Achieving Section 508 ADA Compliance on Websites

 What is Section 508 ADA compliance?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a civil rights statute in the United States that mandates businesses that cater to the general public to provide equal access to those with disabilities. Digital products and services are covered by the ADA, which is only one of many that forbid discrimination due to a person's disability.

All federal electronic content must be accessible, according to the 1998 revision of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 known as Section 508. If a federal agency develops, acquires, maintains, or makes use of electronic and information technology (EIT), it must comply with this regulation.

Convergence and contrasts between the ADA and Section 508

So, is Section 508 compliance the same as ADA compliance? Technically, that is not the case, although the actual necessities of every law frequently overlap. However, there is a common objective between the ADA and Section 508: the elimination of discrimination against those with disabilities. The regulations do, however, include several kinds of organizations. The primary distinction between Section 508 and the ADA is this one.

While Section 508 only applies to federal agencies and organizations with federal funding, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) extends to publicly accessible companies as well as state and local governments.

Another difference between Section 508 and the ADA is the relatively limited scope of Section 508. The ADA is quite inclusive and covers both public and private institutions. The issue of accessibility in the workplace, offline and online, is covered. Websites are not included outside the scope of Section 508, which solely applies to information and communication technology (ICT).

The role of WCAG in achieving Section 508 ADA compliance for websites

Despite the distinctions between the ADA and Section 508, many companies and organizations are realizing that their websites must adhere to the most recent Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) in order to be in compliance with both regulations.

The WCAG offers reliable guidelines for creating accessible websites. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) published and updated the WCAG, which outlines specific success factors for websites and other digital resources. Webmasters can identify and fix website components that don't adhere to ADA Section 508 guidelines using these criteria.

After the 2018 revision, Section 508 now specifically mandates that regulated websites adhere to WCAG 2.0 guidelines at the AA level. Three levels of conformance—A, AA, and AAA—are defined by WCAG. All of the Level A success criteria are present in Level AA, but there are also extra requirements to accommodate assistive technologies like screen readers.

The Department of Justice, which is in charge of enforcing the ADA, promotes WCAG as a key tool to help in Section 508 ADA compliance even though the ADA's text does not specifically mention it because the statute was written long before the first WCAG version was released.

So, regardless of whether you are worried about ADA compliance, Section 508 compliance, or both, you should aim for compliance with Level AA of the WCAG success criteria. The first step in achieving this is to evaluate your site for any existing WCAG failures using the proper ADA 508 compliance tester.

Testing your website for ADA Section 508 compliance

It is difficult to test your website for Level AA success requirements on your own with more than 70 success factors to take into account. Fortunately, there are resources and different kinds of help you can use.

You can test your website for Section 508 ADA compliance using either automated, manual, or hybrid (automatic and manual) methods. Building and maintaining completely accessible digital content requires both manual and automated testing.

When testing your website for Section 508 or ADA compliance, you can utilize an updated checklist. A checklist will make sure that all relevant requirements are met and can be used as a reference during the accessibility testing of the website.

Need help from a professional ADA 508 compliance tester?

You need the help of an expert ADA 508 compliance tester to make the most of the active monitoring and manual testing of your website. This will ensure you have a quick, low-cost way of detecting and resolving the majority of emerging accessibility problems as your website changes. It will also ensure expert testing and remediation of more complex issues that require human judgment.

You can try out this ADA 508 compliance tester to assess the accessibility of your website or call (626) 486-2201 to schedule an ADA 508 consult.