36 CFR Part 1194 - Proposed Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Standards and Guidelines NPRM - Preamble

508 Chapter 1: Application and Administration (Section-by-Section Analysis)

This chapter proposes general requirements reflecting the purpose of the 508 Standards (E101.1). It also proposes criteria for equivalent facilitation (E101.2), lists referenced standards and where they may be obtained (E102), and provides definitions of terms used in the standards (E103). 508 Chapter 1 proposes, in large part, to simplify and reorganize similar provisions contained in existing 508 Standards §§ 1194.1 Purpose, 1194.4 Definitions, and 1194.5 Equivalent Facilitation.

E101 General (Section-by-Section Analysis)

This is an introductory section.

E101.1 Purpose (Section-by-Section Analysis)

This section states that the purpose of the 508 Standards is to provide scoping and technical requirements for ICT that is accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. Compliance with these requirements is mandatory for federal agencies subject to Section 508.

E101.2 Equivalent Facilitation (Section-by-Section Analysis)

This section is based on existing 508 Standards § 1194.5. It would permit the use of an alternative design or technology in lieu of conformance to the proposed technical requirements in Chapters 4 and 5, but only if the alternative design or technology provides substantially equivalent or greater accessibility and usability by persons with disabilities than would be provided by conforming to the proposed technical provisions. This section also would require the proposed functional performance criteria in Chapter 3 to be used to determine whether the alternative design or technology provides individuals with disabilities with substantially equivalent or greater accessibility and usability. The application of the functional performance criteria for this purpose would fill in a gap in the existing 508 Standards, which do not explain how the functional performance criteria are to be used in relation to the technical provisions. We explain our approach in greater detail above in Section V.C (Major Issues – Functional Performance Criteria).

E101.3 Conventional Industry Tolerances (Section-by-Section Analysis)

This section would provide that dimensions are subject to conventional industry tolerances except where dimensions are stated as a range. This proposed provision would be new to the 508 Standards and would clarify how dimensions are to be interpreted when specified in the text or a referenced standard.

E101.4 Units of Measurement (Section-by-Section Analysis)

This section would note measurements are stated in U.S. customary and metric units and that the values stated in each system (U.S. customary and metric units) may not be exact equivalents. This section would also provide that each system be used independently of the other. This proposed section is new to the 508 Standards and would clarify dimensions stated in the text of the proposed rule.

E102 Referenced Standards (Section-by-Section Analysis)

This is an introductory section.

E102.1 Incorporation by Reference (Section-by-Section Analysis)

This section lists the technical standards developed by voluntary consensus standard-setting bodies that the Board proposes to incorporate by reference in the proposed 508 Standards. It would require that where there is a difference between a provision of the proposed 508 Standards and the referenced standards, the 508 Standards would apply.

Incorporating these standards complies with the federal mandate—as set forth in the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 and OMB Circular A119—that agencies use voluntary consensus standards in their regulatory activities unless doing so would be legally impermissible or impractical. The standards proposed for incorporation would improve clarity because they are built on consensus standards developed by stakeholders. Most of these standards are widely used and, therefore, should be familiar to many regulated entities.

Incorporation by reference of these standards would be a distinct change and improvement from the existing 508 Standards, which contain no referenced standards. The Advisory Committee strongly recommended the adoption of specific accessibility consensus standards in order to promote harmonization. The adoption of consensus standards results in a more unified regulatory environment in which all participants benefit from clarity and simplicity. As noted in the TEITAC Report:

Industry supports harmonization in principle because it allows the ICT market to address accessibility through a global process -- one product developed to be sold world-wide -- rather than by trying to meet unique, potentially conflicting standards required by different countries. Harmonization should result in more accessible products, delivered through a more economically efficient market. Consumers thus benefit directly from harmonization; they also benefit indirectly because harmonization allows advocates to focus their efforts on fewer standards development activities. It is this economy of focused effort that may offer the greatest net benefit to people with disabilities. (TEITAC Report, Part 4, section 4.3).

Once incorporated by reference, the referenced standards become part of the 508 Standards. We are unaware of any duplication or overlap among the parts of the proposed standards, including the standards incorporated by reference. However, in order to address any potential conflicts, proposed E102.1 (as well as C102.1) provide that, when a conflict occurs between the 508 Standards (or 255 Guidelines) and a standard incorporated by reference, the 508 Standards (or 255 Guidelines) apply.

While a discussion of the estimated economic impact of the proposed rule—including the proposed incorporation by reference of the consensus technical standards listed in E102.1 and C102.1—follows below in Section VIII, two points bear noting here. First, the cost of implementing this proposed rule can be mitigated, in part, through use of an updated product accessibility template that includes WCAG 2.0 and the other referenced standards. The product accessibility template, available through the GSA Section508.gov site is intended to help agencies understand which provisions apply to particular products. We expect GSA will update this tool so that it will be available for use by agencies on or before the effective date of revised 508 Standards. Second, the W3C WCAG website provides readily available technical assistance—free of charge—that is linked to each technical requirement in WCAG 2.0. A great deal of third-party information is also available. Collectively, these resources should also greatly aid federal agencies and other regulated entities become conversant with the provisions in this standard, to the extent they are not already familiar with them.

The Office of the Federal Register recently promulgated a final rule requiring federal agencies to provide information to the public in regulatory preambles relating to the availability of materials to be incorporated by reference. In Section VII.G (Regulatory Process Matters – Availability of Materials Incorporated by Reference) below, the Board provides information on the availability of ten consensus standards proposed for incorporation by reference in the 508 Standards and 255 Guidelines.

The proposed 508 Standards would incorporate by reference the following standards:

E102.2 ANSI/HFES (Section-by-Section Analysis)

ANSI/HFES 200.2, Human Factors Engineering of Software User Interfaces — Part 2: Accessibility (2008), would be incorporated by reference at 502.4. This standard provides ergonomic guidance and specifications for the design of accessible software for use at work, in the home, in educational settings, and in public places. It covers issues associated with designing accessible software for people with a wide range of physical, sensory and cognitive abilities, including those who are temporarily disabled and the elderly.

This proposed standard would be new to both the 508 Standards and 255 Guidelines. Referencing this standard will ensure that ICT operating systems provide accessibility features (e.g., keyboard entry with a single finger, visual alerts paired with audible prompts) that users with disabilities expect and have come to rely upon. These features are commonly available in platform operating systems; the standard, therefore, serves mainly to codify current industry practices.

E102.3 ANSI/IEEE (Section-by-Section Analysis)

ANSI/IEEE C63.19-2011, American National Standard for Methods of Measurement of Compatibility between Wireless Communications Devices and Hearing Aids, would be incorporated by reference at 410.4.1. This standard is consistent with current telecommunications industry practices.

Products conforming to this standard minimize interference to hearing aids by wireless telephones. When telephone interference is not minimized, it can create noise in hearing aids that masks the sound of conversation. An added value of this standard is that it provides a uniform method of measurement for compatibility between hearing aids and wireless communications devices.

E102.4 ATSC (Section-by-Section Analysis)

A/53 Digital Television Standard, Part 5: AC-3 Audio System Characteristics (2010), would be incorporated by reference at 412.1.1. This standard provides technical requirements for digital television tuners when they process audio description. This standard is consistent with current telecommunications industry practice.

E102.5 IETF (Section-by-Section Analysis)

RFC 4103, RTP Payload for Text Conversation (2005), would be incorporated by reference at 410.6.3.2. This standard describes how to carry real-time text conversation session contents in RTP packets. Real-time text conversation is used alone, or in connection with other conversational modalities, to form multimedia conversation services. Examples of other conversational modalities are video and voice. When using RTT, text is received at the same time it is generated. For people who communicate without voice, RTT offers a way to interact that more closely resembles a live two-way call. This proposed standard would be new to the 508 Standards (as well as the 255 Guidelines), and represents a significant shift to better align with current technology. IP-based RTT is the only modern technology that offers the same functionality that TTYs have historically provided. Contemporary TTYs do not work with modern IP desk phones because the acoustic signal (Baudot) is garbled due to incompatible compression algorithms. When communication in real time is important, as in emergency situations, RTT allows users to communicate in a manner similar to a live two-way voice call. Parties exchange information in real time and can interrupt each other during the conversation. This technology most closely approximates the useful features of TTYs. Real-time text is also discussed in detail in Section V.D (Major Issues – Real-Time Text) above.

E102.6 ISO (Section-by-Section Analysis)

ISO 14289-1 (2012), Document management applications — Electronic document file format enhancement for accessibility — Part 1: Use of ISO 32000-1 (PDF/UA-1), would be incorporated by reference at E205.1 and 602.3.1. This is an international standard for accessible portable document format (PDF) files. PDF/UA-1 provides a technical, interoperable standard for the authoring, remediation, and validation of PDF content to ensure accessibility for people with disabilities who use assistive technology such as screen readers, screen magnifiers, joysticks and other assistive technologies to navigate and read content. This proposed standard is new to both the 508 Standards and the 255 Guidelines. It is offered as an option to WCAG 2.0 for accessible PDFs.

E102.7 ITU-T (Section-by-Section Analysis)

ITU-T Recommendation G.722, General Aspects of Digital Transmission Systems, Terminal Components, 7 kHz Audio-Coding within 64 kbits/s (Sept. 2012), would be incorporated by reference at 410.5. This standard is an ITU-T standard coder-decoder program that provides 7 kHz wideband audio at data rates from 48, 56, and 64 kbits/s. This standard provides a significant improvement in speech quality over earlier standards. It was previously proposed in the 2011 ANPRM and received no objections.

ITU-T Recommendation E.161: Arrangement of digits, letters and symbols on telephones and other devices that can be used for gaining access to a telephone network (Feb. 2001), would be incorporated by reference at section 407.3.2. This standard is an ITU-T standard that defines the assignment of the basic 26 Latin letters (A to Z) to the 12-key telephone keypad. It provides guidance for arranging alphabetic keys in a predictable, consistent manner. This proposed standard is new to the 508 Standards (as well as the 255 Guidelines), though it reflects current industry practice.

E102.8 TIA (Section-by-Section Analysis)

TIA 825-A (2003), A Frequency Shift Keyed Modem for Use on the Public Switched Telephone Network, would be incorporated by reference at 410.6.3.1. This is the standard for TTY signals on the public switched telephone network interface (PSTN). This standard is consistent with current industry practice in the telecommunications industry.

TIA 1083 (2007), Telephone Terminal Equipment Handset Magnetic Measurement Procedures and Performance Requirements, would be incorporated by reference at 410.4.2. This standard defines measurement procedures and performance requirements for the handset generated audio band magnetic noise of wire line telephones, including digital cordless telephones. This standard is consistent with current telecommunications industry practice.

E102.9 W3C (Section-by-Section Analysis)

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, W3C Recommendation, December 11, 2008, would be incorporated by reference in sections E205.1, E207.2, 405.1 Exception, 501.1 Exception 1, 504.2, 504.3, 504.4, and 602.3.1. WCAG 2.0 offers a series of recommendations to make Web content more accessible to all users, including persons with disabilities. We discuss our proposal to incorporate WCAG 2.0 by reference in greater detail above in Section V.B (Major Issues – WCAG 2.0 Incorporation by Reference).

E103 Definitions (Section-by-Section Analysis)

This is an introductory section.

E103.1 Terms Defined in Referenced Standards (Section-by-Section Analysis)

This section proposes that terms defined in referenced standards, which are not otherwise defined in section E103.4, would have the meaning given them in their respective referenced standards.

E103.2 Undefined Terms (Section-by-Section Analysis)

This section proposes that the meaning of terms not defined in section E103.4 or in referenced standards shall be given their ordinarily accepted meanings in the sense that the particular context implies.

E103.3 Interchangeability (Section-by-Section Analysis)

This section proposes that words, terms, and phrases used in the singular shall include the plural and those used in the plural shall include the singular.

E103.4 Defined Terms (Section-by-Section Analysis)

This section includes definitions for terms used in, or integral to, the proposed 508 Standards. Some of the definitions have been carried over in whole or in part from the existing 508 Standards, while others represent terms that are new to these standards. We also propose to delete several definitions from the existing 508 Standards that are either obsolete or no longer needed. A summary of the proposed definitions in E103.4 follows below. Terms that are not discussed remain unchanged from the existing 508 Standards.

For four terms in the existing 508 Standards, the Board proposes to retain the term, but make slight changes to their respective definitions to improve clarity or to account for technological advances. The definition of the term “agency” would be revised to expressly include agencies and departments of the United States as defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502 and the U.S. Postal Service. The term “assistive technology” would include minor editorial changes from the text in the existing 508 Standards. The term “operable controls” would be revised to “operable part,” which would be defined as “a component of ICT used to activate, deactivate, or adjust the ICT.” The proposed definition would not include the requirement for physical contact found in the definition in the existing 508 Standards and would not include examples of controls. The term “TTY” would be updated to reflect modern technologies currently in use, and would specifically mention such examples as devices for real-time text communications, voice and text intermixed communications (e.g. voice carry over and hearing carry over), and computers with TTY-emulating software and a modem.

Two other terms are new to the proposed 508 Standards, but have close analogs in the existing standards. First, the term “closed functionality” would replace “self-contained closed products.” The proposed new definition would provide a more accurate description of the characteristics of the ICT that is addressed in the proposed provision in section 402 “Closed Functionality.” In addition, this term would address both those features of ICT that are closed by design and other features that are closed because of policies that may restrict specific functions of ICT, where the ICT might normally be capable of being made accessible to an individual with a disability. For example, a policy not allowing the attachment of data storage devices to ICT would, in the case of an individual with low vision, essentially block that person from being able to attach a device containing magnification software. The new definition would include examples of ICT with closed functionality, such as self-service machines and fax machines.

Second, the term “information and communication technology” (ICT) would replace “electronic and information technology” (E&IT), and revise the definition significantly. The proposed definition for ICT would be broader than the existing definition of E&IT in that it encompasses both electronic and information technology covered by Section 508, and telecommunications products, interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) products, and Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) covered by Section 255. Using a common term that is applicable to both the 508 Standards and 255 Guidelines supports one of the central goals of this rulemaking—namely, development of a single set of comprehensive requirements for two substantive areas that are inseparable from regulatory and policy perspectives. Additionally, to address confusion regarding application of the existing 508 Standards to electronic documents, the proposed ICT definition expressly clarifies that electronic content—such as Web pages and PDFs—falls within the definition of ICT. Lastly, this newly defined term provides an updated set of illustrative examples that better reflect today’s technologies.

We developed the definition for ICT by using the concepts from the existing definitions of “electronic and information technology,” “information technology,” and “telecommunications equipment,” albeit with significantly revised language. Defining a common term that covers both Section 508-covered E&IT and Section 255-covered telecommunications products and services is consistent with the overall approach in the proposed rule of presenting a unitary set of regulatory requirements under these two statutes. The proposed definition of ICT is also consistent with the terminology used by the Advisory Committee in its TEITAC report. That report noted:

Section 255 covers telecommunications products and services. Section 508 covers electronic and information technologies (E&IT). For convenience and clarity, wherever these two categories are taken together, we are using the common term “information and communication technologies, or ICT. (TEITAC Report, Part 1 & fn. 1.)

The TEITAC Report further noted that the 255 Guidelines developed by the Access Board “cover customer premises equipment and telecommunications equipment, but do not address services.” (See TEITAC Report, Part 1 & fn. 2.)

We proposed in the 2010 and 2011 ANPRMs that the term “information and communication technology (ICT)” be used to refer to electronic and information technology covered by Section 508 as well as to telecommunications products, interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) products, and Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) covered by Section 255. Commenters to the 2010 and 2011 ANPRMs supported this approach. In the proposed rule, the Board retains this approach.

The remaining 18 terms defined in proposed E103.4 have no counterparts in the existing 508 Standards. We propose adding these terms to the 508 Standards to provide definitions for key terms used in the proposed standards, reflect technological advances since promulgation of the existing 508 Standards, and aid stakeholder understanding. These new terms are described below.

The term “508 Standards” is defined in order to provide consistent cross-reference within the standards to all chapters that apply to Section 508-covered federal entities, namely: 508 Chapters 1 and 2 (36 CFR Part 1194, Appendix A), and Chapters 3 through 6 (36 CFR Part 1194, Appendix C). This definition is consistent with proposed § 1194.1, as well as usage of the term throughout this NPRM.

The term “audio description” is used in existing 508 Standards § 1194.24(d) but not defined. We would add a definition derived from WCAG 2.0, which would in part explain that “audio description” is “narration added to the soundtrack to describe important visual details that cannot be understood from the main soundtrack alone.”

The term “authoring tool” would be defined to mean “any software, or collection of software components, that can be used by authors, alone or collaboratively, to create or modify content for use by others, including other authors,” and would be included to explain the proposed provision in section 504, “Authoring Tools.”

The term “content” would be defined as “Electronic information and data, as well as the encoding that defines its structure, presentation, and interactions.” The definition is based on WCAG 2.0, and is proposed to promote harmonization and greater clarity in the proposed Standards and Guidelines.

The term “keyboard” would be defined as “a set of systematically arranged alphanumeric keys or a control that generates alphanumeric input by which a machine or device is operated.” This proposed definition would also clarify that a “keyboard” includes “tactilely discernible keys used in conjunction with the alphanumeric keys if their function maps to keys on the keyboard interfaces.” This proposed new definition would clarify the use of the term “keyboard” in Chapter 4 (Hardware).

The term “Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)” is new and is defined consistent with current FCC regulations.

The remaining twelve proposed new terms would be added to aid stakeholder understanding of particular requirements or criteria in the 508 Standards. Definitions for the terms “label,” “name,” “programmatically determinable,” and “text” are taken from WCAG 2.0. Additionally, the terms “application,” “hardware,” and “software” are based on definitions provided in the FCC’s regulations implementing Section 255 of the Communications Act. See 47 CFR Part 14. Definitions for the terms “menu,” “platform accessibility services,” “platform software,” “real-time text,” and “terminal” were drawn from the work of the Advisory Committee and other sources. “Menu,” “platform accessibility services,” and “real-time text” were proposed in the 2010 and 2011 ANPRMs. We received no public comments in response to these definitions in the two ANPRMs.

Lastly, proposed E103.4 would not include several terms that are defined in the existing 508 Standards. There terms are not included in this proposed rule because either the proposed technical requirement associated with the term sufficiently conveys its meaning (i.e., “alternate formats” and “undue burden”), or because the term is not used in the proposed rule (i.e., “alternate methods,” “product,” and “self-contained, closed products”).