We are very excited to announce major updates to the Accessibility Requirements Tool (ART) based on your user feedback. We’ve come a long way since the Buy Accessible Wizard in the early days of the internet. Over many iterations to improve and continuously implement user feedback, ART provides the support you need to easily develop Section 508 requirements from information communication technology. The enhanced ART is a robust, modern platform that will change how we relate to accessibility by making it a forethought in our development, design, and procurements.
During the last week of January we rolled out new features to improve the user experience and ease-of-use of ART. They came from user feedback and are beneficial for governmentwide use:
- Adding an ICT directly in the form
- Deleting an ICT button to delete an ICT that was added in the form
- Changing flow of ART for users to see all the ART form questions after the Solicitation Phase question
If you have not already used the updated ART, you will find the following enhancements over the past year:
- Reduced time to complete a procurement flow by 50%
- Ability to to save a completed form or review in multiple formats
- Ability to work on multiple ICTs at once
- Ability to add ICTs while in the form
- Ability to alter previous sections without affecting subsequent sections
- Ability to save incomplete procurement document and resume where you left off
- Available from Section508.gov on desktop and mobile devices
- Available as open source on GitHub, which enables ART to be integrated with other platforms and software
- Provides Comprehensive Glossary
By using ART as part of your procurement process, you provide: accurate Section 508 requirements for solicitations; reduce remediation, modifications, and lawsuits; and provide a standardized option for section 508 requirements. For more information on using ART, visit Section508.gov/ART/, which includes tutorials and videos to help you get started.
Even though Section 508 solicitation requirements responsibilities primarily fall on contracting officers, their representatives, and project managers, it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that any products and services are compliant. Using ART to account for Section 508 requirements early in the process reduces your workload, saves the government money, and is just the right thing to do.
We look forward to partnering with you in the future as we look to continuously improve ART. For any questions on using the tool in your work or for general feedback, please contact us at Section.508@gsa.gov.
