The General Services Administration and the U.S. Access Board have begun drafting questions for the fiscal 2024 government-wide Section 508 assessment to evaluate agencies’ use of information and communication technology systems accessible to people with disabilities, Federal News Network reported Friday.
Kristen Smith-O’Connor, senior ICT specialist within the Government-wide IT Accessibility Program at GSA, expects some questions to be tweaked and refined to be more straight-to-the-point and avoid misunderstanding.
“We expect minor changes, at this point, to the questions. What exactly will they be, we are still working on. There’s a very small and very collaborative group of us working on it. I wouldn’t expect anything drastic to change. But we are refining and honing,” Smith-O’Connor said.
GSA and the Access Board are also working to expand Section 508 certifications and training under a recent Office of Management and Budget memorandum.
“Simply put, Section 508 Programs that don’t have sufficient staff can’t perform adequate Section 508 work,” a previous GSA assessment states.