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Policy & Management
Play 5: Develop a Section 508 Program Team
The government needs talented people who have expertise creating and delivering accessible digital services and technology. This includes bringing in seasoned project managers, acquisition professionals, testing and validation experts, compliance analysts, Section 508 Program teams, as well as training and communication professionals. When outside help is needed, teams should work with requiring offices to ensure agency teams are paired with contractors who are good at both assessing and supporting Section 508 compliance activities. The makeup and experience requirements of a Section 508 Program team will vary depending on the size of the agency, the agency’s mission, the maturity of the program, and the agency’s use of digital services and technology solutions.
Key Questions
Beyond the Section 508 Program Manager, do you have a Section 508 Program team focused on providing technical assistance, conformance testing, issue management, and governance support?
Is your Section 508 Program team able to provide technical assistance for the different types of digital services and technology solutions developed, purchased, maintained, and used by your agency?
Does your Section 508 Program team have the bandwidth to lead initiatives to advance program maturity, or does under-resourcing force it to operate in a reactive mode?
Do agency technology teams engage your Section 508 Program team to provide accessibility expertise?
How do you communicate across the agency that this accessibility/508 resource exists and what services it provides?
Checklist
Table 1: Play 5 Checklist
Item
Actions
Assess the organization’s readiness to adopt planned changes and develop an approach to build adoption for the plan.
Team members should have experience with:
Assessing and defining development and procurement activities to support Section 508 conformance
Communications planning and delivery
Configuring and using ICT accessibility testing tools
Developing and delivering training
Establishing policies and procedures
Evaluating technical architectures for accessibility impacts
Measuring, monitoring, and reporting on performance goals
Performing Section 508 governance activities
Risk assessment, planning, and management
Supporting technology acquisition activities (preferably Requiring Official experience)
Technology research
Similar to the skills required of a Section 508 Program Manager, team members should have in-depth knowledge of:
The Section 508 law and technical standards and how to apply them.
Interdependencies between Sections 508, 504 and 501 of the Rehabilitation Act.
The Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), with specific emphasis on accessibility requirements contained in the FAR.
Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
This section outlines Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track and measure accessibility testing, remediation, and overall Section 508 conformance across web, intranet, and enterprise ICT solutions.
Generic KPI: By QX FY2X, XX% of the monitoring team have received training on the testing tool(s).
Generic KPI: In FY2X, apply the agency accessibility risk management framework to XX% of technology developments within the organization.
Generic KPI: By QX FY2X, XX% of the YY key workforce role(s) [related to accessibility] [or Web Content Manager, etc.] have completed the required, relevant Section 508 training.
