The What, Why, and How of Section 508

Toan Nguyen, Quality Assurance Lead

What is Section 508?
Section 508 is the Rehabilitation Act which Congress amended in 1998 to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. The law applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology. This means that Federal departments and agencies, Federally funded agencies, and contractors must provide services or products that meet the Section 508 requirements.

Why Do We Need Section 508?
The bottom line of Section 508 compliance is getting users access to information. Assistive technology promotes greater independence for people with disabilities by enabling them to perform tasks that they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing. Allowing all types of users' access makes sense. You may not need assistive technology today but as you age, your vision, hearing, or overall health declines. Do you plan to use the computer or internet when you are older? The mouse and keyboard is the most common method of interaction with a personal computer. How would you use a computer if you were to lose the use of your hands? Fortunately, assistive technology such as screen readers and speech recognition software allows users to interact with their personal computer without having to rely on a mouse or keyboard. By eliminating barriers in information technology, ActioNet makes available new opportunities for people with disabilities, whether these disabilities are current or in the future.

What Does Section 508 Mean to Me?
At ActioNet, Inc., we are committed to delivering Section 508 compliant products to all of our customers. This not only prevents complaints by members of the public and Federal employees being brought against an agency, but also prevents the need for corrective measures. No one wants to pay twice for the same product. In fact, many of ActioNet's own internal products and services are Section 508 compliant and accessible, because it just makes sense!

How Do You Become Section 508 Compliant?
ActioNet has been working with and following the Federal guidelines for Section 508 compliancy since they came into force in 2001 both internally and with our Federal customers. We know that being compliant is not an overnight process. We recommend starting new projects with some research into how to accomplish your compliancy goals and implementing those from the beginning. For existing projects, start with the easy items then work your way up to more challenging ones. Once you have the core, the rest becomes easier. In the words of a colleague, "in the end, 95% of designing for Section 508 compliance is just good design practice. And compliance doesn't put anyone at a disadvantage."

Quick Section 508 Facts

• About 54 million Americans have some level of disability.
• 13.1 million people use assistive technology.
• An estimated 9 to 12% of the male population suffers from some form of color vision deficiency, commonly called "color blindness."
• Every 24 hours, the web increases by more than 3.2 million new pages and more than 715,000 images.
• There are roughly 55,000 new internet users each day.