GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY/ Making government services accessible
`Technology should make life easier for everyone, not just a few.’
Twenty percent of Americans have some kind of disability that can get in the way of daily activities like reading the newspaper and driving to the post office. Likewise, many of them have difficulty getting government information and accessing basic government services.
Congress recently enacted legislation that addresses accessibility issues on the state and federal level. With similar legislation inevitably bound for local government, municipal and county agencies must plan ways to provide equal access to their services and information before they are forced to play catch-up.
The Internet provides an ideal medium for doing that. As agencies at all levels of government search for e-government solutions, they must remember the needs and rights of disabled residents.
The most obvious reason to make government Web sites accessible to the disabled is to comply with the law. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (1998) requires federal and state government agencies to provide access to and use of electronic information and services to disabled citizens. The law requires that accessibility standards, published Dec. 21, 2000, be adopted within six months, after which an administrative complaint process and additional measures for enforcement will take effect.
Online information is generally made accessible to disabled residents through a variety of technologies. For example, for computer users with impaired vision, screen magnifiers enhance the size of text and graphics. For an audio alternative, screen readers and text-to-speech Internet browsers read the text of Web sites aloud.
When considering those tools, however, agencies must bear in mind the importance of Web design, which allows those technologies to properly interpret Web pages. Agencies also must acknowledge the technologies’ limitations in hand-ling the newest Web design tools (e.g., JavaScript, Flash).
Good coding is the best way to make Web sites widely accessible to all residents: Web page graphics should have alternative text descriptions that can be interpreted by screen readers, and tables used to organize information on Web pages should have a simple structure and a logical tab order that is consistent throughout the site. In addition, because many technologies cannot interpret design tools such as applets and scripts, all Web pages should be readable when those items are turned off in Internet browsers.
For the hearing impaired, video clips should be accompanied by closed captioning, and audio files should be paired with a written transcript. In lieu of Internet access, an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system allows residents to use the telephone, rather than a computer, to access information and services.
Many local government agencies are getting ahead of the game by making their online information and services available in universally accessible formats. Davidson County, N.C., set a state precedent by not only allowing residents to pay vehicle and property taxes online, but by doing so with screen readers and other technologies.
“It’s our job to service all our residents,” says Davidson County Tax Assessor Joe Silver. “Technology is the future, and it should make life easier for everyone, not just a few of us. We’re glad we can give all our residents convenient access to information and services.”
As local governments recognize the need to provide equal access to their services, they will find a variety of challenges – and solutions, which harness the power of the Internet. The Web offers an opportunity to give disabled residents the access to government they deserve, while further fulfilling a vision of e-government for all residents.
