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A List of Public and Private Initiatives to Create Digital
Opportunity For People With Disabilities
A LIST OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INITIATIVES TO
CREATE
DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Announced by President Clinton Flint, Michigan September 21,
2000
Leading high-tech CEOs pledge to develop a corporate-wide policy
on accessibility: In a letter to President Clinton, the CEOs of leading
high-tech companies, including 3Com, Adobe, AOL, AT&T, Bell South, Compaq,
eBay, Global Crossing, Handspring, Hewlett-Packard, Macromedia, Microsoft, NCR,
PeoplePC, Qualcomm, Red Hat, and Sun Microsystems, have committed to develop a
corporate-wide policy on accessibility within six months. Currently, very few
high-tech companies have such a policy. These policies will include "best
practices" such as:
Training their workers to develop accessible products and
services;
Giving their developers adequate resources to design accessible
products and services;
Identifying and fixing accessibility problems in new versions of
their hardware and software; and
Supporting research and development to improve the state-of-the-art
of assistive technology.
Presidents of 25 of the nation's top research universities
agree to expand research and education on accessibility: In a letter to
President Clinton, the presidents of 25 of the nation's top research
universities including University of California, University of Michigan, and
MIT, have agreed to take a number of important steps to expand research and
education on accessibility, including: ensuring that computer scientists and
engineers receive training on accessibility; expanding the number of faculty
who conduct research on accessibility; and ensuring that university online
resources are accessible to people with disabilities. For example, the College
of Engineering of the University of Wisconsin will create a new educational
program on design and human disability that will involve the creation of
additional tenure track faculty positions.
SmartForce, an e-learning company, will provide $20 million
worth of free access to its online training material to at least 5,000 people
with disabilities: SmartForce will donate $20 million worth of
"e-scholarships" to people with disabilities, working in partnership with the
Association of Rehabilitation Programs in Computer Technology at Western
Michigan University. At least 5,000 people per year for the next three years
will be able to get free access to on-line training in areas such as
information technology and financial management. An online support center will
provide e-testing and mentoring during the learning process.
President Clinton will
direct his Cabinet to create a task force on Medicare/Medicaid coverage of
assistive technology: President Clinton will direct the Secretary of
Health and Human Services and other members of his Cabinet to form an
interagency Task Force on Health Care Coverage of Assistive Technologies.
Currently, the Medicare and Medicaid programs provide essential health coverage
to nearly 12 million people with disabilities. The task force will be charged
with examining existing Medicare and Medicaid coverage of assistive
technologies, and making recommendations on how to best enhance such coverage
in order to support independent living and employment for people with
disabilities. This review is particularly important and timely because the
historic Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act signed by President
Clinton allows people with disabilities to maintain their Medicare and Medicaid
coverage even after they return to work.
President Clinton will call on Congress to reauthorize
AmeriCorps and will announce that AmeriCorps will today award $9 million in
grants to support 1,200 AmeriCorps volunteers to help close the digital divide,
including people with disabilities: AmeriCorps grants will support
efforts by 1,200 AmeriCorps volunteers to help close the digital divide.
AmeriCorps volunteers will be helping teachers learn how to use technology,
staffing Community Technology Centers, and giving at-risk youth the skills they
need to become technologically literate. Several of the projects focus on the
needs of people with disabilities, such as a project in North Carolina that
will give 300 blind and visually impaired students of all ages computer and
Internet skills. This example of the work that AmeriCorps can do to close the
digital divide will be cited by the President as a reason to reauthorize
AmeriCorps and include an "E-Corps" component in the reauthorization. E-Corps
will encourage the training of AmeriCorps volunteers in computers and
technology in communities to help bridge the digital divide.
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research will
invest $2.5 million to expand partnership with industry to make World Wide Web
accessible for people with disabilities: The Department of Education's
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) will
provide $2.5 million in funding over the next 5 years to the World Wide Web
Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative at MIT. This initiative will develop
guidelines to ensure that Web content and Web software is accessible for people
with disabilities, and will educate developers about the importance of
implementing these guidelines. This work is critical because the Web now
provides access to over 2 billion pages of information, and is becoming
increasingly important in the workplace, for electronic commerce, and for
government services.
Department of Education will fund new partnership to make
online learning accessible to people with disabilities: The Department
of Education will provide a $1.8 million grant under the Administration's
Learning Anytime Anywhere Partnership to a new initiative that will help make
online learning accessible for people with disabilities. The project will be
led by the WGBH National Center for Accessible Media and the IMS Global
Learning Consortium. Industry partners include Blackboard, Inc., Educational
Testing Service, Pearson Education, Sun Microsystems, PeopleSoft, and Saba
Software. The project will impact the accessibility of online resources in all
learning environments, including K-12 education, post-secondary education, and
workplace training.
Department of Education will provide a $7.5 million grant to
the Georgia Institute of Technology to increase the accessibility of electronic
and information technology: The Department of Education will
provide a 5-year, $7.5 million grant to the Georgia Institute of Technology's
Center for Rehabilitation Technology. This grant will provide training and
technical assistance on universal design to technology manufacturers, product
designers, and purchasers of information technology. It will also help improve
the implementation of federal laws such as Section 255 of the
Telecommunications Act and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
The C.S. Mott Foundation will fund a "Task Force on Equal
Access to Technology and Opportunity. With funding from the Mott
Foundation, the Disability Network of Flint, Michigan, will create a one-year
blue-ribbon commission that will bring together diverse sectors of society to
address long-term challenges in the accessibility of information technologies.
First, the Task Force will address the problem of affordability. Many people
with disabilities are unable to afford basic computer technology and Internet
access, let alone high-end and costly specialized assistive devices. The Task
Force will explore financing mechanisms and strategies for building on the
foundation of the Tech Act Projects. Second, the Task Force will focus on
education and outreach to colleges and universities to help with improve the
integration of accessibility and usability into academic curricula and
university services. The Task Force will consist of 15-20 members representing
industry, colleges and universities, technology experts, disability advocates,
and government. It will meet four times over the coming year, issue a report,
and develop model action plans for dissemination to different sectors of
society.
Microsoft, Community Options, and other public and private
partners will create a business incubator - with special emphasis on
entrepreneurs with disabilities: Microsoft, Community Options, the New
Jersey Community Loan Fund, the New Jersey Technology Council, the New Jersey
Association of Women Business Owners and other partners will create a business
incubator targeted to low-income individuals, with priority given to people
with disabilities. The New Jersey-based incubator will provide low-cost office
space, customized technology support, and business planning expertise.
Sun Microsystems will partner with GNOME Foundation to make open
source desktop software accessible for people with disabilities: Sun
Microsystems will create a new accessibility lab that will make GNOME software
accessible for people with disabilities. Sun is also committed to establishing
a fund that will be able to accept contributions from companies and individuals
to make open source software accessible for people with disabilities. GNOME is
a free, open-source desktop environment that makes it easier for people to use
Linux and other similar operating systems. Open source software may be freely
distributed and modified by end-users.
President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities
will announce expansion of High School/High Tech program to 4 new cities and 3
new states: The High School/High Tech provides opportunity for students
with disabilities to explore exciting careers in science and technology. The
program uses site visits, mentoring, shadowing, and paid summer internships to
allow students to prepare for careers in scientific, engineering and
technology-related fields. The President's Committee on Employment of People
with Disabilities has identified local partners that will expand High
School/High Tech in 4 urban areas (Atlanta, Los Angeles, Orlando, Chicago) and
3 states (Col., Wisc., and Michigan).
CompTIA will partner with Compaq and National Cristina
Foundation to provide scholarships and training for certification in IT jobs,
with some resources targeted to people with disabilities: CompTIA, the
Computing Technology Industry Association, will dedicate $1 million to create
scholarships for the general population, including people with disabilities, to
provide training for IT service and support positions. Compaq will match this
commitment with $100,000 for scholarships targeted specifically to people with
disabilities. In conjunction with these commitments, CompTIA is partnering with
the National Cristina Foundation to develop a National Computer Re-Utilization
Network to provide training organizations that serve teens, veterans, people
with disabilities, and other under-served communities with re-furbished
technology.
Department of Education will award a $2 million grant to
strengthen Community Technology Centers, make them more accessible for people
with disabilities: The Department of Education will award a $2 million
grant to the "America Connects Consortium" to help create, improve and sustain
Community Technology Centers through technical assistance. These centers
provide access to technology and the skills needed to use it, typically to
low-income families that do not have computers and Internet access. One of the
consortium partners, the Alliance for Technology Access, will help the centers
ensure that they are accessible to people with disabilities and are meeting
their needs. The Department of Education is already supporting or expanding 595
CTCs; President Clinton has proposed a $100 million budget initiative in FY2001
to create an additional 1,000 centers.
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research
will award $6.6 million in grants to create or expand state loan programs for
assistive technology, bridge the digital divide for children:
The Department of Education's NIDRR will award $3.8 million to six states to
expand loan programs in 6 states: Virginia, Kansas, Missouri, Maryland,
Pennsylvania and Utah. This program will increase the ability of people with
disabilities to purchase assistive technology devices and services. NIDRR will
also award a 4-year, $2.8 million grant to create the University of Kentucky
Assistive Technology Research Institute to conduct research on assistive
technology that has potential to help bridge the digital divide for children
with disabilities.
NCR will provide free training on benefits of accessibility from a
business perspective:
NCR is partnering with IDEAL at NCR and EASI (Equal Access to Software
and Information) to create a workshop, "The Global Business Benefits of
Designing Accessible and Usable Electronic and Information Technology." This
workshop will be offered on-line to 400 participants free of charge.
Department of Commerce will help small community-based
organizations provide Web-based services to people with disabilities:
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s
Technology Opportunities Program will provide a grant to the Pangea Foundation,
based in San Diego, California. The foundation will create Web-based templates
that will make it easy for organizations to enter information in a format that
is accessible to people with disabilities. People with disabilities will be
able to find information on local services through a central clearinghouse on
the Web in a format that they can use. The Administration has proposed tripling
the budget for the Technology Opportunities Program from $15 million to $45
million so that the government can support creative uses of information
technology for underserved communities.
Center for Applied Special Technology will develop improved
version of Web accessibility tool with private sector support: CAST
will upgrade its freely available tool for improving the accessibility of Web
sites. The new version will have an improved ability to analyze the
accessibility of web sites, and the ability to interactively repair problems
that are found. Current sponsors include IBM, Microsoft, Mitsubishi Electric
Foundation, Sun Microsystems, and HalfthePlanet.com.
The Colorado Computer Training Institute will sponsor the first
annual Rocky Mountain Accessibility Internet Rally: CCTI will
provide training to Web site developers to make them accessible to individuals
with hearing, visual, learning or physical impairments. On December 2, web
developers from participating companies will unveil those parts of their web
sites that have been redesigned. On the same day, web designers will compete to
develop accessible web sites for local non-profit groups. This replicated a
successful Accessible Internet Rally organized by the Austin-based nonprofit,
Knowbility.