Re: Meeting Schedule

["David Capozzi" <capozzi@access-board.gov>]

Electronic and Information Technology Access Advisory Committee
October 15-16, 1998 Meeting Summary

The first meeting of the Electronic and Information Technology Access 
Advisory Committee was held on October 15 and 16, 1998 in Washington, 
DC.  The committee's task is to develop recommended functional and 
performance accessibility standards for electron and information 
technology, developed, procured, maintained, or used by the Federal 
government. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Lawrence Scadden from the 
National Science Foundation, and attended by representatives from 21 
of the 23 organizations appointed to the committee.  Also in 
attendance were several observers from government agencies, and 
representatives from various entities.

The committee was given an overview of Access Board activities and 
goals and was briefed on the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which 
provides the structure for the committee's meetings.  The committee 
also heard a presentation on the legislative history of section 508 
of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998, and a presentation from 
the Department of Education on its internal standards for accessible 
software.  The committee members took the following actions during 
the October meeting:

added Compaq Computers, Pitney Bowes, Sun Microsystems, and the
Information Technology Industry Council to the committee; formed 
three subcommittees; created a listserv to facilitate communications 
between meetings; and established a schedule of meeting dates.

A major challenge facing the committee in developing realistic 
standards is defining what is covered by the term electronic and 
information technology.  A subcommittee was created to examine the 
definitions needed for the recommended standards.  Two other 
subcommittees were formed.  A subcommittee was created to examine the 
various functions that are performed by electronic and information 
technology.  These functions include creating, processing, 
transmitting, and interacting with information and the technology 
involved.  Another subcommittee was created to begin the process of 
classifying the variety of products covered by the standards into 
product families.  The goal of both subcommittees is to better define 
the huge area of electronic and information technology and provide 
some framework around which accessibility standards can be developed.

A listserv was established to facilitate communications between 
meetings.  To subscribe to the listserv send an e-mail message to: 
listproc@trace.wisc.edu.  Information about the committee can also be 
obtained through the Access Board's website: www.access-board.gov.

Future meeting dates:

December 1-2, 1998; January 5-6, 1999; February 8-9, 1999; March 
29-30, 1999; May 11-12, 1999.