Section 508 Standards & Compliance

Section 508 Checklist

Whether you are a federal agency or a company providing products or services to a federal agency, ensure your digital content conforms to Section 508 and take the initiative toward greater accessibility. Download the Section 508 Checklist now.

Section 508 Compliance Requirements

To obtain Section 508 compliance, federal agencies must ensure that their digital content can be accessed by everyone, regardless of their disability. The standard for judging whether a piece of digital content is accessible is spelled out in Section 508’s E205.4 Accessibility Standard. This standard mandates that electronic content conform to the criteria and requirements of WCAG 2.0. This standard also applies to companies that supply federal agencies with ICT products and services, and they will be expected to demonstrate their compliance by submitting a VPAT.

WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and is a set of widely recognized guidelines developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to ensure that web content is accessible to individuals with disabilities. WCAG provides a specific framework and guidelines for developers, designers and content creators for ensuring their digital content is inclusive and accessible. This includes features such as text alternatives for non-text content, keyboard accessibility, color contrast, and more.

Section 508 requires digital content and ICT produced and used by the federal government to follow WCAG 2.0 Level A and Level AA Success Criteria and Conformance Requirements. This includes:

• Websites
  • Web Applications
  • Web pages
  • Images
  • Forms
  • Interactive elements
• Software Applications
  • Operating Systems
  • Desktop software
  • Mobile apps
• Telecommunication devices
  • Phones
  • Video conferencing tools
• Multimedia
  • Videos
  • Podcasts
  • PowerPoint presentations
  • Animations
• Hardware
  • Computers
  • Information kiosks
  • Copiers
  • Printers
• Electronic Documents
  • PDFs
  • Word documents
  • Spreadsheets

Section 508 Compliance Requirements For Assistive Technology

Making a website compatible with assistive technology like screen readers requires certain design, content, and development considerations. Below, the requirements for Section 508 compliance are divided into categories that highlight the key decisions that need to be made throughout the website and application-building process.

Document Structure

Document structure allows screen reader users to navigate through the content efficiently. Properly structured headings, lists, and other elements enable users to quickly move between sections or skip directly to specific content, improving their browsing experience. Here are some examples of structure elements and what Section 508 requires.

• Page Titles: Create brief but descriptive page titles within a website so that screen readers can quickly interpret them.
• Navigation: Some assistive technologies are designed to allow people to navigate the menu of a website or app by using only their keyboard. This means easily navigating to each section, as well as the navigation menu at the top of the page. A Section 508 compliant site will include features like a “skip to main content” link option or button near the navigation menu to reduce the amount of scrolling.
• Web Forms: Forms on websites must follow a logical layout, use placeholder attributes instead of label tags and have labeled fields.
• Landmarks: Landmarks provide a way to divide a web page into meaningful segments, making it easier for users to navigate and understand the content. Developers use landmarks to identify sections and assist people with navigation, specifically when a person is using a screen reader.

Development

Development considerations include website and app attributes that go on “behind the scenes” within the coding. While these aspects are not immediately seen by the user, the way technology is programmed will affect the user’s experience.

• JavaScript: This popular programming language for websites must be used in a way that meets Section 508 standards. For example, JavaScript often enables dynamic content updates without requiring a page refresh. While this can enhance the user experience, it may pose challenges for screen readers and other assistive technologies.
• Language attribute: This HTML attribute is used to specify the primary language of the content within a web page and is typically added to the opening “html” tag in the document. Screen readers and other assistive technologies use the language attribute to ensure that the content is read and pronounced correctly for users who rely on these tools.
• ARIA Labels: Created by W3C, these labels make information within the website available for screen readers. Make sure these are enabled properly onto your website to meet Section 508 standards.

Images and Video

The visual elements on the page besides the text are an important part of providing context, additional information, and entertainment.

• Alt text on images: Alt text is essential for helping people with visual impairment understand images, charts, and other visual elements on a web page. Each image should be given a complete description and context if needed within the alt text.
• Media: Video captions help make videos accessible for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Design Elements

Design plays an important role in accessibility for assistive technology and design elements are included in the requirements for Section 508 compliance.

• Color: Create proper color contrast ratios early in the design to ensure your text is easy to read for people with vision impairments such as color blindness or low vision.
• Text Size: Ensure text is large enough for people to read, as is and when made larger.

Who Must Be Compliant With Section 508?

U.S. government departments that have websites, applications, and other digital content or systems developed using federal funds must comply with Section 508. This includes organizations such as colleges and universities and government contractors.

WCAG, Section 508 and the ADA: What’s the Difference?

Digital accessibility and compliance terms are often used interchangeably: ADA compliance, Section 508 compliance, WCAG compliance. But there are key differences in these terms and to what they apply.

ADA: The Americans With Disabilities Act is a civil rights law passed by Congress to ensure all people have equal access to education, buildings, public places and more. It also applies to digital technology. Local and state governments, non-profit organizations, and businesses must meet its accessibility standards.

Section 508: This federal law applies to digital assets and ICT that are procured, used, and produced by government agencies and those companies that contract with them.

WCAG: As noted above, this is the standard and guidelines for building and maintaining accessible digital technologies. Conformance to WCAG is required for compliance with Section 508.

Tips For Ensuring Full 508 Compliance

Here are some ways you can ensure Section 508 accessibility when redesigning a company website or developing a new application.

• Start with coding: Avoiding coding errors and using accessible development best practices helps ensure assistive technology is compatible with your site.
• Keyboard navigation: By including headings, lists, and other elements, you can make your site easy to navigate with the keyboard.
• Skip navigation: Help users more easily get to the main content of the page by adding skip navigation options that allow them to sort through repetitive elements.
• Make visuals accessible: Visuals should be clear for all users, which includes making them easy to search and adding alt text.
• Captions and transcripts: For Section 508 accessibility, make sure captioning is accurate and synched with video content. Include audio transcripts and transcript elements with videos.
• Accessible forms and files: Contact forms and lead generation forms are an essential part of business websites. Make sure screen readers are able to navigate forms and downloadable PDFs and allow users to fill each element.
• Background elements and contrast: Design elements such as background animation or colored backgrounds may make your site more difficult to read for people with disabilities. Keeping backgrounds simple and using best practices with color contrast will help ensure accessibility.
• Consistent alt text: Add alt text to all visual and graphic elements and adhere to best practices for both describing the image and providing context. This includes diagrams, charts and illustrations.
• Unique hyperlink labels: This is not only an accessibility practices but a user experience and design best practice as well. Use link descriptions that provide context to the user. For example, instead of “download” use link hypertext “Get the Accessibility Guide.”

Video not playing? View it at YouTube.

Testing Tools for Section 508 Compliance

Automated accessibility testing tools can help with determining your organization’s level of 508 compliance by scanning your domain or digital content for WCAG errors and alerts. TPGi’s ARC Monitoring performs an automated scan on a regular interval and tracks performance over time through a WCAG Density Score that represents a ratio of errors to pages scanned.

Our solution looks for machine-detectable accessibility defects within digital content. Designed for rapid scanning of a web domain (or domains), ARC Monitoring will crawl through your website, looking for accessibility violations against common standards, including WCAG 2.1 A/AA or Section 508. The scans can be scheduled to run on a regular basis with clear visuals indicating changes that might require action.

This provides accessibility program managers with a method for setting an initial benchmark score and tracking improvements based on WCAG success criteria. Your WCAG density score and free initial domain analysis is one of the best starting points for any accessibility program.

Learn more about the TPGi ARC Accessibility Management Platform.