Feds Overhaul IT Systems, Web Sites For Disabled UsersFeds Overhaul IT Systems, Web Sites For Disabled Users

Federal IT managers at more than 100 agencies are scrambling to overhaul their Web sites and other IT systems to provide better access for the disabled by June 21.

The overhaul, required by a three-year-old amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, was passed by Congress to give disabled employees and the public more access to the federal government systems and Web sites they use.

The standards, known as Section 508, were finalized in December, but many agencies are still unclear about their scope, how to fund the work, and just how much of an overhaul is required. "There are still areas where [the rules] are subject to agency interpretation," says Olga Grkavac, executive VP at the Information Technology Association of America, an IT trade group in Washington. But the ITAA supports the change because it's in the best interest of the disabled community and the IT industry, she says.

The rules also apply to IT vendors that supply products and services to the federal government. The guidelines cover everything from kiosks and PCs to software applications and operating systems, video, multimedia and cell phones, as well as keyboards and Web pages. Among the changes, agencies must modify their Web sites and offer text in audio form or in ways that can be viewed with special assistive equipment.

Government contractors aren't directly affected, but new procurement bids will go to businesses in compliance. That may pressure contractors and vendors to meet the standards voluntarily.

The government estimates the cost of complying with Section 508 will range up to $1 billion annually. So far, the effort hasn't been too taxing for the Department of Veterans Affairs, where nearly 16,000 of its 230,000 workers are disabled veterans. "It's part of our culture to accommodate them," a VA spokesman says.

Eight months ago, the VA set up a 40-person advisory committee that other federal agencies are turning to for advice on Section 508 compliance. Eighty of the VA's 106 sites are already accessible. Says Rosetta Screvens, the VA's Section 508 coordinator, "This is an ever-evolving effort."