Tapping Technology - Workforce Investment Partnership Act Passes

	September 1998

Workforce Investment Partnership Act Passes

From: Jennifer Mechem (Jennifer_Mechem@ed.gov)
Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 1998 4:52 PM
Subject: 508 PASSES!!!

Colleagues -

Exciting news - HR 1385, the Workforce Investment Partnership Act, which includes the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998, passed out of committee last week and is on its way to the President for signature! The revised Section 508 of the Rehab Act will require Federal agencies to procure and use accessible electronic and information technology, unless it poses an undue burden to do so. It directs the Access Board to develop and publish electronic and information technology standards in 18 months (12-31-99 if I'm counting right!). It also requires agencies to evaluate their technology access in 6 months (meaning by 12-31-98), and the Attorney General must submit a report to the President in 18 months on Federal info tech access, and biennially thereafter. There is also an individual right of action in filing complaints, using the same procedure as to file 504 complaints.

This is a big victory for people with disabilities in the area of technology access! Now that standards are imminent with a known date, people inside and outside the Federal government can work to make agencies comply, and you outside agitators - I mean advocates! - can hold our feet to the fire. This also gives all the industry folks a target date for that "someday soon" that they're going to make their next release accessible. I've attached the text of the bill as a wordperfect 6.1 file (508passd.wpd) and as an ASCII text file (508passd.txt). If you can't read either one, you can go to the Thomas Congressional Record web site at: http://rs9.loc.gov/home/thomas.html and check it out yourself. Feel free to pass this along to all and sundry with an interest in technology access!

The conference was held on July 16, the conference report was released on July 29, the Senate agreed on July 30, and the House agreed on July 31. Agencies are now working on the signing statement, and we expect the President to sign the bill this Thursday or Friday. Lastly, a big thank you to those who gave input, prodded us, beseeched us or other entities to get standards in place or move the legislation, or just took an active interest in relaying this info to your communities. Now the real work begins!

Jennifer C. Mechem
Disability Policy/Section 504 Coordinator
U.S. Department of Education
600 Independence Avenue S.W., Room 2468
Washington, DC 20202
(202) 401-3586 phone
(202) 401-3582 TTY
(202) 205-5760 fax

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