ARCHITECTURAL AND TRANSPORTATION BARRIERS COMPLIANCE BOARD
[Published in the Federal Register on September 29, 1998]

Electronic and Information Technology Access Advisory Committee; Meeting

AGENCY: Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board.

ACTION: Notice of appointment of advisory committee members and date of first
meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board
(Access Board) has decided to establish an advisory committee to assist it in
developing a proposed rule on accessibility standards for electronic and
information technology covered by the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998.
The Electronic and Information Technology Access Advisory Committee
(Committee) includes organizations which represent the interests affected by
the accessibility standards for electronic and information technology. This
notice also announces the time and place of the first Committee meeting,
which will be open to the public. 

DATES: The first meeting of the Committee is scheduled for Thursday, October
15, 1998 through Friday, October 16, 1998 beginning at 9:30 a.m. each day.
Decisions with respect to future meetings will be made at the first meeting
and from time to time thereafter. Notices of future meetings will be
published in the Federal Register. 

ADDRESSES: The first meeting of the Committee will be held at 1331 F Street,
NW., Washington, DC in the third floor training room. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Doug Wakefield, Office of Technical and
Information Services, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance
Board, 1331 F St., NW., Suite 1000, Washington, DC  20004-1111. Telephone
number 202/272-5434 extension 39 (Voice); 202/272-5449 (TTY).  

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Availability of Copies and Electronic Access

Single copies of this publication may be obtained at no cost by calling the
Access Board's automated publications order line 202/272-5434, by pressing 1
on the telephone keypad, then 1 again, and requesting publication N-02
(Electronic and Information Technology Access Advisory Committee notice).
Persons using a TTY should call 202/272-5449. Please record a name, address,
telephone number and request publication N- 02. This document is available in
alternate formats upon request. Persons who want a copy in an alternate
format should specify the type of format (cassette tape, Braille, large
print, or computer disk). This document is also available on the Board's
Internet site (http://www.access-board.gov/notices/eitaac.htm). 

Background 

On August 24, 1998, the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance
Board (Access Board) published a notice of intent to establish an advisory
committee to provide recommendations for a proposed rule addressing
accessibility standards for electronic and information technology covered by
the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998. 63 FR 45041 (August 24, 1998). The
notice identified the interests that are likely to be significantly affected
by the accessibility standards: Federal agencies and Federal contractors; the
electronic and information technology industry; organizations representing
the access needs of individuals with disabilities; and other persons affected
by accessibility standards for electronic and information technology. 

Approximately 50 nominations were submitted. About 10 nominations were
received from individual members of the public who have disabilities (or have
family members who have disabilities). Nineteen nominations were received
from organizations representing persons with disabilities. Three nominations
were received from access consultants with experience in accessibility
issues. The remaining nominations primarily consisted of organizations
representing the electronic and information technology industry which
includes some Federal, State, and local government entities. 

For the reasons stated in the notice of intent, the Access Board has
determined that establishing the Electronic and Information Technology Access
Advisory Committee (Committee) is necessary and in the public interest. The
Access Board has appointed 23 members to the Committee from the following
organizations: 

American Council of the Blind
American Foundation for the Blind
Arkenstone, Inc.
Association of Access Engineering Specialists
Association of Tech Act Projects
Easter Seals
Electronic Industries Alliance
FutureForms
Georgia Institute of Technology
IBM Special Needs Center
Meeting the Challenge, Inc.
Microsoft Corporation
NCR Corporation
National Association of the Deaf
National Federation of the Blind
National Industries for the Blind
National Science Foundation
Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, Inc.
Trace Research and Development Center
United Cerebral Palsy Associations
WGBH National Center for Accessible Media
WebABLE! Solutions
World Wide Web Consortium, Web Accessibility Initiative

The Board plans to involve other Federal agencies through a less formal, but
certainly no less important, ad hoc committee comprised of those Federal
agencies identified in section 508 (a)(2)(A) and public members of the Board.
This committee will assist the Board's staff in preparing proposed and final
standards. The Access Board regrets being unable to accommodate all requests
for membership on the Committee. In order to keep the Committee to a size
that can be effective, it was necessary to limit membership. It is also
desirable to have balance among members of the Committee representing
different clusters of interest, such as disability organizations and the
electronic and information technology industry. The Committee membership
identified above provides representation for each interest affected by issues
to be discussed. 

Committee meetings will be open to the public and interested persons can
attend the meetings and communicate their views. Members of the public will
have an opportunity to address the Committee on issues of interest to them
and the Committee. Members of groups or individuals who are not members of
the Committee may also have the opportunity to participate with subcommittees
of the Committee. The Access Board believes that participation of this kind
can be very valuable for the advisory committee process. Additionally, all
interested persons will have the opportunity to comment when the proposed
accessibility standards for electronic and information technology are issued
in the Federal Register by the Access Board. 

The meeting site is accessible to individuals with disabilities. Sign
language interpreters and real-time captioning will be provided. Decisions
with respect to future meetings will be made at the first meeting. Notices of
future meetings will be published in the Federal Register. 

Lawrence W. Roffee, Executive Director, Architectural and Transportation
Barriers Compliance Board

