OFCCP Webinar- Online Application System

by Sul-Kee Kim, Consultant, DCI Consulting Group, Inc.

On January 8, 2009, OFCCP held a webinar to discuss its online application system directive and to provide additional tools and resources to assist Federal contractors in complying with the Directive. OFCCP Policy Branch Chief Naomi Levin and ODEP Policy Advisor Mario Damiani made the presentations. The presentation slides are on OFCCP’s Web site.

During the seminar, OFCCP indicated that it will make a conscious effort to ensure equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans. All compliance evaluations would include a review of a contractor’s online application system, and OFCCP will retain and investigate individual complaints involving a contractor’s online application system instead of referring them to EEOC.

ODEP recommended utilizing a technical assistance tool and useful resources in the Accessible Systems Racing League. A contractor can contact the Accessible Systems Racing League at earn@earnworks.com to receive a free diagnostic test of its career website or evaluate accessibility of its online application system on its own with the following 10 questions:

• Does your site display its equal employment opportunity policy statement?
• Does your site provide information on how individuals with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations?
• Can your site be navigated with a screen reader?
• Does your site time out after a period of inactivity? Does it allow users to request more time before the time out?
• Does your site avoid blinking, marquee or other auto-scrolling text which might trigger epileptic seizures?
• Does your site allow users to skip past repetitive navigation links?
• Does your site provide captioning for all video and audio content?
• Do all images on your site have accompanying text description?
• Can your site be accessed without using a mouse?
• Does your site provide fully usable online forms, PDF documents and PowerPoint materials, particularly to individuals who use screen readers?