Proposal for Processes and Procedures for the Council

Review of Government Agency Interviews Follow-up to presentation from October 2002 Webcast Terry Weaver, GSA Joy Gatewood-Fulton, Staff The Accessibility Forum: Interviews • Interviews with Federal Agencies regarding the Procurement Challenges of Section 508: acquiring accessible Electronic and Information Technology Section 508 - Interviews with Government Procurement • Ten Agencies Interviewed: from Depts. of Commerce, Defense, HHS, Interior, and Treasury • Purpose: to Gather Best Practices in Procuring Accessible E&IT and to Determine if Agencies Need Further Guidance in Implementing Section 508 • Interviews were Confidential, with data presented in an aggregate form only • Range: Section 508 applicability to a purchase, VPAT’s, What 508 information do they require from vendors, comments, etc Implementing Section 508 - Question One • How do you determine whether or not Section 508 applies to a particular procurement? – 50% Section 508 applies to all E&IT procurements – 50% We have tools and policies to advise of appropriate determinations and when it is not applicable Implementing Section 508 - Question Two • How do you document the results of your determination (whether or not Section 508 was applicable)? • 20% - No formal documentation process • 40% - An in-house tool leads users to the appropriate form or checklist that is used to document the determination and decision, including any exemption • 50% - Other • Other includes: Reports, Templates, Procurement Requests, VPAT’s or other vendor supplied information Implementing Section 508 - Question Three • How do you determine which parts of the 508 standard apply to a purchase? • 40% - The requiring official determines which applies • 60% - Other – Guidance from the organization's Section 508 committee – Often it's a matter of interpretation and is ultimately the Contracting Officer's call – The standard is applied equally across the board – The in-house tool guides the user. – We rely on the vendor to provide us that information Implementing Section 508 - Question Four • What process or procedure do you follow to determine whether or not vendor products, deliverables, and services meet the requirements of Section 508? • 40% - Vendors are required to self certify that products meet Section 508 • 20% - Market research which may include VPAT's • 40% - A combination of both Implementing Section 508 - Question Five • What Information do you require of Offerors/Vendors? • 30% - Self-Certification Language • 30% - VPAT/template • 20% - Vendor must complete our template • 20% - Vendor offered material about how their products/services meet Section 508 standards somewhere on their website, in brochures or handouts, in a standard template or VPAT format Implementing Section 508 - Question Six • How often do you use the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) in your assessment of a vendor’s products, deliverables, and services? • 40% - Never • 20% - Always • 30% - Sometimes, when available • 10% - Don’t know Implementing Section 508 - Question Six • Is the VPAT the primary source of information? • 40% - N/A - do not use • 40% - Yes • 10% - No • 10% - Don’t know Implementing Section 508 - Question Seven • What other sources of information do you use? • 40% - Market research • 30% - Vendor provided information • 20% - Self-certification by the vendor • 10% - We also may test the product Implementing Section 508 - Question Eight • If the VPAT is used, we would like to follow up with some questions on how well it is working for you. • What do you like about it? • 60% - Don’t know or don’t use • 20% - Everything - easy to read and all the information is on one page • 10% - We often ask for more detailed information • 10% - Nothing Implementing Section 508 - Question Nine • What do you dislike about it (VPAT)? • 60% - Don’t know or don’t use • 10% - Nothing • 30% - Other • Other comments included: Too complex, ambiguous, language is too technical for most requiring officials, people get confused and don't know what parts apply, vendors often complete the VPAT’s incorrectly Implementing Section 508 - Question Ten • The next few questions deal with your opinion of the quality of information provided by the VPAT. • Have you had to go back to the vendor with questions about the information provided? • 60% - N/A • 20% - No • 20% - Yes Implementing Section 508 - Question Eleven • How many times? (Did you have to go back to the vendor regarding the VPAT) • 10% - Once per vendor • 22% - Many times • 80% - N/A Implementing Section 508 - Question Twelve • The next few questions deal with your opinion of the quality of information provided by the VPAT. • How difficult was the VPAT to use? (On a scale 1 to 5 where 1 is not difficult at all and 5 is extremely difficult) • 30% - Not Difficult • 10% - Difficult • 60% - N/A Implementing Section 508 - Question Thirteen • The next few questions deal with your opinion of the quality of information provided by the VPAT. Did the VPAT save you time? • 30% - Yes • 10% - No • 60% - N/A Implementing Section 508 - Question Fourteen • How much confidence do you have in the accuracy of the information provided by the VPAT? (On a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is little or no confidence and 5 is full confidence). • 60% - N/A • 20% - Full Confidence • 10% - Fairly Confident • 10% - Little Confidence Implementing Section 508 - Question Fifteen • Do you perform any technical evaluations of the products, deliverables, and services themselves to determine 508 compliance? • 50% - No • 50% - Yes Implementing Section 508 - Question Sixteen • After a product is delivered, are its 508 compliance claims verified? • 70% - No • 20% - Yes • 10% - Don’t Know Implementing Section 508 - Question Seventeen • Does your agency conduct 508 training? • • 100% - Yes Implementing Section 508 - Question Eighteen • To who is the training provided (who is the principal audience)? • 30% - All employees. • 10% - Contract Force • 10% - Program Officers • 10% - ROs, COs, COTRs, Legal Staff • 10% - ROs, COs, COTRs • 30% - ROs, Acquisition Personnel, and Web developers Implementing Section 508 - Question Nineteen • Do you think there is any area where additional training is required? • 40% - No • 60% - Yes • Yes, eventually we would like to spread out to the program offices • Many RO’s need training tailored to the products they are responsible to buy for the agency • Small and disadvantaged businesses as well as value added and reseller vendors don’t understand 508 • Yes, on a federal level for agencies, how to make sure Section 508 is implemented correctly in the purchasing process Implementing Section 508 - Question Twenty • What could raise your level of confidence in what you’re buying meets 508 requirements? Another way to ask this question might be “What information or other resources are lacking or would be helpful to you in determining whether or not an offeror can meet the requirements of Section 508?” • 40% - Some sort of logo, icon or other labeling program to confirm that the product is compliant would help. Like the UL laboratories icon on electrical products. If the products were certified as Section 508 compliant by an impartial 3rd party testing lab Implementing Section 508 - Question Twenty-one • Do you have any examples of particularly good vendor responses regarding 508 requirements? (Could you provide us with a copy of anything that have been or can be sanitized and would represent good examples)? • 30% - No • 20% - Dell • 20% - Adobe • 10% - We have an database of customized VPATS • 10% - Oracle • 11% - Ricoh, Canon and Sharp Implementing Section 508 - Question Twenty-two • Have you made any purchases where the award decision has hinged on 508 requirements? If yes, what kinds of products and services were purchased? • 60% - No • 30% - Don’t Know • 10% - Yes Implementing Section 508 - Question Twenty-three • What is your biggest challenge in doing a 508 compliant purchase? (What would make your job easier in dealing with Section 508)? • 20% - Lack of dedicated resources (money and staff) to do justice to the 508 requirements • 20% - Simply having a bigger pool of 508 compliant products • 20% - Simply having a bigger pool of 508 compliant products • 20% - Hard to say - IT specs are difficult to apply and administer evenly from person to person and agency to agency Agencies Best Practices Pages • DOE: http://www.eren.doe.gov/websitesta ndards/508.html#B • NOAA: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/sec508/ • ARNET/FAR http://www.arnet.gov/far/far_faqfram e.html • GSA - the definitive guide and “buy accessible” portal http://www.section508.gov/ • Usability.gov The recent recipient of a Hammer award http://www.usability.gov/ The Accessibility Forum: Interviews • Interviews with Federal Agencies regarding the Procurement Challenges of Section 508: acquiring accessible Electronic and Information Technology • Interviews conducted over August September 2002 • Interviews conducted by Altarum staff and GSA Staff