SuccessFactors Technology Meets and Exceeds Federal Rehabilitation Act, Section 508 Standards; Workforce Performance Management Software Vetted by Industry Expert, Tested by Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Business Wire, August 17, 2005

SAN MATEO, Calif. -- SuccessFactors, Inc., the leading supplier of workforce performance management software, today announced that their on-demand technology is compliant with the United States Federal Rehabilitation Act "Section 508" standards for information technology. SuccessFactors' technology has also been applauded by nationally renowned 508 Compliance industry expert Dr. Jim Thatcher to have far exceeded the compliance requirements through the provision of rich functionality including navigation headers and uniform access keys. This functionality ensures maximum usability in addition to accessibility and allows customers of SuccessFactors to expand the use of the technology to employees with disabilities.

The US Workforce Rehabilitation Act, Section 508, was enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology, to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities, and to encourage development of technologies to help achieve these goals. The law applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology and to other public sector entities, and private sector companies who have federal contracts. Any electronic and information technology purchased by Federal agencies, or provided to the public by those agencies, must be accessible as measured by the Section 508 Standards. In addition, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires private sector employers and state and local government to remove barriers in the workplace and to provide reasonable accommodation to people with disabilities.

According to US Census Bureau statistics from 2003, approximately 77.4 million Americans have some type of disability, so the impact of software accessibility is significant and far-reaching. After vigorous assessment and real-time testing by a unique public-private sector collaboration between expert Jim Thatcher, staff from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts human resources staff and the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind assistive technology experts, SuccessFactors proved their status as a compliant technology provider, distinguishing itself as an organization willing to listen to and fully address the needs of all their customers.

"As a state agency who is banking on SuccessFactors' Workforce Performance Management software to help us recognize and reward the Commonwealth's highest performers, it is imperative that we use software that is accessible to all of our employees, without any exceptions," said Ruth Bramson, Chief Human Resources Officer, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. "SuccessFactors has met and exceeded all required measurements and we look forward to continuing to work in partnership as product enhancements are delivered every month to ensure accessibility to all Commonwealth employees."

Jim Thatcher was identified by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as an expert who could provide a fair assessment of the SuccessFactors' product compliance. Dr. Thatcher spent the majority of his career in the Mathematical Sciences Department of IBM Research. He led the development of IBM Screen Reader/2, the first screen reader for a graphical user interface on the PC and was a key driver in the development of IBM Home Page Reader, a talking web browser for the blind and visually impaired. Dr. Thatcher also served as Vice-Chair of the Electronic and Information Technology Access Advisory Committee (EITAAC) to propose standards for Section 508 and later chaired the subcommittee on software standards. Dr. Thatcher also wrote the course on Web Accessibility for Section 508 for ITTATC, the Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center, and has received numerous awards for technical work over his 37 year career with IBM. Dr. Thatcher retired from IBM in 1996 to become a consultant in the area of accessibility.

"After immediately addressing the compliance issues found within the software, SuccessFactors took the analysis one step further and incorporated an impressive array of features and functionality, not required by the government, to most effectively support users with disabilities," said Jim Thatcher, Principal, www.JimThatcher.com. "I am pleased to see the SuccessFactors team implement accessibility features into their product that are now available not just to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but to all SuccessFactors customers."

About SuccessFactors Technology

The SuccessFactors Workforce Performance Management Suite is delivered as a service, enabling organizations to rapidly align, develop, motivate and maintain a high-performance workforce, while providing visibility, accountability and results for the customer. Built on an industry-standard architecture, the Workforce Performance Management Suite is composed of distinct capabilities, all of which are fully integrated. Its ease-of-use and rapid deployment features allow customers to solve immediate needs by getting to productive events in record time. The entire suite is highly scalable and modular, allowing customers to add new modules when they are ready -- "on demand."