NCD CAP recommendations letter
March 18, 2020
Curtis D. Bell
Director, Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program
4800 Mark Center Drive, Suite 05E22
Alexandria, VA 22350
Dear Mr. Bell,
As a follow-up concerning NCD’s recent work analyzing the issue of centralized accommodations funds as a means of maximizing the Federal Government’s ability to provide reasonable accommodations to its employees, NCD has recommended Congress increase funding to CAP per the following:[[1]](https://ncd.gov/publications/2020/ncd-cap-recommendations-letter#_ftn1)
- The increase should be based on trendline data of CAP’s premature depletion of funds per annum over the last five years, and regularly reevaluate funding levels considering the number of employees with disabilities in the Federal Government in years to come in line with other government-wide initiatives to increase the hire of people with disabilities.
- Based on NCD’s research, CAP would benefit from up to date knowledge of specific occupations to better ascertain the best and most up-to-date accommodations for those occupations; thus, increased funding by Congress should be used to enable CAP to develop this specific research.
NCD was honored to be a part of the 2019 Joint Disability & Reasonable Accommodations Summit held by CAP on August 28, 2019 and urges CAP to hold an annual meeting focusing specifically on federal agencies’ accommodations staff. This conference will be for the purpose of discussing promising and best practices with CAP’s staff and facilitate improved routine communications between CAP and agencies’ accommodations staff. Improved communication and coordination are a vital step toward compliance with providing timely reasonable accommodations.
NCD will shortly be issuing a recommendation to the Chief Information Officers Council, urging the Executive Committee to appoint a representative from CAP, given the many technology accommodations that are now available and the need for CAP to determine current promising and best practices in this space.
NCD acknowledges and continues to be grateful for the service of CAP in helping federal government employees with disabilities obtain reasonable accommodations, and we believe our recommendations will be useful in that continued endeavor. Should you have any additional questions or comments concerning these recommendations, please do not hesitate to reach out to Lisa Grubb, Executive Director at (202) 272-2113, or by email at lgrubb@ncd.gov.
Sincerely,
Neil Romano
Chairman
[[1]](https://ncd.gov/publications/2020/ncd-cap-recommendations-letter#_ftnref1) NCD. “NCD Letter [to Congress] Regarding DoD Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program.” https://ncd.gov/publications/2020/ncd-letter-dod-cap. (January 23, 2020).