State of Maine Office of the CIO

1
State of MaineOffice of the CIO

• THERE ARE NO BOUNDAIRES TO WHAT WE CAN ACCOMPLISH
  WITH TECHNOLOGY, WHEN THERE ARE NO BARRIERS TO
  BLOCK OUR ACCESS.

2
State of Maine Accessibility Guidelines,
Standards and Policies

• The State of Maine has developed the following
  policies, guidelines and standards to ensure we
  deploy technology that is accessible to all. The
  first policy was deployed in 1998 and they are
  reviewed and updated regularly.
• Website accessibility policy
• Accessibility language in State contracts through
  Department of Purchasing
• Computer Application Program Accessibility
  Standard
• Accessible Software Development (Vendor and
  In-house) via Testing Methodology
• Oracle, accessibility and PL/SQL on the web

3
Target Audience for Accessibility Policies and
Standards

• It shall be the policy of the State of Maine that
  information and services are accessible to all
  individuals, regardless of physical or mental
  challenges they may face.
• Policies are meant to be all inclusive rather
  than to be targeted to one particular consumer
  group.

4
Who is Required to Comply?

• Maines Executive Branch is required to comply
  with the policies and standards.
• The Judicial and Legislative Branches voluntarily
  work with the Executive Branch to meet compliance
  requirements for standards and policies.

5
Waiver Process

• Policy compliance is overseen by the Office of
  the CIO. The CIO may grant an exception to an
  accessibility policy based on undue burden,
  provided that the requestor demonstrates they
  have a reasonable accommodation and/or a plan to
  come into compliance with the policy.

6
How Could Maine Improve our Accessibility
Policies?

• Provide funding to assist all State Agencies in
  meeting the policy requirements. Funding could
  provide
• Dedicated compliance testing personnel
• Ongoing accessibility training for webmasters,
  software developers and technology procurement
  specialists
• Additional awareness training
• Contract staff dedicated to accessibility related
  projects