The  Press Release below announces the Electronic Electronic Accessibility Recommendations for Persons with Disabilities for the state of North Carolina.  Three members of the ICDRI Advisory Board were directly or indirectly involved with this initiative.  Two of the board members, Allison Bowen and Michael Burks are mentioned on: http://irmc.state.nc.us/access/memlist.htm and the third Cynthia Waddell, is listed on: http://irmc.state.nc.us/access/links.htm  ICDRI congratulates the state of North Carolina for completing this important task and wishes them good luck in the future.

News Coverage of the Event:

http://www.newsobserver.com/ncwire/news/Story/216512p-211144c.html 

http://www.wral-tv.com/news/wral/techtalk/2000/0824-disabilities-tech/ 

James B. Hunt Jr., Governor                                                                                             Katie G. Dorsett, Secretary

North Carolina

Department of Administration

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Release: IMMEDIATELY Date: August 24, 2000

EVENT: State Information Resource Management Commission (IRMC)

Accessible Technology for Persons with Disabilities Press Conference

DATE: Thursday, Aug. 24, 2000, 10 a.m.

PLACE: Governor's Press Conference Room -- Administration Building, 1^st Floor

116 W. Jones Street, Raleigh, N.C.

PARTICIPANTS: Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker -- IRMC member, former chair
Katie G. Dorsett, Secretary of Administration -- chair, IRMC Accessibility Workgroup
Ralph Campbell, State Auditor -- chair, IRMC

Kathy Brack, Director, Client Assistance Program, Vocational Rehabilitation --member, IRMC Accessibility Workgroup and a person with disability

HIGHLIGHTS: State IRMC leaders will discuss North Carolina's leadership role in meeting the technology needs of persons with disabilities. As the state moves increasingly into "self-service" government and e-commerce, it is important that all state services be available to both customers and employees despite any disability. The state has responded by, among other initiatives, adopting the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines -- which outline standards and validation for accessibility of state agency Web sites -- as part of the statewide technical architecture. And NC @ Your Service, the state's new e-commerce/e-government portal revealed last month, has as part of its project requirements a mandate to comply with these W3C requirements. Technology leaders hope that this portal, a main port of entry for citizens and employees, will set the standard for accessible electronic government in North Carolina.

By examining current state technical practices, the IRMC has focused its efforts in establishing policies that promote accessibility in the procurement and development stages, as well as ensuring that accessible support and training be made available. Capping the press conference will be a hands-on demonstration of adaptive equipment used to access technology by persons with disabilities.

For more information, the IRMC Accessibility Workgroup's final report can be found at: http://irmc.state.nc.us/access/docs.htm. 

CONTACT: Allison Bowen, assistant director, Governor's Advocacy Council for Persons with Disabilities (GACPD), (919) 733-9250.

 

 

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