Universal Access to the National Information Infrastructure (NII)

BACKGROUND:

Many agencies are realizing the tremendous benefits of distributing information in electronic format (e.g. CD-ROM, bulletin board, Internet, public information kiosks, etc.). This "electronic" distribution provides substantial cost savings and improved service. The National Information Infrastructure: Agenda for Action states:

The free flow of information between the government and the public is essential to a democratic society. Improvements in the National Information Infrastructure provide a tremendous opportunity to improve the delivery of government information to the taxpayers who paid for its collection; to provide it equitably, at a fair price, as equitably as possible.

To achieve this goal of free flow of information, the NII defines, as a priority, "universal access".

"The NII must be used to bring Americans together, as opposed to allowing further polarization between the information haves and have nots."

Currently, many individuals are excluded from access to information because of an inability to handle printed material. For example, individuals who are blind cannot read printed material or individuals who have motor disabilities may not be able to turn pages in books. Electronic dissemination of information has the potential to overcome many access barriers. Information in electronic format can be accessed by individuals with disabilities through the use of specially adapted computers. People who are blind use special screen access software and Braille or speech devices to read. With this approach, the text, is converted into Braille or speech.

To be accessible, however, information must be stored correctly. Documents stored in complex proprietary formats or documents requiring expensive, hardware or software present insurmountable barriers to access. For example, files stored as graphic images can not be accessed using standard Braille and speech devices. Some software requires high power systems with lots of memory. Many users, including federal employees, are still using old, slow, DOS systems. These software programs, fail to meet the access requirements established by the Federal Information Resources Management Regulation (FIRMR) and the OMB Circular A-130. With these systems, thousands of employees in the federal government, and thousands more in the general public who want government produced documents will not have access.

GOAL:

Provide electronic information in a format which can be accessed using standard hardware including Braille and speech devices. This will meet the established performance requirements for Federal electronic information that is accessible and useful to all users.

STRATEGY:

There are two ways to enhance the accessibility of electronic information: device-independent data storage and multiple formatting. Ideally, information should be stored and distributed in a standard form that is independent of the presentation device. This would allow the same information to be presented on a video monitor, a Braille display, a speech synthesizer, a public information kiosk, a Braille printer or other output devices. Users could access the information from a Macintosh, a DOS PC, a Windows PC, Motif workstation, a UNIX workstation, an NT workstation or other platforms. The same files could be stored on CD ROM, Internet servers, local workstations, network servers, or storage devices. Text information is appropriate for this "device independent" storage. Some types of information can not be stored in a device independent way, e.g. "audio clips", or graphics. In these cases, information must be stored in multiple formats, giving the user a "choice" of display. For example, all graphics should be "captioned" or have alternate "text" descriptions. This would allow users who are blind access to the "graphic" information. Similarly, audio clips should be "captioned" for access by users who are deaf.

MAJOR NEAR TERM ACTIONS:

• Promote collaborative efforts between agencies to develop procedures for producing and disseminating accessible electronic documents.
• Evaluate accessibility of current electronic information and make appropriate enhancements.
• Adopt existing standards which ensure accessibility (ASCII, ICADD, etc.)
• Place demands on industry to provide commercial off the shelf products which meet government access requirements.