20 Jan IDEAS Accessibility Conference – Recap
On behalf of Word Wizards, Inc. I would like to thank our friends at USDA for hosting this year’s Interagency Disability Educational Awareness Showcase. It was our first year attending as an exhibitor and we took full advantage of this opportunity to demonstrate our accessibility services. The focus of our exhibit took the form of a simple question that yielded not so simple answers, “Is there a difference between compliance and accessibility?”
The following individuals gave presentations this year at the conference:
Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy
Dinah Cohen, Director, Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP), U.S. Department of Defense
David M. Capozzi, Executive Director, U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board).
Tim Creagan, Senior Accessibility Specialist, U.S. Access Board.
Alison S. Levy, Departmental Disability Employment Program Manager, U.S. Department of Agriculture
We were delighted to share the floor with our fellow accessibility vendors and do some valuable networking with our peers, friendly competitors, and section 508 coordinators. IDEAS is the perfect opportunity to see whats on the forefront of accessibility services and technology. Section 508 compliance regulations may soon be getting a facelift, as agencies attempt to standardize compliance policy across the Federal space.
Section 508 compliance is more than just another service for our organization, it is a critical aspect of our mission to provide more access for disabled individuals on the internet. We look forward to analyzing the results of our compliance vs accessibility survey and publishing them for all to review. Remember, the business of section 508 compliance and all disabilities services is about people, real people with real problems need real solutions, bottom line.