Press Release

Committee Partners with Department of Defense Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program

The Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled signed an interagency agreement with the Department of Defense Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP) on November 30, 2000, making its employees eligible for CAP services. CAP's mission is to ensure people with disabilities have equal access to the information environment and opportunities in the Federal Government. On October 30, 2000, the National Defense Authorization Bill granted CAP the authority to "provide assistive technology, devices, and services to any department or agency in the Federal Government upon the request of the head of the agency."

The Committee currently employs 5 individuals with reported and targeted disabilities-24% of their entire staff. CAP will provide the Committee services including: solutions for current employee requirements, retention issues including Workers' Compensation and accommodations for telecommuters, ensuring public access to Human Resource/EEO Offices and Training Centers as well as future employee requirements. CAP will also assist the Committee with adhering to Federal Legislation including Section 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and Executive Orders 13163 and 13164 which mandate the hiring of 100,000 persons with disabilities in the Federal government and require the establishment of accommodations procedures.

CAP pays for and provides a wide variety of assistive technology for people with hearing, visual, dexterity, cognitive or communication disabilities. Demonstrations of these technologies are available for employees and their supervisors at CAP's Technology Evaluation Center (CAPTEC) located in the Pentagon, Room 2A259. Frequently requested accommodation solutions include teletypewriters (TTY's), captioning for training videos, print enlargers, screen readers, alternative keyboards, pointing devices, and speech recognition software. CAP also funds sign language interpreters, readers, and personal assistants for Federal employees needing to attend technology related training sessions.

For further information on assistive technologies available through CAP, or to arrange for a needs assessment for an employee with a disability in your Agency, please visit www.tricare.osd.mil/cap, call (703) 681-8813 (Voice/TTY) or send an email to cap@tma.osd.mil.