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Services
IITAA Workgroup 2008
In 2007 and 2008, the State of Illinois worked with a broad range of experts and stakeholders to establish the initial IITAA standards.
Goals
The IITAA Workgroup set the goal to, by February 19, 2008, develop and publish standards and recommendations to ensure that information technology developed, purchased, or provided by the State of Illinois is accessible to individuals with disabilities in a proactive and cost-effective manner. Specific deliverables included:
- Functional performance criteria and technical requirements for accessibility.
- Recommendations for procurement language that can be incorporated into existing State procurement processes to ensure compliance with accessibility standards.
- Recommendations for planning, reporting, monitoring, and enforcement of the accessibility standards by State entities.
The standards and recommendations developed by this workgroup were to be:
- Effective - people with disabilities will be able to effectively use sites, software, and equipment that follow these standards; the new standards will be at least as effective as those we already have (e.g., IWAS).
- Practical - standards will be apply to current, real-world technologies; while we will try to be future-compatible, we will focus on what is necessary today.
- Harmonized - as much as possible, standards will align with federal and international standards (e.g., Section 508, Section 255, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines); we will re-use existing standards unless they do not meet our requirements or principles.
- Usable - all documents will be clear and concise; they will be understandable and useful to the individuals involved in procurement and development who will need to use them.
- Appropriate - standards and recommendations will be within the scope of the legislation and State rules.
Participants
- Patrick Beaird, Central Management Services
- Christy Blew, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Ray Campbell, Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired
- Richard Chamberlain, Western Illinois University
- Wayne Cummings, Easter Seals
- John Cunningham, Central Management Services
- Colleen Daley, State Treasurer's Office
- Robert Daniel, Department of Human Services, Information Systems
- Tim Duckworth, Central Management Services
- Leah Gerlach, Deicke Center for Visual Rehabilitation
- Andy Georgopoulos, Central Management Services
- MaryLou Grunwald, National Federation of the Blind, Illinois
- Jon Gunderson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Willie Gunther, Illinois Assistive Technology Program
- Ron Hunsberger, Moraine Valley Community College
- Jim Irmen, State Treasurer's Office
- David Keahl, Office of the Executive Inspector General
- Jeanne Kitchens, Illinois workNet, Illinois Office of Educational Services
- Janet Lambert, Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission
- Byron Lee, National Federation of the Blind, Illinois
- Barry Levine, American Council of the Blind
- Jamie McCoy, Department of Human Services, Information Systems
- Audrey McCrimon, Department of Human Services, CAWS
- Tim McLean, Department of Corrections
- Phil Milsk, Illinois Assistive Technology Program
- Barb Minton, Central Management Services
- James Nam, Department of Human Services, Information Systems
- Mike Nooner
- Ronza Othman, NFBI Student Chapter President
- Renesheia Owens, Department of Revenue
- Janet Peters, Great Lakes ADA Center
- Dave Porter, CompUnique
- Kevin Price, University of Illinois at Chicago
- Hadi Rangin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Bill Reif, National Federation of the Blind, Illinois
- William Richard, Illinois Assistive Technology Program
- Melissa Romanotto, MSF&W
- Ron Sanderson, Central Management Services
- Susie Saputo, Department of Human Services, Information Systems
- TJ Schlouski, Illinois Assistive Technology Program
- Mike Scott, Department of Human Services, Rehabilitation Technology
- Curtis Thompson, Department of Human Services, Procurement
- Joel Turner, Department of Revenue
- Gene Walker, Department of Human Services, Rehabilitation Technology
- John Webb, State Treasurer's Office
- Terrence Wright, Illinois workNet, Southern Illinois University
- Martha Younger-White, Department of Human Services, CAWS
Recommendations
Based on the recommendations of the workgroup, the State published the original IITAA Standards and IITAA Guidelines for Web on February 20, 2008. They went into effect on August 20, 2008.