508 Compliance

Projects in government agencies require compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires federal agencies and their contractors to make information technology (IT) accessible to people with disabilities. Unlike many other digital accessibility laws, Section 508 has clear technical standards. A landmark legislation mandates that federal agencies create, buy, and use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that is accessible to people with disabilities. 

The amendment also establishes technical requirements for making websites, software, applications, emails, electronic documents, and other information and communication technology (ICT) accessible to people with disabilities. It’s based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the international standards for website accessibility.   

In a nutshell, Section 508 applies to all electronic communication including:

• Public-facing websites
• Online training resources
• Online  forms
• Software  and applications, including mobile apps
• Digital  artifacts, such as Word documents, Power Point, Excel and PDFs

Section 508 guidelines are updated occasionally to ensure that they’re in line with modern technologies. For example, in 2017, the law received its most recent update, which establishes WCAG 2.0 Level AA as the de facto “rules" for compliance.  

Quick overview of WCAG

• WCAG  is published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which also publishes  standards for HTML, CSS, and other web technologies.
• WCAG  is designed to be technology-independent: Its      requirements aren’t specific to a certain technology.
• The  guidelines include simple pass-or-fail statements called success criteria,   which can be used to test web pages and content for accessibility. 
• The success criteria are organized into three levels of conformance: Level A      (least strict), Level AA, and Level AAA (most strict). Most organizations      should aim for Level AA conformance, which is what Section 508      requires.  
• Section  508 incorporates WCAG 2.0 by reference. That means that nearly every WCAG  2.0 Level A/AA requirement appears word-for-word in the Section 508  guidelines.

In 2017, the board incorporated WCAG 2.0 into its Section 508 Standards. The current standards explicitly require agencies to meet WCAG’s Level A and Level AA guidelines. Level A and Level AAA are considered to be “reasonably accessible” standards for most people with disabilities. Both address barriers that impact a wide range of users with varying disabilities. This includes individuals who use screen readers (software that outputs text as audio or braille) and other assistive technology (AT).

Fortunately, accessibility is achievable with Verve’s help. To achieve Section 508 compliance, organizations must meet all WCAG 2.0 Level A/AA success criteria. However, the best practice is to follow the latest version of WCAG. Our experts can help achieve the WCAG standard. 

WCAG provides guidance for finding (and fixing) common accessibility barriers such as:

• Poor  keyboard accessibility. Many people rely solely on a keyboard to      access the web. When content is not fully operable with a keyboard, these      users may be left out. 
• Missing  alternative text (alt text) for images. Descriptive alt text benefits      everyone, but it’s especially important for people who use screen readers      to browse the internet. 
• Missing  captions for multimedia content. Accurate captions improve      experiences for people with hearing disabilities.  
• Strict time limits. People with disabilities may need more time to      complete tasks, so time limits should only be used where necessary. Users      should be able to adjust, extend, or turn off the time limits wherever      possible. 
• Low-contrast text. Poor color contrast impacts users with color vision      deficiencies (CVD) and other vision disabilities. 
• Flashing  or flickering content. Flashing content can be distracting, and      it’s potentially dangerous for users with photosensitivity disorders.

These are just some of the criteria highlighted in WCAG that make your website Section 508 compliant. 

Non-compliance with Section 508 isn't just a regulatory oversight; it carries substantial legal and reputational risks. This could also mean non-compliance of contract deliverables, which could result in contract loss. In addition to reducing legal and contract-loss risks, complying with the requirements of Section 508 can help organizations offer an improved user experience to employees and the public — and deliver digital information to the widest possible audience.

To earn and maintain Section 508 compliance, you need a long-term strategy. And it starts by testing content against WCAG regularly, then remediating issues that could impact your users. Our team combines powerful automation with expert human guidance, providing a path to long-term digital compliance. Verve offers the whole suite of 508 compliance services from creating standards & governance to testing & mitigation.

In all, our services include: 

• Automated testing for accessibility issues 
• Automated remediation for accessibility barriers
• Guidance for carrying out custom remediation
• Active  monitoring showing your current level of accessibility