The focus of this paper is on the procedure that one will follow in choosing people to join Section 508. The first step is to select the members and then orient them in the team’s rules and guidelines. After choosing the members of the team, the next step will be to hold a meeting where there will be a discussion of the team’s main agendas. The meeting of Section 508 will take place the next month at Russell-Knox building. The first and main agenda revealed at the meeting will be to elaborate upon the new recruits what section 508 stands for and its main purpose. According to Section 508 requires, the Federal agencies are bound to develop, maintain, procure, or implement information and electronic technology. Due to this they will ensure that this technology protects every person at the work place.
In the past years and even now, the Federal employees with disabilities have been sidelined as the technology does not allow them to use the electronics available. The main reason for Section 508 is to raise awareness about such Federal employees. These employees need to have access and use data and information exactly in the same way as other Federal employees who do not have any kind of disabilities. The only exception is the undue burden imposed to the agency and individuals from the public who have disabilities and need additional services or information from the Federal agency.
The most fundamental question is the measure of the standards of the project. The US Board Access Standards will be responsible for evaluation of the members’ performance operations in Section 508. The team leader will ensure that all team members receive proper training in accordance with the section mentioned above as this will lead to the group’s effective functioning. The training of the members will call for policies and procedures. This will guarantee that the training covers all aspects of the team. The completion of the policy and procedures should be done in six months with three evaluations taken place during that period. These evaluations act as rough drafts of the whole document, which will be compiled after six months period. Therefore, it will be necessary to develop an assessment need as this is bound to indicate its cost and implementation procedure.
The team manager will come up with a plan of actions for the team members that they will have to follow throughout the training. The plan will entail the following outline: the communication plan, chosen team members, training according to Section 508 and US Access Board, assessment skills against standards, identified gaps, other points Section 508 can implement, and the cost of the whole procedure above all. A communication plan will provide the discretion of the whole action plan and how it transfers information from seniors to juniors. The general cost of the action plan will depend on the budgeted money to a great extent. The amount given is based on the DSS budget division.
The training will depend on procedures stated in the DOD manual number 8400.01 concerning the accessibility of electronic and information technology procured by DOD organization. According to the manual, the role of Section 508 as a coordinator is to assign responsibilities to the team taking into account members’ areas of expertise. In this case, we will consider the example of a member whose profession is the web and software developer. The coordinator will assign specific duties that are in line with his profession. The member will help to identify a location of technology products and follow the certain steps in acquiring assistance. Contact vendors to get additional information about training programs and their costs while narrowing down products to specific use for varied types of disabilities. For example, brain damage, hearing impairment, wheel chair users. It will be useful to posses such information. In addition to this, it will be necessary during the product testing procedure when defining their durability, usability, and effectiveness. This testing should involve people with disabilities so that the team could purchase the right products. Once it is done, it is indispensable to share the information with other people concerning the products so that everybody can be aware of their presence. These can be achieved due to the online and physical training of other members. All these will fall into the category of developing an awareness campaign that will ensure that all members are participating in successful maintenance of the project in the Federal agency. Other people need to understand and be aware of people with a disability because the latter may need their help occasionally while using the products.
Once the awareness campaign has achieved its goal the research part will be developed further. This research aims at providing feedback on how the project is running currently. How are other members dealing with the new products? Is there any change at the work place since the introduction of products? How does the agency work with products compared to other Federal agencies? This evaluation step is beneficial. In the event of any challenges, the team coordinator will find ways to ensure that they overcome the challenges. At the end of the project, coordinator will send a notice concerning training programs to all employees of DOD agencies.