Dolly, for those very inspirational words, hopefully, everybody took something from that
presentation that Mr. Donnelly presented to us. Some of the key things I took away was discussing
those three major points: Innovation, especially dealing with AI, which, where we all know,
artificial intelligence is taking it over the world and we have to figure
out a way how to leverage that within our world of accessibility. Personalization,
definitely got to figure out how to personalize the experience for
individuals to make things more accessible and usable, AU. And proactive engagement,
try to figure out ways of how to fix problems before they become a problem in the beginning.
So again, thank you again, Mr. Donnelly, for that presentation, that was excellent.
All right, up next we have Miss Abuja Bale from CRCL, Civil Rights Civil Liberty
Diversity Management Director, again, of CRCL. So good morning, how are you?
>> I'm doing well, how are you doing this morning?
>> I am revved up, and I always love this time of the year, so I'm looking forward to hearing
all the different presentations from the presenters today and having opportunities
to meet people like yourself. So I'm not gonna, you know, I'm a talker so I can
easily just sit back and take over this whole conversation. It could just be me, you talking.
>> Oh, you know what, I'm a talker too. I love to talk, and let me tell you, I am excited
to be here to uh, talk about accessibility on Accessibility Day. This is uh, something that
is near and dear to us within me also within the Diversity Management Section. We always strive to
make our programs fully accessible to everyone, all of our products fully accessible. It's a
passion for all of us here, so definitely excited to be here and provide my remarks.
>> Well, thank you again for being here. We are definitely excited. I know I am,
and I'm sure all of the participants today are definitely excited to hear from you. So again,
before I start rambling too much uh, we have here Abuja Bale,
Diversity Management Director from CRCL. All right, take it away.
>> Thank you, so I wanted to uh, say good morning to everyone for being here. This
is just a very important uh, two days to learn more about accessibility. I just wanted to say,
my name is Abuja Bale, I'm the director of the Diversity Management Section
within the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties here at DHS.
I would like to begin by extending my sincere gratitude to the Office
of Accessibility and Usability for the invitation to participate in this year's Accessibility Day.
Like I mentioned earlier when Vince and I were talking,
it's a demonstration of the interest in and importance of ensuring accessibility that so
many individuals are participating in this event, and I see so many of you here. So thank you, thank
you so much for being here to listen in on these conversations, they're important conversations.
So soon after uh, the Department of Homeland Security was stood up in 2003, the Office for
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, otherwise known as CRCL, and the Office of the Chief
Information Officer, OCIO, partnered to establish the Office of Accessible Systems and Technology,
OAST, now known as Accessibility and Usability. This bold organizational approach ensured that
accessibility would be factored into everything that the department does electronically,
in furtherance of Section 508 of The Rehabilitation Act, and empowering our
employees with disabilities to succeed in a continually evolving world of technology.
And I can say, technology continues to evolve. I've noticed accessibility
improvements in our Microsoft Word system. So to know that we have Accessibility and
Usability here at the forefront of moving these accessibility options forward is amazing.
So two years ago, as a result of the DHS Section 508 Complaint Process Working Group led by CRCL,
I am proud to share that we have implemented a centralized process to address allegations and
inquiries of inaccessible information and communication technology.
Both the DHS Accessibility Page as well as the CRCL Civil Rights Complaints Page have
been updated to include information on rights under Section 508 of The Rehabilitation Act,
as well as how to file a complaint using the optional DHS Form 11035,
DHS Technology Accessibility Issue Reporting Form.
So I wanted to pause to say that these forward-thinking approaches are essential
to support our employees with disabilities. As of the second quarter of FY 2023, employees with
disabilities at our department represent 15.3 percent of our workforce. That is amazing! It's
an increase of 0.5 percent from the end of FY 2022 and over a five-year period, the workforce
representation of employees with disabilities has increased by nearly 3 percent, and the
representation is continuing to grow, showing a need to ensure that we have accessibility for all.
As such, discussing the accessibility and accommodations for persons with disabilities
is an essential discussion, and one we must have to continuously ensure that we,
as a department, continually serve our workforce as well as our external partners.
On June 25th, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14035, Diversity, Equity,
Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce.
This is the first Executive Order that makes it explicit that diversity and
inclusion initiatives and strategic plans must include individuals with disabilities
and expands its scope to specifically include equity and accessibility.
Prior to this Executive Order, conversations focused on diversity and inclusion, but with
less emphasis on equity and accessibility. So it's nice to know that we're finally focusing
on equity and accessibility because that's an important part of the equation. DHS's DEIA
efforts are led by the Executive Director of the Strategic Talent Recruitment, Inclusive Diversity,
and Engagement, otherwise known as STRIDE, within the Office of the Human Capital Officer.
So Sharon Wong's group, CRCL, in partnership with Accessibility and Usability, plays a
vital role in supporting certain aspects of DEIA, of our DEIA strategic plan related to
individuals with disabilities by ensuring DHS technology and communication are accessible.
The process for requesting reasonable accommodations is timely and efficient,
and ensuring that all DHS employees and applicants understand their rights.
In support of DEIA, CRCL collaborates with OCHCO to provide input and recommendations
on strategies focused on accessibility for FY 2022 through 2024 DEIA Strategic
Implementation Plan. DHS's strategy is to embed physical and technology accessibility
as a foundational imperative in all stages of employment.
Supporting the strategy are two main measures that will be used.
First, consistent with the OMB's bi-annual government-wide Section 508 Program Maturity
Survey, our goal is to meet or exceed a 75% conformance rate on all DHS web pages.
As of February 2023, DHS succeeded that goal with a rating of 76% web compliance. This metric,
beginning later this year, will be replaced with the new criteria outlined in the Annual 50 --
Annual Section 508 Assessment Report, recently revised by the Department of Justice and GSA.
Second, we will monitor and review the Section 508 Program Health Report produced by Accessibility
and Usability that assesses Section 508 program's capabilities and effectiveness at
managing Section 508 risk, foster through key indicators to gauge our progress.
Finally, we have outlined measures and developed a new quarterly reporting requirement to be
implemented hopefully by third quarter FY 2023. This is to improve our reasonable
accommodation program process. Specifically, we are looking at increased timeliness and
improving the timeframes for processing and providing effective reasonable accommodations
for employees and applicants. This is something that we are actively working to ensure that we
implement and we're also looking at potentially expanding our reasonable accommodation program.
We also recognize that accessible information and communication technology play a vital role
in ensuring full participation for members of the public with disabilities. For example,
can members of the public with disabilities access the vast array of information and resources on DHS
websites? Can program applicants complete fillable forms that are fully accessible?
Can blind individuals who use assistive technology access the
Department's national terrorism alerts and other time sensitive information?
There are these and other questions DHS should be considering. Such as, can deaf
disaster survivors communicate via video remote interpreting at disaster recovery centers? Can
travelers with disabilities interact with fully accessible kiosk machines? Do individuals in DHS
custody who need communication aids effectively communicate with family members and legal counsel?
Section 508's requirements for information and communication technology are one vital piece
of comprehensively ensuring accessibility in the Department's program and activities.
Under Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act,
the department must also ensure physical access, programmatic access, effective communication
and reasonable modification of policies for members of public with disabilities.
Now taken together, let us picture what it will look like as our work matures under sections 508,
504, and 501 of The Rehabilitation Act throughout the Department's programs and activities.
Employees with disabilities and members of the public with disabilities will consistently
receive accessible information. They'll enjoy full participation. They will benefit from effective
forms of communication. They will be treated in an inclusive, respectful and non-discriminatory
manner. They will be notified of their right to request a reasonable accommodation or modification
and how to file a complaint under sections 501, 504 and 508 of The Rehabilitation Act.
As it relates to physical access, as required by the Architectural Barrier Act standards
for our component program managers as well as our frontline personnel interacting with people
who have disabilities, this requires a change in mindset. Accessibility must be a priority.
As we reach the 50th anniversary of the passage of The Rehabilitation Act,
the anniversary is on September 26, 2023, we must continue to make accessibility a
priority. Ensuring accessibility in all aspects of a program and in employee
benefits must go into the thinking upfront and not as an afterthought.
We are fortunate at DHS to have Accessibility and Usability and many
DHS Section 508 managers and the components to help us achieve our accessibility goals.
I would like to acknowledge and thank them today for all of your hard work and tireless
effort in ensuring accessibility for our entire workforce. At the same time, providing access is
a responsibility that we all have. Working together, we can achieve it. Thank you.
>> Alright, thank you so much, Miss Abuja Bale. So we're not going to brutalize your name more,
so Ms. Bale, we truly appreciate that. Those were great words of inspiration and a great
presentation. I'm sure we all learned something today that we may not have known previously.
Let me slow down, I see we have another interpreter up. Hello Ms. RK, alright.