Transcript Procurement
Procurement of Accessible ICTs*
Fourth Session Of The Conference Of States Parties To The Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities UN Headquarters, New York, 8 September 2011 * Information & Communication Technologies
Governments/Organizations get
• • • • • •
Computers and software Telecommunications hardware and services Web sites and applications Office equipment (copiers, printers) Facilities (buildings, offices, meeting space) Furniture (desks, chairs, lighting) How? Through procurement.
Even better, through accessible procurement!
The Convention says…
Article 4:
• To undertake and promote R&D of universally designed goods, services, equipment and facilities…
Article 9:
• Promote the … production and distribution of accessible ICTs and systems…
Article 27
• • Employ persons with disabilities in the public sector Ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided to persons with disabilities in the workplace Use your procurement power to purchase accessible ICTs, other goods and services and comply with these and other articles.
Laws / Policies
That mandate or support procurement of accessible ICTs
• • • • • • • • United States of America United Kingdom Korea and many more … – Rehab. Act, Section 508 – Disability Discrimination Act European Union – Mandate 376 (still in draft) Canada – Accessible Procurement Toolkit Australia – Disability Discrimination Act Ireland – Public Procurement Toolkit
At least 20 countries have Web accessibility laws or policies
Finding what you want…
Not every product may meet all applicable standards, so presumably you choose products that are “most” compliant
• • •
How do you identify compliant products?
Test and certify products in-house Contract 3 rd party experts to test and certify Allow manufacturers to self-certify
VPATs
Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates At least 420 companies provide VPATs, including: 3M Cisco Adobe Hitachi Kyocera Lenovo Qualcomm Samsung Apple HP Microsoft Sony Canon IBM Panasonic Xerox = hardware, software, office equipment , computer peripherals, telecommunication systems and end-user devices Microsoft and IBM have VPATs for almost 400 products each, Xerox 184, Canon 182, Apple 53
Creating Procurement Documents
• •
Industry Canada’s Accessible Procurement Toolkit US GSA’s BuyAccessible Wizard!
• • • •
Reference: National and international standards National and international guidelines and best practices Consult with persons with disabilities and their organizations GAATES and other service organizations