This glossary includes terms, acronyms, and definitions used by National Industries for the Blind (NIB) and its associated agencies. It is organized alphabetically and includes a linked table of contents for ease of navigation. Hold the control key and click the Table of Contents entry to navigate.

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Terms starting with A

A List

Commodity products with mandatory purchasing preference; Total Government Requirement; widely available through GSA and commercial distribution channels. Wholesaler support required for office products (support is driven by anticipated sales). Delivery timeframes consistent with industry best practices. ETS blocking for all A List products.

A-76

Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-76 (Revised Supplemental Handbook Performance of Commercial Activities)

AAFES

Army & Air Force Exchange Service

AAPD

American Association of People with Disabilities

AbilityOne Program

The AbilityOne Program, formerly known as the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Program (effective April 2007), was created by the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act to provide employment opportunities for Americans who are blind or have other severe disabilities. These jobs involve the sale of goods or services to the federal government.

AbilityOne Representative (ABOR)

A federal agency employee tasked with furthering the success of the AbilityOne program within that agency.

ACB

American Council of the Blind

Addition Package

A set of documents provided to the U.S. AbilityOne Commission staff to have a product, service, Base Supply Center, or Military Resale item added to the government Procurement List.

Address Activity Code

Allows vendors to purchase goods from the General Services Administration (GSA) or the Department of Defense. Number is provided by GSA.

ADF

Annual Demand Frequency

Administrative JDA

Javits-Wagner-O'Day Development Support Administrator

Administrative Lead Time

The phase in the procurement cycle consisting of the time interval between the dates of the supply control study to the award of a contract to a vendor.

ADPE

Automatic Data Processing Equipment

ADQ

Annual Demand Quantity

ADS

Atlantic Diving Supply

ADV

Annual Demand Value

Adventitious Blindness

A state of blindness that results from a trauma, accident, or disease and affects a person who has had sighted experience

AEAW

Alliance for Expanding America's Workforce

AER

Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired

AF

Air Force

AFB

Air Force Base OR American Foundation for the Blind

AFCU

Air Force Combat Uniform

AFLC

Air Force Logistics Command

AFMC

Air Force Materiel Command

Agency Allocation

One of the methods by which NIB makes an equitable distribution of orders from the federal government to its associated agencies; The percentage of a customer's requirement made by a specific NIB agency.

Agency Code

A three letter code used to identify NIB associated agencies. The first two letters indicate in which state the agency is headquartered, and the third typically indicates the city.

AIDB

Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind

ALA

American Logistics Association

ALC

Air Force Logistics Command

ALL

Acceptable Laboratory List (issued by the Defense Personnel Support Center) OR Affiliated Leadership League of and for the Blind of America

AMC

Army Materiel Command OR Air Mobility Command (Air Force)

AMSAN

American Sanitary Products Inc.

ANSI

American National Standards Institute; not a standards-writing body; ensures that member organizations that write standards follow rules of consensus and broad participation by interested parties. ANSI is the U.S. member of ISO.

APA

Administrative Procedure Act

APC

Annual Price Change; annual or semi-annual review of NSN pricing and the basis for current rates on the Procurement List to determine if they are fair and reasonable.

Appropriations

Committees in the House and Senate that each have a subcommittee (Labor, HHS, Education, and Related Agencies) that provides the funding for the U.S. AbilityOne Commission.

AQ

Acquisition

AQL

Acceptable Quality Level

AR

Assignment Roster

ARB

Air Force Reserve Base

ARN

Apparel Research Network; DLA program to improve U.S. apparel industry's ability to meet DOD requirements through research, development, and technology transfer for the apparel and related industries such as distribution, equipment, and materials suppliers.

ARO

After Receipt of Order

ASL

Acceptable Supplier List (issued yearly by DPSC) OR Assignment Letter sent to a nonprofit agency indicating that they have been officially assigned a product for development (internal).

ASPPO

Armed Services Production Planning Officer

ASQC

American Society for Quality Control; a professional, nonprofit association that develops, promotes, and applies quality-related information and technology to private and public sector organizations.

Assignment (CNA)

The authorization the U.S. AbilityOne Commission gives to NIB or SourceAmerica to develop a product, service, or Base Supply Center. CNA assignments are for two-year terms.

AT

Adaptive or Assistive Technology; specialized equipment that enables people who are blind or disabled to use technology (i.e., JAWS, Magic, which reads and converts data into voice).

Auditor

Person qualified to conduct quality system audits. In the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) system, auditors work for organizations called registrars.

Authorization

Basic legislation to establish or continue the legal operation of a federal program or agency.

Authorized AbilityOne Distributor

An organization authorized by the U.S. AbilityOne Commission to stock and distribute AbilityOne products. To receive authorization, the commercial organization must agree to certain terms and conditions established by the Committee in its procedures, including the requirements to eliminate essentially-the-same (ETS) items from its product offering, and to block the sale of ETS items and substitute the AbilityOne item.

Availability

Capacity of an item to perform designated function when required.

Award

An announcement by the federal government regarding the vendor selected for a specific solicitation.