    42:37

    video audio and multimedia

    42:41

    official communications such as memos

    42:43

    and reports

    42:45

    um which a lot of the documentation that

    42:47

    all of our agencies put out

    42:49

    um training materials documents

    42:52

    tables

    42:53

    maps

    42:54

    um and also and finally products that

    42:56

    store process transmit convert duplicate

    42:59

    or receive electronic information

    43:03

    now i do want to make a distinction ict

    43:05

    does not differentiate between the

    43:07

    public and employees rather it applies

    43:10

    to both

    43:12

    next slide

    43:19

    next slide oh yeah thank you

    43:21

    now this is important because as you

    43:23

    heard earlier a significant portion of

    43:26

    the american population has some type of

    43:28

    disability

    43:30

    seventy percent of those disabilities

    43:33

    are not noticeable just by looking at

    43:35

    someone

    43:36

    so it's important that our icts are

    43:39

    inclusive of everyone

    43:41

    here we've listed the common types of

    43:43

    disabilities to consider when

    43:45

    implementing ict solutions

    43:48

    visual includes users with blindness

    43:51

    color blindness and low vision caused by

    43:55

    various eye conditions

    43:57

    these may also include users in bright

    43:59

    conditions

    44:01

    auditory includes users with difficulty

    44:03

    hearing deafness and hearing impairments

    44:07

    these could also include users working

    44:09

    in noisy environments or without or

    44:11

    without privacy

    44:13

    cognitive includes users with conditions

    44:16

    that affect the brain's memory attention

    44:18

    or ability to interpret information

    44:22

    and finally users with navigation or

    44:24

    mobility issues can lack motor control

    44:28

    these users may not use a mouse

    44:31

    rather they're going to use a keyboard a

    44:33

    touch screen or they may even use voice

    44:35

    or i commands to control the system

    44:39

    so just as we are bringing systems

    44:42

    online

    44:43

    please keep all of these users in mind

    44:46

    next slide

    44:50

    okay now we're going to show a video um

    44:54

    that shows testimonies um of

    44:57

    accommodations that have been provided

    44:59

    for employees

    45:02

    okay

    45:17

    we did not hear it were you able to um

    45:20

    when you turn this on did you also click

    45:22

    that little button to uh make sure the

    45:24

    sound is accessible to everyone so we

    45:27

    can all hear it

    45:28

    you may have to

    45:31

    take it off and put it back on

    45:34

    take it down and reach and share it

    45:36

    again

    45:41

    we might have to skip the video

    45:45

    okay jennifer

    45:47

    i'm you could go ahead and just skip

    45:48

    this one gaben

    45:50

    all right

    45:52

    okay no no from here

    45:55

    maybe we can put it up on our website

    45:57

    when we um because we're gonna post the

    45:59

    slides and everything up on the website

    46:01

    so for those who may want to access the

    46:02

    video they can still see it okay thank

    46:05

    you

    46:06

    you know what just to give everyone a

    46:07

    heads up what the video showed um was

    46:10

    um reasonable accommodations in the way

    46:12

    that we work with our employees to

    46:14

    ensure um that they have the tools to

    46:17

    perform their job so that was really

    46:19

    what the video was showing

    46:22

    okay um i will move on so now the

    46:24

    department of commerce

    46:26

    is committed to providing access to all

    46:28

    individuals with or without disabilities

    46:31

    seeking information on our websites

    46:34

    we have a lot of data to share and so

    46:36

    it's critical um that we make this all

    46:39

    of this data accessible

    46:41

    the dlc website is built to conform to

    46:44

    section 508

    46:47

    also the department has implemented a

    46:49

    section 508 checklist as part of its

    46:51

    acquisition process

    46:53

    this checklist was developed to ensure

    46:55

    that the acquisition of ict resources

    46:58

    complies with federal and dlc section

    47:01

    5-way requirements and to provide a

    47:04

    means for the section 5-way coordinator

    47:06

    to document compliance

    47:10

    all right

    47:14

    now let's talk about some of the common

    47:16

    accessibility issues we see across the

    47:18

    board with our ict products

    47:22

    okay first using non-standard scripting

    47:25

    languages and code can cause issues with

    47:28

    how assistive technology interacts with

    47:30

    objects so it's best to establish agency

    47:33

    standards and use industry best

    47:35

    practices during development

    47:37

    number two

    47:38

    alternative text should be used for all

    47:40

    non-text objects

    47:42

    not just images but you want to include

    47:45

    them for text

    47:46

    i'm sorry for charts tables and graphs

    47:50

    also text

    47:51

    used should convey a meaningful

    47:53

    description of the object to the end

    47:55

    user again think of the message that

    47:57

    you're getting across to the end user

    48:00

    third low color contrast can cause users

    48:04

    of low vision to miss important

    48:05

    information

    48:07

    now there are tools available that can

    48:09

    help identify if the contrast between

    48:12

    colors is sufficient

    48:14

    um and so this is very critical when

    48:16

    you're developing your presentations

    48:19

    you know any visualizations that you're

    48:21

    releasing your applications you want to

    48:23

    ensure you've got proper color contrast

    48:27

    four alerts are used to communicate

    48:29

    important information which could

    48:31

    include time sensitive messages that

    48:33

    require action

    48:35

    to the end user it's critical assistive

    48:37

    technology work with alerts and provide

    48:40

    usable information on how to resolve

    48:42

    issues i tell you a pet peeve of mine is

    48:45

    getting an error message or an alert and

    48:48

    it's not really readable or

    48:49

    understandable right it's like rocket

    48:50

    science so you know just keep in mind as

    48:53

    you're making these alerts

    48:55

    make them readable plain language

    48:58

    five page titles are important for

    49:01

    making every page uniquely identifiable

    49:04

    if the page title is missing a screen

    49:06

    reader would not convey that important

    49:08

    information to the user and that user

    49:10

    could become lost or confused while

    49:12

    navigating a site

    49:14

    so always set your page in document

    49:16

    titles

    49:19

    david i'm sorry this is laura we've lost

    49:21

    access to the powerpoint presentation

    49:24

    it's no longer up on the screen

    49:28

    oh okay

    49:30

    you know yeah no worries let me see can

    49:33

    i share

    49:35

    my screen

    49:38

    um

    49:40

    because i am following along and so

    49:44

    okay um can you all see my screen we can

    49:48

    yes yes thank you now let me see how i

    49:50

    can present okay there we go hey you all

    49:53

    have to be flexible these days right

    49:55

    you're doing good you're on track thank

    49:57

    you

    49:58

    okay um

    50:00

    i think where i ended off with is number

    50:03

    um

    50:04

    oh six okay so setting language okay

    50:07

    setting the language allows screen

    50:09

    readers to switch language profiles to

    50:11

    provide the correct pronunciation and

    50:14

    accent

    50:15

    this information helps search engines

    50:17

    return language specific results

    50:20

    number seven

    50:21

    users should be able to navigate using

    50:24

    the tab key to access all interactive

    50:26

    elements on a web page application form

    50:29

    or document

    50:30

    so the tabbing order must be logical

    50:33

    and it must be in order remember not

    50:35

    everyone uses a mouse um

    50:38

    folks with mobility issues um often use

    50:41

    a keyboard only right and so

    50:44

    you know it's important for them as they

    50:45

    tab through that you know that your that

    50:48

    your document or your application is in

    50:51

    logical

    50:52

    order um

    50:55

    number eight the reading and navigation

    50:57

    order must be logical and intuitive

    51:00

    as the user would logically expect when

    51:02

    using assistive technology the reading

    51:04

    order should not jump around the page so

    51:07

    again when you're designing your

    51:08

    application and

    51:11

    your documents you just want to make

    51:12

    sure that you have the reading order um

    51:15

    correct

    51:16

    number nine this is going to be

    51:18

    important for your videos and multimedia

    51:20

    captions and subtitles

    51:22

    are um are essential captions and

    51:25

    subtitles provide information to people

    51:27

    who are deaf and hard of hearing that

    51:30

    would have been missed

    51:32

    it must be used for all of your video

    51:34

    and audio media

    51:36

    and then finally because um a lot of our

    51:40

    bureaus are statistical agencies and we

    51:42

    release a lot of data um just wanted to

    51:45

    drive home this point data tables must

    51:47

    be properly marked up using the correct

    51:49

    table elements this ensures screen

    51:52

    readers announce sale content while

    51:54

    navigating through a data table

    51:57

    um so again we just wanted to just give

    51:58

    you a heads up on some common

    52:00

    accessibility issues that we often see

    52:04

    and i will now

    52:05

    hand things back over to jennifer thank

    52:09

    you

    52:12

    well thank you dave and i'm going to ask

    52:13

    you to continue to drive the

    52:14

    presentation for me if that's okay

    52:23

    interruption um that i'm back in now so

    52:25

    thank you very much

    52:29

    so now that you've learned all of this

    52:30

    information on section 508 you may be

    52:32

    wondering where you could go

    52:38

    offers information about section 508 and

    52:41

    the rehabilitation act

    52:45

    the u.s general services administration

    52:47

    or gsa is office that has been passed

    52:49

    under this law to provide technical

    52:50

    assistance to help federal agencies

    52:52

    comply with these requirements and

    52:53

    ensure that covered ict is accessible

    52:56

    and usable by individuals with

    52:58

    disabilities that's fine

    53:07

    if you visit section 508.gov you will

    53:10

    see that there is information on

    53:13

    policy management acquisition content

    53:15

    creation design

    53:18

    and development techniques for web

    53:20

    principles testing

    53:24

    those training

    53:26

    um

    53:31

    next slide please

    53:34

    for the average

    53:36

    um

    53:36

    i won before that

    53:48

    if you haven't visited the section 508

    53:49

    website i would like you encoura to

    53:51

    encourage you to do so

    53:53

    most specifically i didn't encourage you

    53:55

    to visit the create tab on the section

    53:57

    508 website

    53:59

    here you can learn how to create

    54:01

    accessible microsoft word excel

    54:03

    powerpoint pdf documents and even create

    54:06

    electronic signatures that conform to

    54:08

    the revised section 508 standards

    54:11

    you can learn how the revised standards

    54:13

    apply to software applications web

    54:15

    content operating systems synchronized

    54:18

    media and more

    54:20

    you could review the concepts of

    54:21

    universal design and learn how to apply

    54:23

    it to federal agencies and its products

    54:26

    you can learn

    54:28

    how to create accessible videos

    54:30

    and also social media posts

    54:33

    next slide

    54:37

    there are many other educational forums

    54:40

    available to learn about section 508 and

    54:42

    bringing their awareness to you in

    54:43

    general

    54:45

    some other resources are provided here

    54:47

    on this slide

    54:50

    the commerce learning center is

    54:52

    offers training courses to employees as

    54:55

    well in section 508 right now these

    54:58

    courses are only offered to census

    55:00

    employees however the department is in

    55:02

    the process of offering these courses

    55:04

    department-wide however also on section

    55:07

    508.gov there is other free training

    55:09

    that is offered that is available to all

    55:12

    un-federal employees

    55:19

    and that's high school

    55:24

    we want to thank you for joining us

    55:25

    today and we will um

    55:28

    offer some time for questions at the end

    55:30

    however if you have agency specific

    55:32

    questions or if you need additional help

    55:34

    and you don't know where to find it um

    55:36

    as i mentioned before section 508.gov is

    55:38

    an excellent resource but also your

    55:40

    section 508 officers and your bureaus um

    55:43

    are the next best contact for you to um

    55:46

    to reach out to we've listed the context

    55:48

    here on this library

    55:50

    and that will conclude my presentation

    55:52

    for today

    55:55

    well again thank you so much jennifer

    55:58

    darwin and david for being with us this

    56:00

    afternoon and for sharing this great

    56:02

    information with everyone um i've heard

    56:04

    i've had i have several questions for

    56:06

    you actually so uh again for the sake of

    56:09

    time i'm going to go ahead and jump

    56:10

    right into the questions but as jennifer

    56:12

    mentioned if you have questions that we

    56:14

    can't get to

    56:15

    today please reach out to your section

    56:17

    508 coordinator um the presentation will

    56:20

    be available on our website

    56:22

    um within the next week but if you need

    56:25

    a copy of the slide sooner please just

    56:27

    shoot me a quick email and i will send

    56:29

    them to you

    56:30

    um the one question we had earlier was

    56:33

    um

    56:35

    i'm curious what accommodations have

    56:37

    been extended to working from home

    56:39

    situation specifically accessibility

    56:41

    software and low bandwidth especially

    56:44

    with vpn vpn outside the building is

    56:47

    slower has this affected any colleagues

    56:49

    requiring heavy assistive technology on

    56:52

    their equipment so basically what have

    56:54

    you got any uh

    56:56

    updates on that or have you gotten any

    56:58

    concerns about that or anything they may

    56:59

    be trying to do in that area

    57:03

    anyone on the team can take that

    57:04

    question

    57:18

    are you able to hear me jennifer are you

    57:19

    there

    57:25

    i'm here monique i think i'm having some

    57:27

    um technical difficulties with my

    57:28

    computer today obviously um dave have

    57:31

    you had any episodes that you said

    57:33

    convey

    57:35

    actually related to vpn

    57:39

    i'm sorry could you repeat the question

    57:41

    again the question was really talking

    57:42

    about like accessibility software and

    57:45

    low bandwidth especially when using vpn

    57:47

    so has there been any talk about what

    57:50

    they're going to do or how how they can

    57:51

    address that because vpn is slower

    57:53

    outside the building especially for

    57:55

    people working at home

    57:56

    and who require heavy assistive

    57:58

    technology on their equipment

    58:01

    yeah i would say you know we reach out

    58:03

    to your 508 coordinator um i um

    58:06

    telephone equipment um is a part of ict

    58:09

    and so that would be covered um if an

    58:12

    accommodation is needed definitely work

    58:14

    with hr and your 508 coordinator um for

    58:16

    that um i've not seen anything specific

    58:19

    at census um with anyone reaching out um

    58:22

    with issues due to low bandwidth but

    58:25

    that's not to say it it doesn't happen

    58:27

    or it doesn't exist

    58:29

    okay

    58:31

    thank you

    58:32

    um so i want to give you a compliment

    58:34

    too your slides were great someone put

    58:36

    in they can read the flies with no

    58:39

    problem

    58:40

    um and so they wanted yeah they said

    58:42

    they're legally blind with low vision so

    58:44

    the slides were great and you were able

    58:46

    to read them one thing that was asked is

    58:48

    what are the most accessible font and

    58:50

    font sizes in our documents what do you

    58:52

    recommend

    58:54

    um and so that's a great question um you

    58:57

    know what

    58:58

    each agency often releases a style guide

    59:01

    and so you know you're going to want to

    59:03

    stick within that because a lot of times

    59:05

    they've already worked with um with the

    59:07

    508 offices to ensure

    59:09

    that you know your your templates are

    59:11

    compliant so that's going to be the

    59:13

    first starting point um

    59:15

    try not to deviate from those templates

    59:18

    um because a lot of times they are

    59:19

    compliant

    59:21

    um

    59:22

    so yes

    59:23

    okay great i'm gonna i also want to add

    59:26

    a point um about slides because i know

    59:29

    we didn't have a lot of pictures and a

    59:30

    lot of graphics in there

    59:32

    and it could have been you know boring

    59:35

    but a lot of times you know you do have

    59:37

    to you know it's all about you know

    59:40

    making stuff accessible and so sometimes

    59:42

    to do that you know you've got to remove

    59:44

    the sexiness or the prettiness from

    59:47

    things um

    59:48

    you know so just keep that in mind

    59:50

    everyone

    59:51

    keep up keep keep a nice balance there

    59:54

    like if you had one graphic it might be

    59:56

    okay but if you have a whole lot of

    59:57

    pictures you gotta like you mentioned

    59:59

    dave you gotta put all that alt text in

    60:01

    there you gotta make it accessible and

    60:02

    it takes a lot more work so

    60:04

    that's it

    60:05

    okay so what are the most uh so one of

    60:08

    the questions here because for the sake

    60:09

    of time i'm gonna make this the last

    60:11

    question is the doc planning to mandate

    60:14

    508 certifications

    60:17

    anybody know that question have an

    60:19

    answer to that question

    60:22

    this is this is the one speaking um

    60:25

    at this time no

    60:27

    i know other

    60:29

    other um

    60:30

    agency the other bureaus like you know

    60:33

    dave in the census they have a

    60:34

    certification process that they have

    60:37

    over there but um that could be a point

    60:40

    of

    60:40

    conversation at a later date as dlc has

    60:44

    a hold but right now we we do not have

    60:47

    um

    60:48

    that in place right now

    60:50

    okay

    60:51

    thank you dwan and i have to ask this

    60:54

    question and then i promise this is the

    60:56

    last one

    60:57

    any other questions we'll have to just

    60:59

    get back to them individually does

    61:00

    providing a transcript of a video for

    61:03

    example a single person speaking to the

    61:05

    camera provides sufficient access to the

    61:08

    video very important question

    61:14

    so you know what um for guidance i would

    61:17

    refer

    61:18

    people back to the y kid

    61:20

    guidelines because they are very

    61:22

    specific for instance if you've got a

    61:24

    video where it's video only um you

    61:28

    really need to

    61:30

    have some sort of um description of

    61:32

    what's taking place within that um video

    61:35

    and again if you've got something with

    61:37

    video and audio you've got to have

    61:39

    captions

    61:40

    so the ykk guidelines that dejuan

    61:43

    mentioned earlier are really going to be

    61:45

    your best reference point for

    61:47

    understanding how to meet the

    61:48

    requirements um they were written i

    61:51

    would say um it's very readable very

    61:53

    understandable um it's not gonna be

    61:55

    rocket science um you know and you can

    61:59

    go there to find out how to meet

    62:01

    requirements you know let's say if

    62:03

    you're designing an application and

    62:05

    you've got error messages in there um

    62:07

    it's going to have the retire it's going

    62:09

    to have the criteria of how to meet that

    62:12

    um if you've got timeouts within your

    62:13

    application um for color contrast that

    62:16

    we talked about earlier um how to ensure

    62:19

    your application is totally keyboard

    62:21

    accessible again y keg um 2.1 you can

    62:25

    easily google it that's really going to

    62:27

    be your first stop um shop um also

    62:30

    section 508.gov which is what jennifer

    62:33

    mentioned earlier there are a ton of

    62:34

    resources out there um and to really

    62:37

    understand how to make something

    62:38

    accessible it's not rocket science

    62:40

    nowadays um there are a ton of resources

    62:43

    out there um you know we've got agency

    62:45

    coordinators that will help and assist i

    62:48

    think we're we're all here working

    62:50

    together

    62:51

    that's right and actually um i put the

    62:54

    section 508 uh website in the chat so

    62:58

    definitely feel free to check that out i

    63:00

    also just added the y keg that he's just

    63:02

    talking about which is the web uh

    63:05

    consortium um accessibility guidelines

    63:08

    so you can definitely web content i'm

    63:10

    sorry uh web content is this

    63:12

    accessibility guidelines and it's very

    63:14

    it is a very useful website but if you

    63:16

    have questions like david mentioned

    63:18

    please reach out to your section 508

    63:20

    coordinator i'm also available monique

    63:23

    disney disability program manager for

    63:25

    the department if i don't know the

    63:26

    answer i'll point you to those experts

    63:28

    who have the answer like jennifer and

    63:29

    her team and the 508 coordinators

    63:33

    so we definitely want to make sure that

    63:34

    people have what they need in order to

    63:36

    have accessibility within the department

    63:39

    i am going to wrap this up now because

    63:41

    we are like about five minutes over and

    63:43

    i want to turn this over to the direct

    63:45

    acting director of the office of civil

    63:47

    rights

    63:48

    mr jerry beat

    63:50

    and he will give us some closing remarks

    63:53

    thank you jerry and thank you again uh

    63:55

    for the presenters who presented today

    63:56

    thank you for working with me for this

    63:58

    program

    64:01

    thank you mooney good morning everybody

    64:03

    as the acting director for the office of

    64:05

    civil rights i want to thank you all for

    64:07

    being here today and helping the

    64:08

    department of commerce commemorate

    64:10

    national disability employment awareness

    64:13

    month 2021

    64:15

    i hope you enjoyed our program and

    64:16

    learned something new about the ways the

    64:18

    department approaches success stability

    64:20

    we are too truly doing some exciting

    64:22

    important things relating to

    64:23

    accessibility from providing accessible

    64:26

    restrooms entrances and lactation rooms

    64:29

    to ensuring that our websites and work

    64:31

    products are accessible to all employees

    64:34

    and the public

    64:36

    i want to thank lyle hannah for opening

    64:37

    remarks

    64:38

    in kara west home from ofpq for her

    64:41

    overview on universal design and she's

    64:44

    introducing us to michael graves and i

    64:46

    also want to thank jennifer jessup from

    64:47

    ocio dejuan jen and dave whittington

    64:50

    uh for their overview of section 508 and

    64:53

    for providing an update on what the

    64:54

    department is doing to support digital

    64:56

    accessibility

    64:58

    i also want to thank you monique from

    65:00

    the office of civil rights because this

    65:01

    program would not have been possible

    65:03

    without your efforts

    65:05

    while nda

    65:06

    national disability employment awareness

    65:08

    month or nadim may be coming to a close

    65:10

    the department's focus on accessibility

    65:12

    will continue over the coming year and

    65:14

    in fact it will be elevated

    65:16

    as you know accessibility

    65:19

    is in is highlighted

    65:22

    in executive order 14035

    65:26

    advancing

    65:28

    diversity equity inclusion and

    65:30

    accessibility in the federal workplace

    65:33

    this is because the biden administration

    65:35

    knows that much more can be done by

    65:38

    agencies to improve accessibility

    65:40

    i can guarantee you that accessibility

    65:42

    will be an important part of the

    65:44

    department's deia plan which is to

    65:48

    strategic plan which is due to omb next

    65:50

    april

    65:52

    i want to close by announcing that ocr

    65:54

    is preparing for national native

    65:56

    american heritage month which starts

    65:58

    november 1st

    65:59

    i don't have the details on the event

    66:01

    just yet

    66:02

    but stay tuned for future broadcasts

    66:06

    and lastly i always have to get this

    66:08

    plug in for additional information about

    66:09

    the department of commerce special

    66:11

    emphasis programs and events like these

    66:14

    including information about

    66:15

    accessibility please visit ocr's webpage

    66:18

    at www.commerce.gov

    66:22

    forward slash cr

    66:25

    thank you again for joining us today and

    66:26

    we look forward to seeing you later this

    66:28

    month or next month rather at national

    66:31

    native american heritage month thank you

    66:33

    everybody have a good day

    66:35

    thank you jerry and thank you cisco for

    66:38

    wonderful signing as well thank you so

    66:40

    much that's right

    66:46

    that concludes today's program we will

    66:47

    now uh

    66:49

    hang up the program you may hang up now

    66:51

    thank you

     

 

 

Executive Orders

  • Executive Order 13078, Increasing Employment of Adults with Disabilities, March 13, 1998.
  • Executive Order 13124 - Amending the Civil Service Rules Relating to Federal Employees with Psychiatric Disabilities, June 4, 1999.
  • Executive Order 13164 - Requiring Federal Agencies to Establish Procedures to Facilitate the  Provision of Reasonable Accommodation, October 20, 2000
  • Executive Order 13548 - Increasing Federal Employment of Individuals with Disabilities, July 26, 2010 -

Department of Commerce Administrative Orders

Laws

The text of Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Pub. L. 93-112) (Rehab. Act), as amended, as these sections appear in volume 29 of the United States Code, beginning at section 791. Section 501 prohibits employment discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the federal sector. Section 505 contains provisions governing remedies and attorney's fees under Section 501. Relevant definitions that apply to sections 501 and 505 precede these sections.

Section 508 requires that Federal agencies must ensure comparable accessibility to persons with disabilities whenever that agency uses electronic or information technology, unless such access would impose an undue burden. This web site contains the text of Section 508, as amended, as well as other materials.

  • The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) - Effective November 21, 2009 This law makes it illegal to discriminate against employees or applicants because of genetic information. genetic information includes information about an individual's genetic tests and the genetic tests of an individual's family members, as well as information about any disease, disorder or condition of an individual's family members (i.e. an individual's family medical history). The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit.
  • Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) 

This law makes it illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities in employment (Title I), in public services (Title II), in public accommodations (Title III) and in telecommunications (Title IV). EEOC is responsible for enforcing Title I's prohibition against discrimination against people with disabilities in employment. The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit. The law also requires that employers reasonably accommodate the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability who is an applicant or employee, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the employer's business.

This law made a number of significant changes to the definition of “disability.” It also directed the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to amend its ADA regulations to reflect the changes made by the ADAAA. EEOC provides information about the ADAAA.

Guidance and Regulations

Resources

Commerce Program Manager: Monique Dismuke