Federal Reports and Guidelines - Library - National Assistive Technology Technical Assistance Partnership (NATTAP)

Federal Reports and Guidelines

Access Board

Section 508 Standards Final Regulations (June 21, 2001)
Under these standards, published by the U.S. Access Board, the federal government must ensure that electronic and information technologies (E&IT) is accessible when it develops, procures, maintains, or uses such technology. The standards were first published on December 21, 2000 and went into effect on June 21, 2001.

Draft Final Guidelines for the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines and the Architectural Barriers Act(April 2, 2002)
The Board has placed this document in the docket to inform the building codes community of the actions taken by the Board to promote the harmonization of the Board’s guidelines with the International Code Council/American National Standards Institute A117.1 Standard on Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities and the International Building Code.

Department of Commerce

A Nation Online: How Americans Are Expanding Their Use Of The Internet, February 2002. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Economics Statistics Administration.
Few technologies have spread as quickly, or become so widely used, as computers and the Internet. These information technologies are rapidly becoming common fixtures of modern social and economic life, opening opportunities and new avenues for many Americans. This latest report shows the rapidly growing use of new information technologies across all demographic groups and geographic regions. Not only are many more Americans using the Internet and computers at home, they are also using them at work, school, and other locations for an expanding variety of purposes. In the last few years, Americans' use of the Internet and computers has grown substantially.

Note: Chapter 7: Computer and Internet Use Among People with Disabilities expands on the most recent NTIA report, Falling Through the Net: Toward Digital Inclusion (October 2000) (See link below.)

Falling Through the Net: Toward Digital Inclusion (October 2000)
The fourth in the "Falling Through the Net" series. In this report, the Department of Commerce measures the extent of digital inclusion by looking at households and individuals that have a computer and an Internet connection. The Department measures the digital divide, as they have before, by looking at the differences in the shares of each group that is digitally connected. For the first time, the Department also provides data on high-speed access to the Internet, as well as access to the Internet and computers by people with disabilities.

Department of Education

Assistive Technology Data Collection Project: Qualitative Reponses from Assistive Technology Grantees Reporting via the Web-Based Data Collection System for Fiscal Year 2001, October 14, 2003 (PDF format)
RTF version
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U. S. Department of Education.

Blueprint for the Millennium: An Analysis of Regional Hearings on Assistive Technology for People with Disabilities (Fall 1998) (pdf format)
RTF version
The Blueprint was developed from testimony presented at public hearings in 1998. the hearing, held by NIDRR, solicited testimony on issues affecting appropriate and timely access to AT, universal design, transportation, telecommunications, and consumer products.

What Are the Barriers to the Use of Advanced Telecommunications for Students with Disabilities in Public Schools? (January 2000) (Note: PDF format.)
This issue brief focuses on school reports of access to advanced telecommunications for students who receive special education and related services.

Twenty-Third Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2001)
To assure the free and appropriate public education of all children with disabilities. U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

Without Limits: An Agenda for the Office of Postsecondary Education (2000)
(Microsoft WORD format.) This report is based on a national dialogue with the postsecondary education community.

Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)

Community-Based Alternatives/Promoting Community Integration (December 21, 2001)
HHS Secretary Thompson presented President Bush with a preliminary collective report from ten federal agencies that formed the Interagency Council on Community Living in response to the President’s June 18, 2001 Executive Order on Community-Based Alternatives for Individuals with Disabilities. Individual reports of the agencies carrying out the Executive Order will be presented to the President during 2002.

Medicare’s Coverage of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Devices (Effective Date: January 2001)
Although the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (formerly HCFA when this policy was made) states that carriers are not necessarily required to cover AAC devices (pending a national policy), HCFA 's announcement officially voids the prior national policy which prohibited Medicare coverage for AAC devices on the basis that they were "personal convenience" items. CMS's current decision formally defines AAC devices as a Medicare benefit under the classification of durable medical equipment (DME). All Medicare beneficiaries are eligible for AAC device coverage, with the exception of skilled nursing facility (SNF) residents, as Title XVIII of the Social Security Act excludes coverage of DME within the SNF setting.

Medicaid Managed Care Regulation (HCFA-2001-F) Summary of Major Sections
The Final Medicaid Managed Care regulations are on display and available for copying.

Social Security Administration

Department of Justice

Law School Admission Council Settles ADA Testing Discrimination Lawsuit, February 26, 2002.
The Law School Admission Council (LSAC), the agency that administers the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), has agreed to revise its policies on test accommodations for persons with physical disabilities under a settlement agreement reached with the Department of Justice. The agreement was submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for approval on February 26, 2002.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

EEOC Policy Guidance on Executive Order 13164: Establishing Procedures to Facilitate the Provision of Reasonable Accommodation: Questions and Answers
This Executive Order requires all federal employers to establish effective written procedures for processing requests for "reasonable accommodation" by employees and applicants with disabilities.
EEOC Press Release

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Video Description for Video Programming Effective April 1, 2002
The Consumer Information Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission reminds the public that the implementation of video description for video programming becomes effective April 1, 2002. Under the new rules adopted July 21, 2000 by the Commission, broadcast stations and multi-channel video programming distributors must begin providing programming with video description no later than June 2002. The Commission encourages affected parties to make necessary arrangements to describe the programming, and to upgrade their equipment and infrastructure before the effective date arrives. Video description is the description of key visual elements in programming, inserted into natural pauses in the audio of programming designed to make television programming more accessible to the many Americans who have visual disabilities. This technology enables individuals to "hear what they cannot see." Video description provides the many benefits of television to individuals who are blind or who have low vision and to individuals with learning disabilities. For further information concerning this public notice, contact: Consumer Information Bureau, Disabilities Rights Office: Dana Jackson (202) 418-2247 (voice) or (202) 418-7898 (TTY) or the Consumer Information Bureau's Disabilities Rights Office (202) 418-2517 (voice) or (202) 418-0189 (TTY).
FCC Approves Limited Use of Ultra-Wideband, 02/15/2002
FCC Proposes Regulations for Broadband, 02/15/2002
Telecommunications Act of 1996 (A Summary)
Text of the Act
This law is the first major overhaul of telecommunications law in almost 62 years. The goal of this law is to let anyone enter any communications business to compete in any market against any other communications business.
Revision of the Commission's [FCC] Rules to Ensure Compatibility with Enhanced 911 Emergency Calling Systems, December 2000.
CC Docket No. 94-102; Fourth Report and Order
In this Order, the Commission takes steps to ensure persons with hearing and speech disabilities using text telephone (TTY) devices will be able to make 911 emergency calls over digital wireless systems. In light of recent technological advances related to TTY/digital compatibility, the Commission establishes June 30, 2002, as the deadline by which digital wireless service providers must be capable of transmitting 911 calls made using TTY devices.
Reminder to Manufacturers and Providers of Voice Mail and Interactive Menu Products and Services of Their Accessibility Obligations Under New Part 7 of the Commision's Rules
On September 29, 1999, the FCC released a Report and Order establishing rules and policies to implement sections 255 and 251(a)(2) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 255 and 251(a)(2). Section 255 requires manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and providers of telecommunications service to ensure that such equipment and services are accessible to persons with disabilities, if readily achievable.

National Council on Disability (NCD)

National Disability Policy: A Progress Report (December 2002-December 2003) (2003)
Chapter 11 deals with AT & Telecommunications.
The Accessible Future (June 2001)
NCD looks at federal enforcement of key laws—the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act or 1996, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended—and how such enforcement relates to electronic and information technology (E&IT). As referenced in this report, E&IT particularly involves the Internet, the World Wide Web, and select information/transaction machines.
Federal Policy Barriers to Assistive Technology (May 2000)
NCD provides recommendations to address specific policy barriers in education, employment, health care, telecommunications and information technology, and alternative financing of assistive technology identified as a result of extensive research.
Study on the Financing of Assistive Technology Devices and Services for Individuals with Disabilities (March 1993)
This report summarizes the NCD’s findings and presents its recommendations for improving access to the financing of assistive technology devices and related services for all individuals with disabilities.

Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities

People with Disabilities--Strengthening the 21st Century Workforce (July 26, 2002)
The Final Report of the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities. The report has a chapter on Technology.
Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities
On March 13, 1998, President Clinton signed Executive Order 13078, establishing the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities. This Task Force has the broad mandate to examine programs and policies related to employment of adults with disabilities, to "determine what changes, modifications and innovations may be necessary to remove barriers to work faced by adults with disabilities" and to recommend options for such changes. The following links are the reports issued by this task force.
Re-charting the Course: Turning Points (December 2000)
The Task Force reports that employment for adults with disabilities is at a turning point. This issue is turning from national employment policies premised on the paternalistic notions that people with disabilities are less capable of working to a new paradigm which presumes that all individuals, even those with the most severe disabilities, are capable of work with proper supports. This report is the third in the Task Force’s four-part series.
Re-charting the Course: If Not Now, When? (November 1999)
This second report of the Task Force is intended to push forward the message to all stakeholders, including but not limited to the Administration, Congress, Governors, State and local officials, people with disabilities and other interested parties.
Re-charting the Course: First Report of the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities (November 1998)
This first report embraces and acknowledges President Clinton’s and Vice President Gore’s long history of supporting the rights of individuals with disabilities. Re-charting the Course is intended to inform the President and the public about progress made by the Task Force to date in response to the Executive Order.

Social Security Administration (SSA)

Fact Sheet - Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999
SSA’s Fact Sheet provides general information and a Questions and Answers section.
Increases to Eligible SSA Earnings—3 New Rules (Effective January 1, 2001)
These rules increase the substantial gainful activity amount, disability beneficiaries’ amounts, and allows for more income to be excluded when a student who receives SSI (Social Security Income) returns to work.
Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program
On December 28, 2001, the Social Security Administration (SSA) published final regulations implementing the "Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program" (the Ticket to Work program) authorized by the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-170). The Ticket to Work program provides Social Security disability beneficiaries and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries with disabilities with expanded access to employment services, vocational rehabilitation services, or other support services. This program will enable these beneficiaries to obtain, regain or maintain employment and to reduce their dependency on cash assistance. Under this program, SSA will pay the providers of those services, called employment networks (ENs), after the beneficiaries achieve certain levels of work and earnings.

The National Assistive Technology Technical Assistance Partnership is a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Department of Education and RESNA. The grant (Grant #H224B050003; CFDA 84.224B) is funded under the Assistive Technology Act of 1998, as amended and administered by the Rehabilitation Services Administration, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at the U.S. Department of Education.

This website is developed with grant funds. The information contained on these pages does not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the U.S. Department of Education or the Grantee and no official endorsement of the information should be inferred.