For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
October 7, 2004

The Department of Homeland Security today announced that it will create a state-of-the-art program to ensure that electronic and information technology is accessible for employees and consumers with disabilities.  

Steve Cooper, the Department’s Chief Information Officer, and Daniel Sutherland, the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, made the announcement on www.at508.com a website that features news of interest to the disability community.  Cooper and Sutherland will oversee a program to ensure compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.  The new office will be a part of the senior leadership of the Office of the Chief Information Officer, as well as having a reporting relationship to the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.  Two positions to staff the new office, including the Program Manager, were posted today on the USAJOBS website.  

 “Making electronic and information technology accessible for people with disabilities is a good business management strategy,” Chief Information Officer Steve Cooper said. “Complying with Section 508 ensures our information technology will be more capable of responding to technology changes in future years.  A strong accessibility program results in more flexibility, more portability, better designs and better websites.”

 “This joint project further fulfills Secretary Ridge’s commitment that Homeland Security will be a model federal agency, and particularly with regard to how this new agency relates to people with disabilities,” Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Officer Daniel Sutherland said. “The senior leadership of DHS looks outside the box in our efforts to create an agency that will meet the challenge given to us by President Bush and meets the expectations of the American public.”

Section 508 requires federal agencies to ensure that the electronic and information technology (EIT) that they develop, procure, maintain and use is accessible to their employees and consumers with disabilities.  Section 508 was enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology, to make new opportunities available for people with disabilities, and to encourage the development of technologies that will help achieve these goals.

Previously, the Secretary has put in place aggressive efforts to promote employment opportunities for people with disabilities, has placed a priority on integrating people with disabilities into the emergency preparedness effort, and has directed the Transportation Security Administration’s innovative program for screening travelers with disabilities.  The Secretary is also committed to providing access to the www.dhs.gov web page for all individuals with disabilities.

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