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Accessibility

It is the policy of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) to provide access to all of its programs, services and information to people with disabilities that is comparable to the level of access provided to others. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and related U.S. Department of Transportation regulations have made this a requirement since 1978. With the passage of recent amendments to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Bureau's electronic and information technology (EIT) must meet specific accessibility standards for people with disabilities, including both RITA employees and the customers RITA serves, whenever the Bureau develops, procures, maintains or uses EIT.

Section 508 requires RITA to provide accessible EIT to its employees with disabilities, to enable them to do their jobs successfully and enjoy the same benefits of training and career opportunities that are available to others in the workforce. Also, Section 508 requires RITA to provide accessible EIT to its customers with disabilities to enable them to enjoy the same benefits of the Bureau's programs, services and information that are available to others.

To guide RITA, the U.S. Access Board established new EIT accessibility standards, the General Services Administration issued new EIT acquisition requirements and the Department of Justice provided compliance coordination. Since June 21, 2001, RITA has been required to acquire EIT products that meet the new standards and acquisition requirements. In addition, RITA continues to develop, maintain, and use EIT that meets the new standards, unless doing so results in an undue burden. RITA also cooperates with the Department of Justice by providing data about EIT accessibility and other issues.

Some of the information on our pages requires a plug-in to interpret the page content. Here is a list of plug-ins that you may need:

If you are a user with a disability and need additional assistance, please E-mail RITA.

National Transportation Library

The National Transportation Library (NTL) both links to and collects electronic documents in a variety of formats from a variety of sources. The NTL makes every effort to ensure that the documents it collects are accessible to all persons in accordance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 (29 USC 794d), however, the NTL, as a library and digital repository, collects documents it does not create, and is not responsible for the content or form of documents created by third parties. Since June 21, 2001, all electronic documents developed, procured, maintained or used by the federal government are required to comply with the requirements of Section 508.

Undue Burden Exemption: While the NTL endeavors to make documents fully compliant with Section 508, the cost of conversion of the quantity of documents received would impose an undue burden in costs rendering the NTL incapable of fulfilling its mission to provide a digital archive. Further, it may not be possible at any expense to make some of the documents fully accessible. Given these restraints, the NTL is committed to using all resources at its disposal to make as much of the collection as possible compliant, and to provide alternative assistance or conversion assistance when requested.

If you encounter problems when accessing our collection, please let us know by writing to librarian@bts.gov or by contacting us at (800) 853-1351. Telephone assistance is available 9AM to 6:30PM Eastern Time, 5 days a week (except Federal holidays). We will attempt to provide the information you need or, if possible, to help you obtain the information in an alternate format. Additionally, the NTL staff can provide assistance by reading documents, facilitate access to specialists with further technical information, and when requested, submit the documents or parts of documents for further conversion.

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