Frequently Asked Questions

In 1998, Congress amended Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,  the first law to provide equal access for people with disabilities, to also require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology (EIT) accessible to people with disabilities. The law (29 U.S.C § 794 (d)) applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology. Under Section 508, agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public access to information comparable to the access available to others. Specific criteria cover software applications and operating systems, web-based information and applications, computers, telecommunications products, video and multi-media, and self-contained closed products.   "On January 18, 2017 (later amended on January 22, 2018), the Access Board (the governing body that oversees the requirements) published a final rule that updates the requirements for information and communication technology covered by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act ..."  "The final rule revises both the structure and substance of the ICT requirements to further accessibility, facilitate compliance, and make the document easier to use." 

Continue reading Overview of the Final Rule→

Why is Compliance with Accessibility Standards Important? 

Non-conformance with accessibility standards can create many barriers for persons with disabilities.  Disabilities can be sensory, physical, or cognitive impairments that substantially limit a person's ability to perform one or more major life activities.  A visitor to your website who is blind, for example, relies on behind the scenes coding that is spoken allowed by special screen reading software.  Without proper coding, they may be unable to access important information or perform functions such as completing and submitting order forms. Similarly, someone who is deaf would not be able to utilize a training video that isn't properly captioned.  These are examples of barriers that would be addressed and eliminated with adherence to standard accessibility guidelines giving equal access to all visitors to your site.  

U.S. Government agency solicitations which include ICT will typically specify accessibility requirements indicating which provisions are required to ensure the product being acquired is accessible and conforms to Section 508 federal standards.  The VPAT®, or Voluntary Product Accessibility Template®, developed by the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) is a "... leading global reporting format for assisting buyers and sellers in identifying information and communications technology (ICT) products and services with accessibility features.”   GSA recommend(s) that vendors complete a VPAT® for any ICT that is intended to be marketed to the Federal government.  After thorough testing to the standards, a completed VPAT® results in an 'Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR)' that assists Federal agency contracting officials and government buyers in assessing ICT for accessibility when doing market research and evaluating proposals.  

The VPAT® is also used to document the level of accessibility of private sector websites. The Americans with Disabilities Act, or the ADA applies to "...nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in public accommodations and commercial facilities," and is similar in intent to the Federal Section 508 law in that it requires equal access for those with disabilities.  In a letter to Congress in 2018, the Department of Justice clarified that the ADA applies to public accommodations' websites.  Since the ADA has not specified technical guidelines to meet the requirement of equal access, the federal standards implemented by Section 508 are a logical, although not mandated, basis for determining accessibility.  The VPAT® is a robust format for indicating the level of conformance to these commonly accepted standards.  Learn more --   Do Section 508 Accessibility Standards Apply to My Website?

We recommend that you seek legal counsel to determine whether and how Section 508 and the ADA may or not apply to you.

The Department of Homeland Security Office of Accessible Systems & Technology (OAST) is committed to the development of the common testing approach for accessibility compliance and conformity, named Trusted Tester (TT).  TT provides a code-inspection based test approach for determining software and website conformance to the Section 508 standards.

Major Benefits of the Trusted Tester Process:

• Promotes a common understanding of the 508 standards.
• Unifies the test process.
• Unifies the set of test tools.
• Unifies test results reporting.
• Test results can be shared for common applications (i.e. Shared Services, COTS, etc.)
• Supports IT governance by integrating Section 508 into the development and acquisition lifecycle.
• Promotes the successful adoption of the changes required to integrate the TTP within an agency.
• Improves ability for developers to reproduce test results which expedites remediation of nonconformance.

Sources:

United States Access Board

Section 508.gov

Information Technology Industry Council 

DHS Trusted Tester (TT)