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Computer / Electronic Accommodations Program Support (CAP)TRICARE Management Activity (TMA) |
Challenge
The Defense Department (DoD) established its Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP) in 1990, improving access to the department's electronic and information technologies (EIT) for workers with mobility, auditory, visual, and other disabilities. Axiom began providing critical program and technical support by mid-decade, and by FY 2000, CAP had supplied accommodations to nearly 25,000 DoD employees. The program had earned recognition as the federal government's largest centralized accommodations program. The FY 2001 National Defense Authorization Act authorized CAP to provide its services to any federal agency that signed an interagency agreement with DoD. With this legislation, the CAP director set a goal of providing 1,000 accommodations to non-DoD employees during the first year of expanded services. CAP faced two challenges: continuing to provide DoD with superior service while expanding its services governmentwide.
Strategy
To meet the target, Axiom helped craft a creative, aggressive marketing campaign, effectively increasing demand for CAP services. We developed print and digital marketing materials and provided logistical support for a nationwide series of presentations on the benefits available through CAP. Our technical experts conducted demonstrations of the assistive technologies that can bring EIT within the reach of all workers. We also partnered with CAP in the design and implementation of process improvements to ensure the program's growth did not diminish the quality of services available to the DoD. These included streamlining acquisition procedures to speed the processing of requests for program services, automating aspects of the procurement process, and instituting new methods for monitoring the federal government's assistive technology inventory. Our team reviewed the growing number of requests for services, selected vendors, tested the effectiveness of assistive technology products, and provided technical staff to support the CAP Technology Evaluation Center at the Pentagon.
Impact
With Axiom's help, CAP is now providing accommodation services to more than 45 federal agencies. It exceeded the goal of delivering 1,000 accommodations to non-DoD employees within the first year of expansion, while simultaneously filling nearly 3,500 requests from DoD employees. Procedural improvements brought a 50 percent reduction in the time required to complete processing service requests. While the program's modest budget was increased by 70 percent, it now services a market that is 150 percent larger. It has been recognized with the Federal Technology Leadership Award as well as Vice President Gore's Hammer Award, and in June of 2001 was acknowledged by President George W. Bush for its singularly successful system and expansion.