A Promising Practice: The Department of Education's Voluntary Technical Assistance to Other Agencies

In the Software Accessibility Checklist and the accompanying Resource Guide, agencies were urged to contact the Department of Education for assistance:

More specific recommendations for how to design accessible software can be obtained from Joe Tozzi or others on the Assistive Technology Team in the Department of Education's Office of the Chief Information Officer Technology Center, (202) 708-7298 (voice), (202) 401-8510 (TTY), Internet: Joe_Tozzi@ed.gov.

Software Accessibility Checklist, page 1. The Department of Education followed up on every request for assistance, essentially becoming a cost-free, full-service technical assistance office for other agencies during and after the self-evaluation process. Not only did the Department of Education assist other agencies in conducting their evaluations, it hosted representatives from numerous agencies visiting its Assistive Technology Demonstration Center to see first-hand how screen readers, voice recognition technology, computer mouse alternatives, TTY-enabled computers, and other types of assistive technology can be seamlessly integrated into an agency's full-service technology program.