Information for All: 508 Compliance

In our previous post, we noted how proud we were of our AIDS.gov video podcast series! And when we first started producing podcasts we thought they were accessible to everyone because we provided both an audio file and a transcript. But then we learned that our podcasts would have to be closed-captioned as well.

This news was met with some resistance. "Why can't visitors with hearing impairments just read the podcast transcripts?", several AIDS.gov team members wanted to know. "No one can read captions on an iPod!"

Our team didn't understand that we were limiting our audiences' access to the podcasts. According to the HHS website:

• 28,000,000 (10% of population) are deaf or hearing impaired
• 11,400,000 people have visual conditions not correctable by glasses
• 6,400,000 new cases of eye disease occur each year
• 2,800,000 people are visually handicapped from color blindness
• 1,100,000 people are legally blind

In addition, as the population ages,the number of Americans who need assistance in accessing or processing information is growing

While we had worked to make AIDS.gov accessible, our podcast experience uncovered that not all of our activities were Section 508 compliant. To learn more, we spoke with leading experts on accessibility: Eileen Elias, Deputy Director and 508 Coordinator for the HHS Office on Disability; Mark Urban, HHS Section 508 Specialist; and Jim Thatcher , a leading private-sector consultant on 508 issues.

What is 508 compliance?
Mark explained, "Section 508 is a law that ensures that Federal information in electronic formats is accessible to all individuals with disabilities (including Federal employees and members of the public)." Eileen added, "It covers mobility, sensory, cognitive, and behavioral challenges, as well as challenges due to chronic medical disorders, such as HIV/AIDS."

That term, "508 compliant," refers to Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d), which requires Federal agencies to:

• Eliminate barriers in information technology;
• Make available new opportunities for people with disabilities; and
• Encourage development of technologies that will help achieve these goals.

There are simple things that we can do to make our sites more accessible. For example, by adding text alternatives (alt tags ) to images, we allow people using screen readers to "read" the images on their screen.

Acronyms can also be problematic, but there are things we can do so that that words like "HIV" are pronounced H-I-V, rather than "hiv," which rhymes with "give." And we can code our sites so that users have the option to navigate by keyboard, rather than mouse or touch pad.

As Steve Krug said in his book, Don't Make Me Think , "How many opportunities do we have to dramatically improve people's lives just by doing our job a little better?"

How might Section 508 have reached/helped a person living with, or at risk for, HIV/AIDS?
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs used alt tags when they created a great new Web-based tool on HIV medications. Now a visually challenged person living with HIV can use a screen reader to get information on specific drugs, dosing schedules, etc.

Accessibility also refers to providing information in a variety of formats. Mark told us of a person with an HIV-related illness who wanted to find information on his condition. "The problem was that he was bedridden, and he didn't have access to a computer. Thanks to an accessible NIH site, he was able to get the information he needed on his cell phone."

Is your website 508 compliant?
There are many online tools to help you identify accessibility issues:

• WebExact (formerly known as Bobby)
• Cynthia Says
• UITest.com
• Website Accessibility Toolbar (for Internet Explorer)
• Firefox add-ons like the Web Developer Toolbar and Fangs (which simulates a screen reader).

In addition to the many free evaluation tools listed above, you may decide that a commercially available tool is best for your organization. At AIDS.gov we use a commercial tool called Lift Machine to test for Section 508 compliance. This tool is one of the many commercial website accessibility tools (others include WebXM from Watchfire and InFocus from SSB Technologies) that will review each page of your website for problems and recommend solutions.

What resources are available for people who would like to learn more about Section 508?
We like to send our colleagues to the great resources (including the new HHS acquisition guidelines) at www.508.hhs.gov.

In addition, our team members have found JimThatcher.com's 508 accessibility tutorial helpful. Below are more resources from our colleagues:

• WebAim.org has a robust collection of articles and discussion lists.
• The World Wide Web Consortium's Website Accessibility Initiative provides technical information for website developers.
• National Center for Accessible Media is a good accessibility resource for video and other digital media.
• Consumers interested in information about accessibility can visit the Information Technology Assistance and Training Center and www.section508.gov.
• Jim Thatcher's books (co-authored with Mark Urban and others) are also great resources, Web Accessibility: Standards and Regulatory Compliance and Constructing Accessible Web Sites

A growing acceptance of the need
The AIDS.gov team is now working with our colleagues to direct them to the resources highlighted above. HHS new guidance reinforces that all offices must comply with Section 508 and encourages others to review.

Mark reminds us that, "Section 508 compliance is a part of our responsibility as public health professionals. We serve people with diseases and conditions that are often accompanied by disabilities. It is consistent with our public health mission that we provide information and tools that are accessible."

There is still much to do to ensure access for all--but Eileen says, "We’re experiencing a slow decrease in resistance to 508 compliance and more and more understanding."

Please let us know your thoughts on this post! Stay tuned for next week's discussion of text messaging!

Putting the Simple in Real Simple Syndication (RSS Feeds)

How can you keep up with the never-ending parade of news on HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, treatment, and research?

Many of our AIDS.gov colleagues use a great tool--RSS feeds--to help visitors to their websites meet the challenge of keeping current. But many others haven‘t adopted this new media tool yet--possibly because they are not familiar with the tool, or they are intimidated by the technology.

We'd like to change that! Today we'll talk about RSS feeds in simple terms and encourage you to give them a try.

What is an RSS Feed?
Fred Smith, Senior Technologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explained to us what RSS feeds are and how they work.

"'RSS' stands for 'Real Simple Syndication.' RSS feeds are a way for websites to distribute their content to people automatically," Fred told us. "You start with a news reader (more on that below) and 'subscribe' to a particular website or topic. Then updates appear in your news reader whenever a new item is added to that website."

For example, if you want to get updated posts to this blog, you can click on the RSS feed on this page.

Once you subscribe, your news reader will let you know whenever we add a new post--you don't have to keep checking back at AIDS.gov to see if we have added new content.

We use RSS feeds to provide us with HIV/AIDS and other health-related news. The CDC has over a dozen RSS feeds on various topics, including HIV/AIDS Prevention Resources and the National Prevention Information Network's (NPIN) Daily Update.

Our AIDS.gov team also subscribes the National Institutes of Health's AIDSinfo, This Month in HIV , Medscape's HIV/AIDS , and others.

How to Receive an RSS Feed
To receive RSS feeds, you need an RSS-enabled browser or some type of "news reader" to subscribe to a feed. These tools will let you know when your subscriptions have new content.There are several ways you can receive RSS feeds:

• Newer versions of Web browsers, such as Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 enable you to read RSS feeds and subscribe to them from the browser itself.
• A few widely-used, free, online RSS readers include GoogleReader , NetVibes , and Bloglines . There are several commercial versions as well, and mobile versions for most Internet-enabled cell phones and PDAs.
• My Yahoo! and iGoogle allow you to add your own RSS feeds to a customized homepage.
• There are also off-line newsreaders, including NetNewsWire (Mac) and FeedDemon (Windows).
• You can even get updates via e-mail, using free services such as Feedblitz , ZapTXT , and SendMeRSS .

Should you create an RSS feed for your website?
If you have an audience that would benefit from the new information you place on your website, then the answer is "Yes!"

As Fred noted, "A feed for your website or blog is a rapid, low-cost way to get your content to your visitors"—particularly if you've been relying on more traditional ways of getting information out (e.g., paper mailings).

But RSS feeds do more than save time and money--they also help to keep your audience informed about your activities, events, and other news. And they do that by delivering information to people in the way they want to get it.

How to Add an RSS Feed to Your Site
The best news is that, as their popularity grows, RSS feeds get easier and easier to use! If you decide to add an RSS feed to your program or organization's website or blog, there are online tutorials to help you write your own RSS feed.

Blogging software like TypePad , WordPress , or photo-sharing sites like Flickr , can automatically create RSS feeds for you. Feed management services like Feedburner can help you publicize and track subscribers. You can find other technical assistance at:

• SeachEngineWatch.com's "How to Make an RSS Feed" is a good place to start if you feel comfortable creating your own feed.
• RSS Headline Creator will generate an RSS feed for you.
• RSS Tutorial is for content publishers and Webmasters
• WhyRSS.com is "the really simple guide to RSS".
• Common Craft's "RSS in Plain English " provides a brief overview of RSS feeds.

The Real Reason You Should Try RSS Feeds
RSS feeds bring the news to you. If you are overloaded with data--but still expected to stay on top of it--RSS feeds are a tool that can make your job, and the fight against HIV/AIDS easier.

How are you using (or planning to use) RSS feeds in the fight against HIV/AIDS? Please share your stories with us!

And stay tuned for next week's discussion on accessibility and Section 508…

Podcast

We produced our first podcast in 2006. There was an opportunity to develop a podcast featuring a message from Mrs. Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States on HIV testing. Podcasts were growing in popularity and we wanted to support the First Lady's HIV testing initiative while also learning about this exciting new media tool.

We've learned a lot since that first podcast. Today, AIDS.gov produces a monthly podcast series profiling Federal officials and the HIV/AIDS programs they direct. These podcasts have increased traffic to AIDS.gov by 23% and continue to draw repeat visitors. Because of our podcasts, many visitors to AIDS.gov ask us basic questions about podcasting. To respond to these inquiries, we talked to Bill Schmalfeldt, a former podcast producer at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Erik Ireland, producer of one of the country's most listened-to HIV/AIDS podcast series .

Our colleagues were eager to help us answer questions about podcasting because they have seen podcasts improve the distribution of health information that is clear and to the point. They emphasized that to use podcasts effectively in the fight against HIV/AIDS, your colleagues and clients must become comfortable with podcast terminology and technology.

While many people may have heard the term, "podcast" (it was Oxford Dictionary's 2005 Word of the Year ), some are still unclear about what they are and how to listen to them. According to Erik, we must recognize that "one of the biggest barriers to people listening or producing podcasts is their lack of knowledge about what they are and how they work."

So what is a podcast?
In non-technical terms, Bill describes podcasts as being similar to "radio shows" that can reach a wider audience using the Internet. Erik likes to think of podcasts as "short cab-rides" with an HIV/AIDS expert. He says, "we keep our episodes focused and brief; six or seven minutes every other week. This makes it easy for our listeners to stay up-to-date on HIV/AIDS issues without a big time commitment."

Technically, a podcast is an audio or video file that you can play on your computer or a variety of portable media devices (like an iPod, Zune, and certain cell phones). What makes podcasts different from other audio or video files is that they are usually short, almost always free, and you can subscribe to receive new podcasts automatically via your computer or other media device.

If you want to listen to a podcast you can download the podcast directly or use subscription software (some popular ones are iTunes and Juice ) - and then transfer or sync the file to your portable media device. There are important things to know about subscribing and we will cover them in our next post.

Should you podcast?
As with most new media tools, the best way to learn is by doing. We started by listening to Federal health-related podcasts like AHRQ's Healthcare 411, HHS HealthBeat, CDC's podcast series, and NIH Research Radio. We also learned a great deal from non-governmental HIV/AIDS podcasts including This Month in HIV , Podcast Health , and even some non-health related ones like Grammar Girl . Listening to these different podcasts not only familiarized us with the technology, but inspired us to start our own podcast series.

As we mentioned above, there are different podcast formats, from simple audio files to videos. For some, video is helpful in presenting complex information. The Common Craft Show "In Plain English" is a good example. For others, like Erik, audio or enhanced podcasts such as this "1 Minute Screencast" (basically an audio file with some links and graphics) do the trick by "taking specialized information that most people don't know, and making it clear and more accessible." The possibilities are endless--it's a matter of matching the tools and format to your audience and resources.

As was our experience, Bill and Erik noted that podcasting has expanded their organizations' ability to reach their target audiences with critical information. "The best thing about podcasts," commented Erik, "is they're not complicated and not expensive." You can buy an inexpensive audio recorder and then edit the audio files using free software." (Popular ones for audio are Garageband for Mac and Audacity for Windows, Mac and Linux. Video editors include iMovie for Mac and Movie Maker 2 for Windows.)

Together with our colleagues, we encourage you to consider whether podcasting can help your program. There are many resources on the Web to get you started. Here are some we have used at AIDS.gov:

• How to podcast is a step-by-step guide
• Podcasting resources on the Teach Digital: Curriculum by Wes Fryer
• Tech Soup's How to Record, Edit, and Promote your Nonprofit Podcast
• How to Build a Video Podcast in 3 Steps, from streamingmedia.com
• There are also free events called "PodCamps""that are held across the country and attract some of the most influential podcast producers. We are looking forward to the next one in New York later this spring.
• As with all new media tools, it is important that your podcast is accessible and the Web Accessibility Initiative offers a good overview of how to do this.

Please share your thoughts with us about using podcasts in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Stay tuned for next week's discussion of RSS feeds!

AIDS.gov Blog: Introduction

The AIDS.gov Web site was launched World AIDS Day, December 1, 2006. Several Federal agencies, including HHS, created AIDS.gov to help health departments, AIDS service organizations, and others easily find information on Federal domestic HIV/AIDS programs, policies, and resources.

In the last few months, AIDS.gov has started to use new media tools to improve the Web site. We define “new media” as interactive forms of communication that use the Internet, including podcasts, RSS feeds, social networks, text messaging, blogs, etc.

Our use of these tools has encouraged AIDS.gov visitors to ask us for guidance on new media. We have received questions such as, “How do you define new media?”, and “How can we produce a podcast or use cell phones to disseminate HIV information?” This blog is a response to these requests for information.

This blog will focus on why and how AIDS.gov is using these new media tools, how they work, and where to find easy-to-understand new media resources. We encourage you to use these tools in your own work on HIV/AIDS.

Each Tuesday we will post information from interviews with leading experts on new media and with HIV/AIDS professionals who are using new media. Each posting will include a summary of an interview and reflect on ways AIDS.gov and others can implement what we have learned. We encourage you to submit your comments and add to the discussion. (See the Comment Policy)

Our next posting will be about podcasts. For more information on the development of posts, visit About This Blog.

A note on the format: we developed this blog using HHS Secretary Leavitt’s blog as a model. It’s a solid example of how a Federal blog can transfer information to spark dialogue. We encourage you to visit his blog.

After three months of posting and receiving your comments, we will evaluate whether or not the blog is meeting the needs of AIDS.gov’s readers, and then decide if and how the journey will continue.

We look forward to learning with you and to finding new and creative ways to contribute to the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Stay tuned for next week’s discussion of podcasts!