What is the Difference Between Section 504 and Section 508?
With the advent of the Internet, an amendment (Section 508) was signed into law in 1998, expanding the Rehabilitation Act to include equal access to electronic and information technology. Section 504 was originally the last line of the Rehabilitation Act, but did not have any implementing rules.
With the amendment of Section 508, agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public, including the provision of information to employees and members of the public access to information comparable to the access available to others.
Is Your Website in Compliance with Section 508 Regulations?
First and foremost, accessibility is the key element and there must be a laser focus to ensure enabling all employees to have equitable and ease of access. Specifically:
Accessibility:
(A) Development, procurement, maintenance, or use of electronic and information technology: When developing, procuring, maintaining, or using electronic and information technology, each federal department or agency, including the United States Postal Service, shall ensure, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the department or agency, that the electronic and information technology allows, regardless of the type of medium of the technology.
(i) individuals with disabilities who are Federal employees to have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access to and use of the information and data by Federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities; and
(ii) individuals with disabilities who are members of the public seeking information or services from a federal department or agency to have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access to and use of the information and data by such members of the public who are not individuals with disabilities.
(B) Alternative means efforts: When development, procurement, maintenance, or use of electronic and information technology that meets the standards published by the Access Board under paragraph (2) would impose an undue burden, the Federal department or agency shall provide individuals with disabilities covered by paragraph (1) with the information and data involved by an alternative means of access that allows the individual to use the information and data.
Section 508 regulations require organizations to find better means of making electronic resources accessible to people who have disabilities. A notable percentage of Americans have physical and mental disabilities, which might make it challenging to access resources the same way someone without a disability can.
Consequently, state law requires organizations to find better means of making it easy for people with disability to get information from organizational platforms and websites. Section 508 has three major requirements that organizations need to meet – technical, support, and functional.
Under the three requirements, section 508 stipulates that companies implement accessibility by making the coding of software and websites to be compatible with assistive technology. The user interface should also present ease of use to people with disabilities. The support requirement stipulates that support documents within a system should be accessible to people with disabilities.
How Does a Website Comply with Section 508?
Picture this scenario, your organization is an essential service provider, and since the progressive growth of digital literacy, you create a website to funnel online users. On the occasion that a person with hearing impairment wants to use your website to access your services, will it be easy for them to navigate your user interface?
If your answer is no, then you have work to do. People with hearing impairment can access organizational websites through assistive technology to help them interpret visual web content. You can also include video captions so they can read through them.
Hearing impairment is, however, not the only disability. You can also adjust your website to make it easy for the blind to use. Text-to-speech conversion is one way you can comply with the section 508 Act. Generally, there are many ways to ease your website’s navigation to make it accessible for people with disability.
Which Organizations Need to Have Websites that are Section 508 Compliant?
All organizations should comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Compliance makes you stay on the right side of the law. Additionally, numbers indicate that a significant percentage of Americans have disabilities and form part of your client and customer base. As such, compliance also enables you to get recognition and more consumers of your services.
Failure to comply with section 508 can lead to lawsuits. Investing in effective website designs accessible to people with disabilities is a worthy cause.
How Do You Know If Your Website Is Compliant with Section 508?
It is a simple and fast process. If you adjust your website to make it accessible to people with disabilities, then it is compliant. There are also automated, manual and hybrid methods which organizations can use to check if their websites are compliant with section 508 act.
Learn More About 508 Compliance from Applied Development
Our services include Section 508 compliance, American Sign Language (ASL) interpretating, Communication Access Real-Time Translation (CART), and strategic communications. Call us at (410) 571-4016 or contact us online to learn how we can help your organization implement accessibility on websites and digital platforms.