IITAA Workgroup Goal, Deliverables & Guiding Principles

Goal

The IITAA Workgroup will, 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.

Deliverables

  1. Functional performance criteria and technical requirements for accessibility.
  2. Recommendations for procurement language that can be incorporated into existing State procurement processes to ensure compliance with accessibility standards.
  3. Recommendations for planning, reporting, monitoring, and enforcement of the accessibility standards by State entities.

Guiding Principles

The standards and recommendations developed by this workgroup will 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.