Advancing Digital Accessibility: Insights and Strategies from GSA’s Government-wide IT Accessibility Program
The GSA’s Government-wide IT Accessibility Program offers extensive guidance and resources, including policy guidance, IT accessibility program management, integration into technology lifecycle processes, and practical “how-to” training and checklists for accessible content creation.
Additionally, the program produces an annual report to Congress on federal agencies’ compliance with IT accessibility requirements. This report provides valuable insights that can help academic institutions, like ASU, adopt effective strategies for meeting digital accessibility goals.
This presentation will review key guidance, resources, and relevant findings and recommendations from our latest report to Congress that are most applicable to ASU and other academic institutions.
Speakers
Andrew Nielson
Director, Government-wide IT Accessibility Program
He/Him
Andrew is the Director of the Government-wide IT Accessibility Program at the General Services Administration (GSA). His role is to help federal agencies and individuals meet the accessibility standards of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Andrew is an expert in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) accessibility and co-authored the current version of the “ICT Baseline,” a set of tests to ensure web accessibility compliance with Section 508. He also led the inter-agency team that developed the “Trusted Tester” process, a widely recognized federal standard for accessibility testing. The program Andrew manages maintains Section508.gov, which offers guidance, training, and resources on managing accessibility programs and creating accessible content.