About the Accessibility Forum

The Accessibility Forum began in May of 2001 as an ongoing collaboration among stakeholders affected by Section 508 including user, industry, government, and other communities. The Forum membership includes over 640 organizations from industry (electronics, information technology, and assistive technology), associations for people with disabilities, the research community (academia, research institutions, and standards groups), and government agencies. The General Services Administration (GSA) has been the initial sponsor for the Forum.

The Accessibility Forum focuses on long-term solutions. Projects were defined to produce results that assist government in making informed decisions about Section 508 related procurement. The Forum completed two projects for research on two high priority sets of issues – Objective measures for assessing compliance with the Access Board standard and AT/E&IT Interoperability between assistive technology products and mainline information technology products. The Forum also provides a means for government, industry, and users to communicate on issues and areas where further effort could enhance E&IT accessibility. 

In October 2004 the Accessibility Forum began a new contract with GSA continuing the efforts of assisting procurement decision makers to determine the relevance of Section 508. 

GSA established a Forum Staff to carry on day-to-day Forum efforts. The staff is composed of government personnel, including an experienced Program Director and other supporting personnel, and a team of contracted organizations. The membership is moving towards an electronic based Forum and provides support in research, web-based meeting coordination and planning, publicity activities, and all other membership efforts.

Interested organizations are encouraged to join us in the challenge of accessibility for people with disabilities.