I thought you would all be interested in this e-mail I just this
moment received. I had heard through the grapevine that
Congresswoman Eshoo was
going to do something but had no specifics. now we do.
I am sure that letters/calls etc. to Eshoo's office would be
welcome.
______________________________ Forward Header __________________________________
Subject: Info Tech Acess
Date: 4/10/97 12:47 PM
For your information
Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA) issued a press release on April 9,
1997 to say that she has introduced legislation to improve federal
agency compliance with an existing law (Section 508) that requires
information technology purchased by the federal government to be
accessible to employees with disabilities. The reason for this new
legislation is because it was felt that many agencies do not comply
with the current requirement.
Congresswoman Eshoo states that "while a few federal agencies have
made significant efforts to make their information technology systems
accessible to employees with disabilities, this hasn't been the case
across the board. There is simply no reason why federal bureaucracies
should be allowed to ignore the law and deny the full benefits of high
technology to their workers. My legislation will add teeth to the
current statute and help ensure that agencies comply with existing
accessibility guidelines.
The bill "Federal Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility
Compliance Act" directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to
set up uniform procedures for federal agencies to report their
compliance with government accessibility guidelines. It requires
agencies to provide written verification of their compliance each year
and gives OMB the ability to monitor and enforce compliance as needed.
The Act continues the existing expectation that states will comply
with federal accessibility guidelines in exchange for federal
disability funding. The states currently are expected to follow the
guidelines in exchange for federal dollars under the Tech Act, which
is due to expire in 1999. The Eshoo legislation inserts the Tech Act
provision on Section 508 in the Rehab Act as one of the expectations
for states to meet in exchange for federal vocational rehabilitation
funding.
Approximately 7.5% of federal employees - about 145,000 workers - have
disabilities of some sort as stated in the press release. The Depts
of Veteran Affairs, Navy, Army, Air Force, and Agriculture employ 62%
of the federal workers with disabilities. Most federal employees with
disabilities work in professional, administrative, or technical
occupations for the government.
For more information contact Lewis Roth at 202-225-8104
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Dec 02 2012 - 01:30:04 PST