The Front Page Blog: Blogs on Technology

Global Accessibility Awareness Day, May 18th, was launched in 2021 to promote awareness for digital accessibility, access, and inclusion. As Accessibility Consultants, New Editions is focused on and passionate about improving digital accessibility. We partner with organizations to help them improve their digital products and we play an important role in the maturation of their accessibility programs. In a world of emerging technologies and new standards, we convert complex ideas to simple, implementable tasks.

Effective collaboration between consultants and client program and…

There has been an appropriate emphasis in recent years to educate developers on accessibility requirements outlined by the Revised 508 standards and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The development of a repeatable test process, like the Trusted Tester methodology New Editions helped develop, helps to ensure developers receive a consistent message as to what constitutes accessible Information and Communication Technology (ICT). These have been positive steps forward in creating accessible products. However, the focus to “shift left” that we now see beginning to happen has…

New Editions is pleased to be a Silver sponsor of the 5th annual ICT TESTING SYMPOSIUM 2020. The testing symposium provides support to those tackling the issue of ensuring equal access to digital information for all members of our society, and is especially important in this time of rapid transition towards the use of online tools as a primary means of communication. This year’s conference will be online, as many conferences have converted to this year. As a leader in accessible solutions and ICT testing and remediation, we will present a paper on leveraging Trusted Tester with Test…

Instructional design is a systematic process for designing learning experiences and materials to improve learner performance and retention. Whether you’re using Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate, Lectora, or other eLearning authoring tools to design online courses, consider broadening your audience to include those with disabilities who rely on assistive technologies. By using the Trusted Tester Process, not only will you comply with the federal and international standards, you will be improving the usability of information and communication technologies (ICT) for a variety of…

The 2019 “Innovation at Work” technology showcase, hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture TARGET Center, brought together a wide range of interested participants within the technology, government, and disability communities. Upon arriving at the event, guests were greeted by staff skilled in American Sign Language (ASL), who signed as they spoke to all guests regardless of hearing ability. In addition, each session was equipped with live captioning service, a testament to the progress of the technology industry actively bridging the gap with the disability community.

Among the…

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, requires that electronic and information technology developed with federal funding be accessible to people with disabilities. This includes training materials developed with federal funds that are disseminated to users via the internet. Currently, I direct the National Clearinghouse on Rehabilitation Training Materials (NCRTM). This contract offers technical assistance to individuals and organizations who submit resources to the NCRTM. Even though Section 508 has been in effect since…

November is National Family Caregivers Month. While caregiving can be a very rewarding experience, caregivers are at risk of fatigue, increased stress, and other negative health consequences. One way to help reduce the stressors faced by caregivers is to learn about and employ helpful tools and resources.

At this year’s annual Home and Community Based Services national conference, a number of sessions addressed the need to support family and informal caregivers of people with chronic conditions and disabilities.  While there have been many studies tracking hours…

In a recent industry show-and-tell, Paul Schroeder of the American Foundation of the Blind gave us all a good chuckle when he said “I didn’t realize 508 referred to the number of weeks it would take to get the standards updated!”

February 2015 saw the publication of the (third) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking by the Access Board. The document updates Section 508 standards that cover the accessibility of electronic and information technology within the federal government and updates Section 255 guidelines that cover access to telecommunications and apply to providers and…

If the ADA were a person, it should be graduating college by now and looking for a job. However, workplace equality for people with disabilities is where the least progress has been made in the last quarter century, according to an informal poll of webinar attendees during “24 Years of the ADA: Progress, Pitfalls and Possibilities” hosted by Cornell University and the Northeast ADA Center on July 9, 2014. Where has the most progress been made? According to attendees polled, it is in the accessibility of physical spaces. Examine your workplace and you’ll find evidence of both. Are…

The country is aging and so is the workforce. According to the 2012 Census, there were over four million full-time workers age 65 and older. The aging process can bring with it a gradual decrease in vision, hearing, and physical abilities. Jobs that were once easy for a 30 or 40-year-old to perform can become challenging for a 60 or 70-year-old. For example, in our work, some veterans have told us that war wounds sustained in the 1960s and 1970s are only now starting to take their toll, inducing new mobility and dexterity limitations. For the older worker, there can be a blurry line…

Want to know how to make a website accessible? Google the answers. Want a mainstream phone with built-in speech output for using it without vision? Go to an electronics store. Want to know how to make an ATM accessible? Put your headphone jack in pretty much any ATM. Want to know how to change your organization so that accessibility becomes an integral part of everyone's job? Um...  As time goes by more and more of the technological challenges around accessibility are being solved, written about, and widely implemented. However, let's face it, the ideal of everyone in an agency…

Question: "How's 508 working out for your customers?"

Response: "We haven't had any complaints, so I think we're doing really well."

A lack of complaints is often cited in Section 508 circles as an indicator that we are all doing a great job for our customers. But are we? Research on consumer complaints suggests that people in general don't complain. They either go elsewhere, or just stop using that type of product or service.

Think about your latest bad restaurant experience. Did you complain to the management or just not go back? If you were to complain to the…