The regulations apply to other technologies as well. For instance, television sets, training videos and multimedia presentations must use closed-captioning.
Technology companies that count the government as a client must make sure their products also meet the new standards.
One company that's set to compete for government dollars is Microsoft. The company's Accessible Technology Group tries to ensure that Microsoft's software can be used by the disabled.
"For us, it's a marketing initiative," says Microsoft program manager Laura Ruby. "If we want to sell to the government, we have to make our product the most accessible one out there."
Compaq also has been preparing for the regulations. Michael Takemura, director of Compaq's Accessibility Program, says the company will benefit beyond just continued government business.
"There are 54 million people out there with disabilities," says Takemura, who has been paraplegic since a 1980 car accident. "That's a huge market."
Hewlett-Packard is eyeing that market as well and has begun to make all its products accessible to the disabled, a spokesperson says.
But other tech companies still have a long way to go, according to Olga Grkavac, a spokeswoman for the Information Technology Association of America, a lobbying group. "Not many products are tailored just for this marketplace," she says.
It's unclear just how many federal agencies will meet the June 21 deadline. "I think there's a lot of anxiety because it's new, but people seem to be ready," says Doug Wakefield, a spokesman for the Access Board, which published the regulations. "For Web sites, they're starting with a 70 [percent] or 75 percent compliance rate already, so they're in good shape."
The Department of Veteran's Affairs is one agency that is on schedule. The department, which serves 25 million veterans and their families, consulted its constituents around the country to find out what changes they wanted made to its Web pages and computerized information kiosks. A special procurement committee reviewed the department's contract language and inserted specific technical standards for purchasing everything from workstations to fax machines.
Federal agencies that fail to comply with the disabled-access standards face possible legal action; the law permits government employees and the public to file either administrative complaints or lawsuits for violations of the regulations. Advocates for the disabled have shown that they will go to court to enforce access laws.
For example, the National Federation of the Blind sued America Online in 1999 under the Americans with Disabilities Act, charging that the company's Internet service shut out blind people. The suit was dropped last July after the company promised to build features for disabled access.
For Gary Wunder, the blind Missouri programmer, the new regulations could be the spur that makes the tech industry change the way it designs its products. "The fact that the federal government is going to get involved and say we want technology to be accessible is a good thing for disabled people," he says.
