Re: IRS Forms Online

[Kelly Ford <kford@teleport.com>]

Janina,

I want to make sure that you and others reading this list don't think I
believe the ADA was supposed to bring me the moon or that I'm off in loony
land with my thoughts.  I never expected that the ADA would turn every form
into something I could use online.  However after 10 years I'd expect a
little more improvement in terms of information accessibility than I've
seen, actually a lot more.

Today when encountering print material from an ADA-covered organization or
company, the basic response I still get when asking for an accessible
format or other ability to access the material is that I should get a
friend to read the material.  That's definitely not how the law is supposed
to work.

I am currently job hunting and even today many businesses, governments,
colleges and universities haven't clue one about making the employment
process accessible.  Oh sure they all stick the standard boiler plate
language on that some lawyer told them they needed to, but when you ask
about accessibility of an employment application, job notice or whatever
else they have in print, they have no response other than to tell you to
get a friend to read the material.  Many of those who do have electronic
formats available only have PDF files available and I'll not go down the
road of talking about what a sham that is in terms of accessibility.

How many people who are blind get things like benefit information, HMO
material and the rest available to them in any accessible fashion.  My
experience has been that even today most people don't get this material in
a way they can access and rarely get it read to them.

I'm not saying change doesn't happen.  I know it does.  Here in Portland
I've convinced the city and county that accessibility does matter and now
get everything from my property tax bill to water bill and anything else
the city or county sends me either via email, in braille or some other
method that I can independently access.  My present employer held the job I
currently have open for an extra month because I asked for accessible
copies of the various materials required to apply for the position and it
took them that long to figure it out.

On the positive side, if anyone moves to Portland, Oregon, I think you'll
have a good chance of getting people in government to listen and act when
you ask for accessible materials.  If someone who's blind attends the
community college where I work I know that he or she will get everything
from grades and transcripts to full course schedules and catalogs in
accessible formats.

My point is that today I don't believe that most ADA-covered organizations
have a comprehensive policy on information accessibility.  Yet, as the IRS
forms illustrate, they are building the infrastructure of the information
age now and once again the infrastructure is being constructed in a way
that far too often excludes accessibility.  This is what I'd like to see
changed.  Section 508 regs may help in this and I'll do my best to see that
they do but who knows.

Kelly




At 09:16 PM 2/14/00 -0500, you wrote:
>Kelly, I'm not sure what it is you think the ADA was supposed to
>do. Perhaps you think it was supposed to makes employment forms accessible
>in the sense that those of us online think of forms access. But, that's
>not how reasonable accomodations is generally understood offline. 
>
>The ADA says that employers need to make accomodations if reasonably
>achievable. That is not the same as designing accessible HTML
>forms.--though it could be. They can offer to help fill them out, for
>example. That would be reasonable, under common ADA interpretation.
>
>And, we should also note that the world will not magically become
>accessible on August 7 or any other particular calendar date. To think
>that would be as fantastical as to think that buying some particular
>program from Vendor A is going to fix those disabled people up. Frankly,
>it only works that way in Hollywood movies.
>
>The reality, however, is not bad news, it is good news. A major new set of
>requirments will be in place that Federal managers will have to take into
>account. Why? Because they're required to, and because their raises and
>their very jobs will depend on them paying attention. It's up to you and
>me to work the process to see that they pay good attention. Are you ready?
>
>
>                               Janina Sajka, Director
>                               Information Systems Research & Development
>                               American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
>
>janina@afb.net
>
>
>On Mon, 14 Feb 2000, Kelly Ford wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>> 
>> To make it clear, I didn't believe that the IRS was currently under any
>> 508 stipulation as of today.  But I really doubt that come August 7 things
>> are going to change all that much.  Sure people can file complaints and
>> who knows how long they'll take to resolve and companies like Adobe will
>> continue the sham accessibility promises they've been making for years.
>> 
>> I mean can we really expect that the IRS for example is going to change
>> things just because another page (August 7) has been reached on the
>> calendar.
>> 
>> The ADA has been around for 10 years ndtell me how much of a difference it
>> has made in information accessibility.  Most companies still have
>> inaccessible employment applications, insurance forms and who knows what
>> else.
>> 
>> Call me a complainer if you like but more and more this accessibility we
>> are all promised seems like a pipe dream.
>> 
>> I hope I'm wrong but...
>> 
>> Kelly
>> 
>
>