Assistive Technology (AT) Evaluation and National Loan Program
Assistive Technology Evaluation
As you may know, for nearly 20 years the USDA TARGET Center has partnered with the Department of Defense Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP) to provide assistive technology accommodations to employees at no cost to USDA.
Effective October 1, 2020, CAP “is a procurement resource funded only to provide assistive technology to Department of Defense employees, and active duty Service members. CAP will move forward with any USDA requests that have been APPROVED by 9/30/2020.”
Per the USDA Reasonable Accommodation Procedures, “USDA agencies have been directed to establish central funds for accommodations within their own budgets so that agencies’ individual offices or units are not reluctant to fund accommodations that cost money.” As of October 1st, this must occur without CAP’s support.
For USDA employees with disabilities, the TARGET Center will continue to provide Assistive Technology Evaluations which include technology recommendations. In lieu of offering the option of direct agency purchase or ordering through CAP, all customers will now be provided technology recommendations and connected with vendors on the GSA schedule who have a relationship with the TARGET Center, when possible.
National Loan Program and Equipment Loan Process
The USDA TARGET Center loans a variety of assistive technology equipment for evaluation purposes. Our onsite inventory of assistive technology equipment allows us to provide customers with the opportunity to try out technology for themselves before making purchasing decisions. Our National Loan Program brings onsite evaluation to customers around the United States.
The technology items are listed on the equipment page to be informational—they provide details on each equipment. If you are interested in requesting an equipment loan, you need to get an assistive technology (AT) evaluation that confirms your eligibility for equipment loan.
Please note that:
- USDA employees nationwide may borrow an item for a two-week period, depending on availability.
- TARGET will provide vendor information to interested customers.
Some equipment, such as software, is only available for demonstration purposes and cannot be transferred to another user. In many cases, this software is available as a demo download from the vendor’s website. Please contact TARGET for more information.
The USDA TARGET Center aims to continually improve the inventory available to our customers. If there is a product that you think would benefit USDA employees that TARGET does not currently hold, please contact TARGET with your recommendation. In addition, we will be adding functionality to request an item directly from its listing on our website.
