On January 25-26, 2017, the CIO Council Accessibility Community of Practice (ACOP) hosted a workshop on the Technology Accessibility Playbook, which helps federal agencies create mature Section 508 programs. Thirty participants from 16 federal agencies attended the workshop, including Section 508 Program Managers, Developers and Procurement Specialists.
Workshop participants learned how to use the IT Accessibility Playbook to improve their agency’s 508 program. Topics covered all twelve major plays in the IT Accessibility Playbook:
- Play 1: Establish a Section 508 Program ManagerPlay 1: Establish a Section 508 Program Manager to Lead Compliance Efforts
- Play 2: Assess your Section 508 program maturity
- Play 3: Develop a Section 508 Accessibility Roadmap
- Play 4: Establish a Section 508 Policy
- Play 5: Develop a Section 508 Program Team
- Play 6: Collaborate with the federal accessibility community
- Play 7: Integrate Accessibility Needs into Requirements and Design Processes
- Play 8: Integrate Accessibility Needs into Market Research and Acquisition Processes
- Play 9: Integrate accessibility needs into development processes
- Play 10: Conduct Section 508 testing
- Play 11: Track and resolve accessibility issues
- Play 12: Educate the workforce
To wrap up the session, participants applied what they learned and wrote an individual Action Plan for their Section 508 Program.
Quotes from participants
“The workshop exceeded my expectations. Robert and Norm have an excellent knowledge of 508 implementation and they were able to share that information with the audience. Through this type of event our 508 program gains years worth of progress.”
“Hearing from practices at other agencies was invaluable. Also closing out by creating an action plan with our agency colleagues was a perfect way to keep momentum going. Invaluable strategic information.”
“I think one of the major advantages of this workshop is all of us working together. There's so much enjoyment in helping someone else solve problems that one of us has already gone through. It is a real community of practice”
The ACOP will continue to offer workshops and resources to guide agencies to 508 program maturity. If you are interested in attending a future workshop, please email us at Section.508@gsa.gov.
To learn more:
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Download a copy of the Technology Accessibility Playbook (MS Word, June 2016)
