As a leading advocate of providing accessible technology for people with disabilities, the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) is pleased to provide the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template ("Template") for your consideration. The Template is a work in progress and will continue to be refined based on new technologies and feedback from government and industry users.

The purpose of the Template is to assist Federal contracting officials in fulfilling their acquisition planning responsibilities as identified in FAR section 10.001 (a)(3)(vii): "(to) (a)ssess the availability of electronic and information technology that meets all or part of the applicable accessibility standards issued by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board at 36 CFR part 1194 (see subpart 39.X)." We believe that such a template will provide a useful and convenient mechanism for making preliminary assessments regarding the availability of commercial electronic and information technology ("EIT") products and services with features that support accessibility. It is assumed that offerors will also provide contact information to facilitate more detailed inquiries.

ITI developed the Template as a voluntary tool that contractors can utilize or modify to provide information regarding their own particular product characteristics. ITI does not intend - and would not support - making use of the Template a mandatory requirement for doing business with the Federal Government. Further, the Template is not intended to serve as the basis for a centralized database of competitive access features for product comparisons. Rather, to optimize market creation, we would urge reliance on competition and innovation. Therefore, we believe that the manufacturer is in the best position to keep the complex and always-evolving information in the Template up to date, and to provide any supporting details necessary to enable government procurement officials to assess a product's accessibility features.

ITI appreciates the contributions of the Bush Administration, the General Services Administration and the Federal 508 Steering Committee in advancing discussions on this initiative. ITI would welcome the opportunity to discuss the Template with Federal agencies, disability advocates and EIT vendors. (email to: ITI_508@itic.org)

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