California State University Northridge

Section 508 Self-Evaluation Questionnaire for Chairs, Deans and Administrators

A.  Policies and Procedures Regarding Web Accessibility

1. Does your unit maintain a web site?

  1. Yes.
  2. No. (If your answer is no, you may skip the rest of Section A and proceed to Section B).
2. Does your unit create and maintain its own web pages?
  1. Yes, our staff creates its own web pages and posts those pages to a web server for our unit.
  2. Yes and no. We create our own web pages but another entity maintains them.
  3. Yes and no. Another entity creates our web pages but we maintain them.
  4. Yes and no. Some parts of our unit create and maintain their own web pages, while others have adopted a different practice.
  5. No. While our staff supervises the content, another entity does all the technical work. (choose one: independent contractor / other federal unit / other)
3. Has your unit established web accessibility guidelines to ensure that your web pages - Internet and Intranet - are accessible to people with disabilities?
  1. Yes, our unit has established such guidelines and they are in place.
  2. No, but we have established a timetable for doing so.
  3. No, and we have no such plans.
  4. Yes and no. Some parts of our unit have done so while others have not.
4. Do you have procedures in place to ensure that your accessibility guidelines are followed by people who have responsibility for the content of your web site?
  1. N/A. We don't have any web accessibility guidelines.
  2. Yes, those who are responsible for web content follow our accessibility guidelines.
  3. No. While some in our unit follow our guidelines, there is no procedure in place to ensure that those with responsibility for web content do so.
  4. No, but we have established a timetable to do so.
  5. No, and we have no such plans.
5. If you have established web accessibility guidelines, please indicate which, if any, of the following topics are addressed by those guidelines (check as many as apply):
  1. N/A. We don't have any web accessibility guidelines.
  2. Adobe Acrobat Files (.pdf's)
  3. Microsoft PowerPoint files
  4. Macromedia Flash content
  5. Macromedia Shockwave content
  6. JavaScript or other scripting languages
  7. Java applets
  8. Other__________________________
6. Does your unit have a policy requiring that prior to posting, web pages are "tested" using text-only browsers - such as the public domain "Lynx" browser - commonly used by people with disabilities?
  1. Yes.
  2. No, but we have established a timetable to do so.
  3. No, and we have no such plans.
  4. Yes and no. Some parts of our unit have done so while others have not.
7. Does your unit have a policy requiring that prior to posting, web pages are "tested" using screen readers or other assistive technologies commonly used by people with disabilities?
  1. Yes.
  2. No, but we have established a timetable to do so.
  3. No, and we have no such plans.
  4. Yes and no. Some parts of our unit have such a policy while others do not.
8. Does your unit provide clear and detailed information or options for improving the accessibility of your web sites for persons with disabilities?
  1. Yes, we have such information on all component-level home pages and on our unit-wide home page.
  2. Yes, but we only provide such information on the unit-level home page.
  3. Yes, but we only provide such information on component-level home pages, not on the unit-wide home page.
  4. No, but we have established a timetable to do so.
  5. No, and we have no such plans.
  6. Yes and no. Some parts of our unit provide such information while others do not.
9. Has your unit designated and advertised an e-mail address to allow people with disabilities to inform you of accessibility problems encountered on your web site?
  1. Yes. Such an e-mail address and instructions for its use are available on our web site.
  2. No, but we have established a timetable to do so.
  3. No, and we have no such plans.
  4. Yes and no. Some parts of our unit have taken this step while others have not.
B. Other Rehabilitation Act Concerns

Section 508 cannot be fully grasped without a basic understanding of sections 501 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Among other things, sections 501 and 504 contain general prohibitions of disability-based discrimination and generally require federal agencies and those accepting federal funds to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified persons with disabilities, including employees and members of the public, upon request.

Many of the recommendations incorporated into the Attorney General's April 2000 report to the President, Information Technology and People with Disabilities: The Current State of Federal Accessibility, were designed to assist agencies in implementing complementary parts of the Rehabilitation Act, including sections 501, 504, and 508. The following questions are designed to measure whether agencies have implemented these recommendations.

1. Does your unit provide training for all employees and contractors for using TTY's, the Telephone Relay Services (TRS)?

  1. Yes.
  2. No, but we are in the process of developing such training.
  3. No, but we are willing to provide such training if short, inexpensive training modules are made available.
  4. No, and we have no such plans to do so.
  5. Yes and no. Some parts of our unit routinely do so while others do not.
2. Has your unit installed dedicated TTY lines wherever it receives a large volume of incoming calls?
  1. Yes.
  2. No, but we have established a timetable to do so.
  3. No, and we have no plans to do so.
  4. Yes and no. Some parts of our unit have done so while others have not.
3. If your unit uses interactive telephone systems, have you tested and configured such interactive telephone systems to be compatible with TTY's?
  1. Yes.
  2. No, but we have established a timetable to do so.
  3. No, and we have no plans to do so.
  4. Yes and no. Some parts of our unit have done so while others have not.