SkillSoft Corporation (Nasdaq: SKIL), a provider of critical business skills courseware for e-learning solutions, today announced the upgrade of 373 business skills courses to fully meet technical requirements for Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and are accessible by employees with vision,hearing, or motor skill impairments. The company plans to make all current and future U.S. English courses in the SkillSoft library compliant with
Section 508 by January 31, 2002.
SkillSoft is the first major e-learning courseware vendor to announce compliance with Section 508, which requires
computer software applications purchased or developed by federal agencies to be designed for equal accessibility by disabled people.
The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 20 percent of the world population has physical limitations.
The SkillSoft release is the result of a year-long development initiative which included adapting courses to work with screen readers such as JAWS and other assistive technologies, providing text descriptions for all visual
imagery, and ensuring all audio components have text equivalents. To ensure complete compliance, SkillSoft worked with WebABLE, a consulting organization specializing in the equal accessibility of Web-based information.
WebABLE conducted a thorough review of SkillSoft courses and provided recommendations for development work. SkillSoft also enlisted the help of disabled computer users for testing.
While Section 508 strictly applies only to federal agencies, SkillSoft will make 508-compliant courseware available to all SkillSoft clients at no extra charge.
"I believe private companies will quickly see the value of adopting the principles of Section 508, even though they are not legally mandated to do so at this time," said Mike Paciello, founder and CTO of WebABLE. "Any organization or company whose employees depend on web-based applications or information -- or who wants its information to be accessible by all clients, prospects, and general
consumers -- must consider the issue of equal Internet accessibility." Paciello points out that as the Internet has become easier for non-disabled people to use, through such features as highly graphical interfaces and voice activation, it conversely has become more difficult for people with certain disabilities.
