36 CFR Part 1194 - Proposed Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Standards and Guidelines NPRM - Preamble

4. Benefits of the Proposed Rule

Overall, results from the Preliminary RIA demonstrate that the proposed 508 Standards will likely have substantial monetizable benefits to federal agencies and persons with disabilities. As shown in Table 4 above, the annualized value of monetized benefits from these proposed standards is estimated to be $69.1 million over the 10-year analysis period (assuming a 7 percent discount rate). In calculating these monetized benefits, the Preliminary RIA makes the following assumptions: (a) one-half of the recurring annual benefits derived from accessible ICT would be realized in the first year of implementation; and (b) the number of individuals with disabilities who visit federal agency websites will increase every year, but a constant proportion of those individuals will visit such websites every year.

It is also important to note that the proposed rule is expected to generate significant benefits that were not evaluated in the Preliminary RIA, either because they could not be quantified or monetized (due to lack of data or for other methodological reasons) or are inherently qualitative. Estimating the economic impact of a civil rights-based regulatory initiative in an area—and marketplace—as dynamic as ICT is a complex and difficult task. Some of these unquantified (or inherently unquantifiable) benefits of the proposed 508 Standards are listed in Table 5 below. The fact that these benefits could not be formally assessed in this Preliminary RIA should not diminish their importance or value.

Table 5 - Unquantified Benefits of the Proposed Rule

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