Glossary
List of terms
Accessible designAssistive technology
Functional capabilities
Mainstream products and services
Modality
Prerequisites
Procurement codes
Requirements or "Procurement clauses"
Standards
- 255 - US Section 255
- 508 - US Section 508
- EITAAC - US Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Advisory Committee
- CLF - Common Look and Feel
- CAN/CSA - Canadian Standards Association
- US OSHA - United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration
- USOC - United States Office of Compliance
- W3C - World Wide Web Consortium
Definitions
- Accessible design
- A philosophy of product and service design that acknowledges
that a wide range of human capabilities (see Functional
capabilities) is the norm, rather than the exception.
- Assistive technology
- "Any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether
acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized,
that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional
capabilities of individuals with disabilities. AT service is
directly assisting an individual with a disability in the
selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology
device."
Source: The US technology-related assistance for individuals with disabilities act of 1988, Section 3.1. Public Law 100-407, August 9, 1988 (renewed in 1998 in the Clinton Assistive Technology Act)
- Functional capabilities
- Functional capabilities in the workplace may include, but are
not necessarily limited to seeing, hearing, speaking, smelling,
feeling, moving, grasping, manipulating, communicating, reading
and understanding. A person with a functional limitation related
to any of these capabilities may require some form of
accommodation (e.g. workplace modifications, adjustment of task
requirements, and/or assistive devices) to overcome barriers of
inaccessible design. This highlights the fact that a functional
limitation is not a disability if a suitable accommodation
exists: it is the product or service that can be the barrier to
use, not an individual's functional capabilities.
- Mainstream products and services
- For the purposes of this toolkit, mainstream products and
services include, but are not limited to:
- any products acquired for the general workplace (e.g. office equipment, communications devices, computer workstations, furniture, etc.);
- any facilities built, purchased or rented for business purposes (e.g. meeting rooms, conference facilities, training rooms, office space, etc.);
- any applications developed for internal or external business purposes (e.g. Web sites, business software, communications, training, etc.).
Especially in larger acquisitions, procurement of mainstream products is usually done with little or no knowledge of the functional capabilities of the individuals who will be using the products or services. In the past this lack of awareness of the end user has often led to the unwitting purchase of inaccessible materiel that may be difficult or impossible to modify if an accommodation is ever required.
It is primarily to ensure that any mainstream products being acquired are either directly accessible, or are capable of being made accessible to employees (or customers) with differing functional capabilities that the Accessible Procurement Tool kit has been developed.
- Modality
- Modality refers to a specific paradigm of user interaction
with products or services. A device that offers only one mode of
access cannot be used by someone who requires an alternate mode
of access: e.g. if a product absolutely requires a person to have
vision to be able to use it, it cannot be used by a person who
has no vision. Applying universal design principles generally
means developing products that offer multiple modalities for
interaction.
- Prerequisites
- In the tool kit, a link to a set of prerequisites will appear
if any have been identified. Prerequisites present some
information about a product that, while not requirements, should
be given some weight in the decision to purchase.
For example, on the Procurement side, a consideration in the purchase of a desktop computer system would be to maximize the amount of system RAM to the extent economically possible, because additional RAM will generally mean enhanced performance for the system in general and specifically when assistive devices are added.
On the Accommodation side, a consideration would be whether an existing office computer would be capable of accepting a particular assistive device. For example,if a new assistive device is purchased for an employee, does their current desktop computer have enough I/O ports of the proper type to allow connection without causing conflict with existing peripherals?
- Procurement codes
- The Accessible Procurement Toolkit allows you to search for products and services by three different set of procurement codes:
- FSC/PSC - Federal Supply Code / Product Service Code
- FSC is the acronym for the "Federal Supply Classification" or "Federal Supply Code" - an identification number established by the US General Services Administration which is used to classify an item of property as belonging to a specific group of similar type items.
PSC is the acronym for "Procurement Supply Code" or "Product Service Code" (often used as synonyms for FSC or when used in the private sector)
- GSIN - Goods and Services Identification Number
- The Goods and Services Identification Number (GSIN) is a code used by the (Canadian) Federal Government to identify generic product descriptions for its purchasing activities.
- UNSPSC
- UNSPSC is the acronym for the "Universal Standard Products and Services Classification". UNSPSC is a coding system to classify both products and services for use throughout the global marketplace. The management and development of the UNSPSC Code is coordinated by ECCMA, the "Electronic Commerce Code Management Association".
- Requirements or "Procurement clauses"
- In the tool kit, a link to a set of requirements will appear
if any have been identified. Requirements are specific terms or
conditions (in some cases clauses or standards) that must be
added to contracting documents for a particular product or
service to ensure that the vendor will offer goods that will meet
the accessibility needs of the purchaser. In general, a
requirement deals with some particular feature of a product that
must be included to ensure its accessibility to a specific group
of users.
- Standards
- In this toolkit, a variety of standards, policies and best
practices are referenced. The primary reason for the existence of
this toolkit is to provide purchasing officers with those
standards, policies or best practices that are in the public
domain: to ensure the acquisition of the most accessible goods or
services possible. This is why the US Section 508 standards and
other best practices have been included. In the absence of
national Canadian standards for accessibility related to many
types of products, the only alternative might be to use the US
Section 508 standards.
A Government of Canada procurement officer is not required by specific policy to apply any accessibility criteria to orders or requests for purchasing any electronic or information technology other than Web sites, which must meet the requirements of the "Common Look and Feel" (CL&F) standards. CL&F only needs to be applied by persons developing or procuring the development of Web sites for the Government of Canada.
While there are no legal or policy directions in the Government of Canada that require a procurement document to reference Section 508 or other non-Canadian standards, it is only by inclusion of all appropriate standards that the product or service being purchased will be as accessible as possible.
In another sense, the country specific standards that are referenced in any section of the toolkit are the minimum set that must be applied. But minimal adherence to a national standard will not necessarily ensure an accessible procurement. This is especially true if national accessibility standards do not exist for a particular product or service.
- 255 - Section 255 of the US Telecommunications Act
-
This
label appearing before a clause indicates that the item is a US
Telecommunications Act - Section 255 FINAL
rule.
On March 5, 1998 the US Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) issued final guidelines for accessibility, usability, and compatibility of telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment covered by section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The Act requires manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment to ensure that the equipment is designed, developed, and fabricated to be accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable. When it is not readily achievable to make the equipment accessible, the Act requires manufacturers to ensure that the equipment is compatible with existing peripheral devices or specialized customer premises equipment commonly used by individuals with disabilities to achieve access, if readily achievable.
- 508 - Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act
-
This
label appearing before a clause indicates that the item is a US
Rehabilitation Act - Section 508 FINAL
rule.
In 1998, the US Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act and strengthened provisions covering access to information in the Federal sector. As amended, section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires access to the Federal government's electronic and information technology. The law covers all types of electronic and information technology in the Federal sector and is not limited to assistive technologies used by people with disabilities. It applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use such technology. Federal agencies must ensure that this technology is accessible to employees and the public to the extent it does not pose an "undue burden."
The scope of section 508 is limited to the Federal sector. The Section 508 standards were developed by the Electronic and Information Technology Access Advisory Committee (EITAAC), and came into effect on June 21, 2001.
- EITAAC - Electronic and Information Technology Access Advisory Committee
-
This
label appearing before a clause indicates that the item is a US
Rehabilitation Act - Section 508 preliminary
rule.
The Electronic and Information Technology Access Advisory Committee was created in 1998 by the Access Board and consisted of representatives from industry and consumer organizations, with observers from interested federal agencies. The committee developed a set of preliminary standards for accessible procurment that the Access Board considered when developing the final standards for Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.Section 508 vs. EITAAC
Although in the United States Section 508 Final Rules have superceded the preliminary EITAAC rules, we have retained the EITAAC rules because some of our users may find the additional details useful.
An entry in the reqirement list that displays the "508" label is a rule that is equivalent to a preliminary EITAAC rule. If the entry has an "EITAAC" icon, it means the clause was substantially different or missing from the Section 508 Final Rules. In a few cases, a Section 508 entry is followed by an EITAAC rule that contains some of the same elements as the Final 508 Rule, but states it in more or differing detail.
- CL&F - Common Look and Feel
-
This
label appearing before a clause indicates that the item is a
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat "Common Look and
Feel" standard.
The Government of Canada requires that all federal agencies share a common look and feel for federal Internet / Intranet sites and electronic networks. The Common Look and Feel policy specifies the consistent application of the Federal Identity Program, Official Languages Policy, and accessibility standards to all electronic services, including Government of Canada Internet / Intranet sites, products and deliverables.
- CSA - Canadian Standards Association
-
This
label appearing before a clause indicates that the item is a
Canadian Standards Association standard.
The Canadian Standards Association develops regional and national standards in a wide range of subject areas.
There are two Canadian Standards Association documents referenced in this Toolkit.
The first is CAN/CSA B651-04 Accessible design for the built environment. This standard provides the requirements for ensuring that buildings and their immediate environment are accessible to people with the widest possible range of abilities. Included in this standard are the accessibility requirements for not only such aspects of a building as its entrances and interior hallways and rooms, but some of the items commonly found, such as signage, fittings in washrooms, work surfaces, electrical outlets and many other items that will make the building usable.
The second document is CSA-Z412 Guideline on office ergonomics. This is not a standard, but a series of guidelines intended to provide advice on how to make the workplace a safer, more efficient environment for all workers.
- US OSHA - United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration
-
This label appearing before a clause indicates that the item originates from the
US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
OSHA's mission is to assure the safety and health of America's workers by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach, and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual improvement in workplace safety and health.
- USOC - US Office of Compliance
-
This label appearing before a clause indicates that the item originates from the
Office of Compliance.
The Office of Compliance is an independent non-partisan agency established to administer and enforce the Congressional Accountability Act (CAA). The Congressional Accountability Act (CAA), enacted in 1995, applies twelve civil rights, labor, and workplace safety and health laws to the U.S. Congress and its associated agencies, requiring them to follow many of the same employment and workplace safety laws applied to businesses and the Federal Government.
- W3C - World Wide Web Consortium
-
This label appearing before a clause indicates that the item originates from the
World Wide Web Consortium.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential. W3C is a forum for information, commerce, communication, and collective understanding.
