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SSB BART Group Section 508 Overview and VPAT Creation

SSB BART Group Section 508 Overview and VPAT Creation. Agenda. Background and Experience Overview of Section 508 & VPATs The VPAT Form SSB BART VPAT creation process. Background. Unmatched Experience Accessibility Focus Implementation Oriented Solutions Solutions That Reduce Legal Risk

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SSB BART Group Section 508 Overview and VPAT Creation

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  1. SSB BART Group Section 508 Overview and VPAT Creation

  2. Agenda • Background and Experience • Overview of Section 508 & VPATs • The VPAT Form • SSB BART VPAT creation process

  3. Background • Unmatched Experience • Accessibility Focus • Implementation Oriented Solutions • Solutions That Reduce Legal Risk • Organizational Stability and Continuity • Knowledge That Is Up-to-Date, All the Time • Published and Peer Review Auditing Methodology • Unmatched Support Capabilities • Advocacy Group Relationships

  4. Experience • Fourteen hundred organizations (1452) • Fifteen hundred individual accessibility best practices (1512) • Twenty-three core technology platforms (23) • Twenty-two thousand audits (22,408) • One hundred twenty-one thousand human validated accessibility violations (121,290) • Fifteen million accessibility violations (15,331,444) (Statistics provided as of January 2013)

  5. Section 508 and VPAT What is Section 508? • In 1998, the U.S. Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. • The law applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology. What is a VPAT? • VPAT stands for Voluntary Product Accessibility Template. • It summarizes your product’s compliance level against the technical, functional and support requirements of Section 508. • Download the form at www.section508.gov. Why is a VPAT needed? • All US Federal Government agencies require a VPAT as part of their procurement process. • About half of US State Governments have Section 508-like requirements.

  6. VPAT Form VPAT documents are formal statement of compliance by your organization. Based on contract language, inaccurate claims of compliance may result in penalties or award invalidation. VPATs should be filled out by an individual that has knowledge both of your IT system and accessibility. VPAT claims should be backed by an audit trail. VPAT claims should be well justified based on the demonstrable accessibility of your system. Who should fill out the form?

  7. Section 508 Requirements 1194.21 Software applications and operating systems • Applications that are installed 1194.22 Web-based intranet and internet information and applications • Applications that run through a browser 1194.23 Telecommunications products • Telephony solutions 1194.24 Video and multimedia products • Captioning and textual equivalents. 1194.25 Self contained, closed products • Printers, fax machines 1194.26 Desktop and portable computers • Desktop, laptops and tablets 1194.31 Functional performance criteria • How usable the products are by people with disabilities 1194.41 Information, documentation, and support • The deployment context of the application must be accessible including supporting services, documentation and training

  8. Section 508 Requirements Technical Requirements – 1194.21 , 1194.22 • Did we write the application in a fashion that conforms to the coding requirements in the relevant standards? • Testing requirements are split between those that can be tested Automatically (24.8%), Manually (48.3%) and Globally (26.9%) Functional Requirements – 1194.31 • Can people with disabilities using the application complete the core tasks of the application? Alternatively, does the application as a whole produce an accessible experience? • Do you have individuals who are blind testing your application with JAWS? Window-Eyes? Support Requirements – 1194.41 • Is the deployment context of the application accessible? Does the information, documentation, support and training produce an accessible experience? • Do I have means of providing accessible support for the application? TTY / TDD? Accessible online chat? How to determine Section 508 compliance?

  9. Section 508 Requirements Requirements relevant to your product or application Must confirm to the technical, functional and support requirements • Software • 1194.21,1194.31,1194.41 • Websites and Web applications • 1194.22, 1194.31, 1194.41 • Flash/Flex applications • 1194.21, 1194.22, 1194.31, 1194.41 • PDF’s • 1194.21, 1194.22, 1194.31, 1194.41 • Hardware • 1194.25, 1194.31, 1194.41 Applicable 508 requirements Software Application Flash/Flex PDF Hardware

  10. How do I report my level of compliance? Support Level • This is not a yes or no question. • Must meet the VPAT scoring system.

  11. How do I report my level of compliance? Remarks & Explanation • As this is likely to be a contract or bid exhibit, avoid “blanket” claims of compliance. • Utilize more readily defensible statements, such as the “application is generally compliant.” • Provide detail whenever possible - if you say supports with exceptions, describe the exceptions and what they are.

  12. Testing Concepts Technical Testing • Break down each section into best practices. • 1194.22 (a) is covered by 42 best practices. • Each of those best practices, in turn, are classified based on how they are tested. Broadly speaking they can be tested either Automatically (24.8%), Manually (48.3%) and Globally (26.9%). • Determine a sample set of application components or pages. • Test each component against the relevant set of best practices. Functional Testing • Over half of the SSB BART staff has disabilities and use assistive technologies. • JAWS, ZoomText, Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Technical and Functional Approach

  13. Testing Testing Methodology SSB’s Unified Audit Methodology provides a single method to create and deploy audits within your organization Benefits A single, unified process for auditing all technology platforms Ability to have SSB perform accessibility audits or perform them in-house Testing coverage for full compliance requirements Repeatable and scalable testing methodology Code level remediation guidance Independent validation and verification of compliance Creation of custom Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) • Groundwork • Reporting Analysis Identify Modules Automated Global Manual Prioritization Authoring Identify Use Cases Assistive Technology Delivery

  14. Reporting • Online escrowed and distributed reports • Detailed reporting information for each best practice • Description • Location • Notation • Compliant Example • Non-Compliant Example • Recommendation • Unit Tests • Standards Mapping • Prioritization Criteria

  15. VPAT Creation Approach Assign a qualified person to audit the application and fill out the VPAT, or contract with SSB BART Group. Perform an audit against all relevant Section 508 requirements – technical, functional and support. Record the results. Review the general support levels and ensure they have been properly set. Review individual notes and extend detailed descriptions of the issues to relate to the features provided by a product or system. Document the compliance level of the application in the VPAT.

  16. Note Note: AN APPLICATION MUST BE VALIDATED AGAINST TECHNICAL (§1194.21-26), FUNCTIONAL (§1194.31) AND INFORMATION, DOCUMENTATION AND SUPOPRT (§1194.41) REQUIREMENTS TO MAKE AN ACCURATE CLAIM OF SECTION 508 COMPLIANCE.

  17. Next Steps • Check with your sales team to see if they are being asked for VPATs. • Schedule some time to speak with an SSB expert in your industry. SSB BART Group Contact Jill Micheli (415) 814-0525 jill.micheli@ssbbartgroup.com

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