What is Section 508?
Section 508 is part of the 1998 amendment to the U.S. Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that requires all federal agencies to ensure that their information and communication technology (ICT) is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. The law applies to federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology (EIT).
All web pages of a federal agency's website, software, applications, intranet sites and tools, and electronic documents are all considered ICT, EIT, or digital assets under Section 508.
What is digital accessibility?
Digital accessibility is the term used to describe how simple it is to navigate and comprehend content on websites, mobile applications, or other electronic-based information that may be made available through different platforms like TVs, laptops, etc.
When applicable, it means having features like closed captioning for movies that may be passively and personally viewed by selecting the CC button beneath each dialogue box, as well as alternative text descriptions for photos, tables, and other elements present throughout online articles.
Digital accessibility helps make online tools accessible to everyone, even those with impairments such as motor function, vision, hearing, and cognition. Digital accessibility is also important for people facing language barriers.
Why digital accessibility?
Digital accessibility is now everyone's responsibility, not simply that of a select few individuals and organizations. You need to make sure that your digital assets comply with the Revised Section 508 Standards of the Rehabilitation Act if they are intended for use by U.S. federal agencies.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires you to make your digital content accessible to everyone, even if it isn't intended for use by federal agencies. The ADA forbids discrimination against people with disabilities in all spheres of public life.
When Congress updated the Rehabilitation Act to mandate that government agencies make their EIT accessible to persons with impairments, the ADA's digital accessibility standards became a standard under Section 508.
Because of this, accessibility professionals like ADACP frequently refer to Section 508 of the ADA when navigating the accessibility terrain for a digital asset in order to ensure the asset strikes the proper accessibility balance and takes cognizance of both the ADA and Section 508 accessibility requirements. As a result, ADA digital accessibility extends the requirements of Section 508 from the public sphere into the commercial sphere.
Given that the ADA applies to publicly accessible businesses as well as state and local governments, while Section 508 applies to federal agencies, ADA Section 508 digital accessibility integrates accessibility considerations so that one does not have to do piecemeal accessibility compliance checks on their digital product or service.
You don't have to worry about pursuing accessibility compliance under Section 508 accessibility standards or ADA guidelines when you have an ADA Section 508. If you concentrate on making sure that your digital asset is ADA and Section 508 compliant, which is a combination of ADA and Section 508 compliance, you will be able to satisfy both the ADA and Section 508 compliance standards.
What is a 508- and ADA-compliant digital asset?
It is useful to note that almost every digital asset made available for public use in the US is subject to the ADA, even if your digital asset is not directly required to fulfill Section 508 ADA compliance criteria.
To be Section 508 compliant, digital assets should be simply designed, easily understood, and clearly navigable. An ADA-compliant digital asset simply means that the asset is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.
Impacts of Section 508 on digital accessibility
Section 508 impacts digital accessibility in the following ways:
- Helps to overcome barriers to access for all users.
- Helps to increase the customer base for digital products and services as well as enhance the customer experience.
- Ensures better usability of digital products and services for everyone, not just users with disabilities. That is because many of the improvements aimed at accommodating the needs of users with disabilities actually improve the overall usability of a digital asset for many different types of users.
Need help with ADA Section 508 compliance?
It is both morally and legally correct to comply with ADA Section 508. The world we live in is becoming more digital every day. People with disabilities are given access to the expanding digital lifestyle, and this creates a whole new network of friends and companions from which we can all benefit. Make sure your digital assets are Section 508 ADA compliant and don't fall behind. You can get help with this from the ADACP.
You may reach ADACP at (626) 486-2201 to learn more about how they can assist you in making your IET products and services digitally accessible.
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