Understanding Section 508
Section 508 isn’t something many people run out to learn and more than likely, most of you haven’t a clue what the law is about and who it’s for. As for myself - I’ve been working with it for awhile now but mostly in the development aspect. Today I decided to take the plunge and read the full law and the material surrounding it.
While I’m not completely through it, I thought I would document what I’m learning here for those few that would also like to know my findings.
First, What is Section 508?
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires access to electronic and information technology procured by Federal agencies. The Access Board developed accessibility standards for the various technologies covered by the law. These standards have been folded into the Federal government’s procurement regulations.
Great, now we’re all on the same page right? Well, let me try to simplify that. Section 508 is a law that got passed to insure all information is accessible to everyone despite their situation (blind users, cognitive disabilities, etc…). Now that we’re on the same page, at least I think we are, I’m going to go through the law and pull out pieces that jumped out at me.
The scope of section 508 is limited to the Federal sector. It does not apply to the private sector, nor does it generally impose requirements on the recipients of Federal funds.
This was both interesting and surprising to me. I had the understanding that any government agency had to adhere to Section 508. This, I thought, included groups like the City of Holland, any group receiving Federal funding in any form.
One thing people should see coming in the future is the move from the Federal sector to the private sector. Right now that’s not the case but just like we have handicap ramps and building codes that require accessibility for people in wheelchairs - the same will happen here. It starts at the government level but then filters down to local businesses and individuals in years to come.
Section 508 uses the Federal procurement process to ensure that technology acquired by the Federal government is accessible.
This in incredibly important for those out there developing for the Federal government but also important for any developer of software or web applications. You never know when one of your programs or devices will be reviewed for use in this arena. You also never know when you, yourself, will be developing for this audience. So make sure to begin with Section 508 in mind.
… section 508 does not authorize complaints or lawsuits to retrofit technology procured before this date to meet the Board’s standards.
This sucks because it allows so many people out there to just ignore the fact their information is not accessible. It’s also a hindrance for those trying to convince these groups to update their technology. We may find people saying, “Well, it’s not perfect but if we were to update/redo it - we would be required to do a lot more than we really wish - We’re ok with keeping it old so we don’t have to do any work.”. This leads me to the next surprising piece.
A Federal agency does not have to comply with the technology accessibility standards if it would impose an undue burden to do so.
What !!!??? Wow, that was probably the most surprising thing to find so far. The Access Board went through all this trouble to put together this law to help people that don’t have access to electronic information and they throw this wording in there. Sure - I can understand that it may be rather costly for some groups but why not provide advantages to complying with this law? Could grants help provided a relief, what about tax benefits, etc…
The one nice thing is that you’re required to explain why there is “Undue Burden” for a given procurement action, and must still provide people with disabilities access to the information or data that is affected.
So that’s all I have time for right now but gives a lot of us a good idea of the law from a sky view. Later I’ll continue my findings and write a few articles developing for this standard. It’s not as hard as you may think.
Wife Says:
so, I live with you and I’m still amazed at your mental capabilities to read and understand this jargon for more than 8 hours each and every single day. I can see, by reading this, and from living with you and hearing about it for years - that this is your passion. To 1: Make the internet user friendly to EVERYONE - which, to us, more able bodied persons means nothing - but to the deaf and to the blind it means everything; 2: to educate those around you.
You really do amaze me.