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

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).