How Do I Make My Website Section 508 Compliant?

The laws based on digital accessibility are meant to protect the civil rights of the disabled population in the US. ADA and Section 508 are two major milestones that are aimed toward attaining the goal of total accessibility. You might want to check your website for ADA compliance and adhere to the regulations. However, there is still a growing risk of accessibility litigation due to Section 508. It is a part of the Rehabilitation Act 1973 and can affect businesses in case of non-compliance.

With the latest refresh of Section 508, now the accessibility rules are applied for all types of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products and offerings. ICT category not only involves a commercial website, but also applies to PDFs, apps and any other commercial digital product.

Let’s find out who is required to adhere to section 508 and what arethe best practices to attain accessibility compliance.

What is Section 508 and who needs to comply with it?

In 1998, section 508 was added to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It mandates that federal agencies procure ICT offerings only from vendors that are complying with the accessibility guidelines.

If your business gets funding from federal agencies, compliance with Section 508 becomes obligatory. The vendors, contractors or partners of these federal agencies can be anyone including private businesses. Therefore it can be said that both federal and non-federal agencies need to comply with the law.

How to attain Section 508 compliance?

Due to the increasing number of lawsuits, the significance of ADA website testing is acknowledged widely. To make your website ADA compliant, you need to follow the conformance standards mentioned in WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines). Additionally, the latest refresh of Section 508 cites that agencies need to conform to the WCAG standards. So if you are paying attention to the latest version of WCAG during the Ada Compliant Website Test you are automatically conforming tothe Section 508 regulations.

The ADA website test for accessibility compliance can be done in two ways, via automated testing tools orvia manual audits. The only difference is that now the conformance guidelines are not just limited to the website but also include all electronic documents. 

Why automated testing tools are not sufficient?

Using a testing tool can’t offer the comprehensive results that you get with a manual accessibility audit. When you use an ADA compliance website checker, the accuracy rate is only about 30%. It is not enough to achieve the goals of total accessibility.

On the other hand, you would need remediation and legal support during the process, which can only be provided by certified accessibility specialists. Tools are fast but not reliable enough to protect from expensive lawsuits. A beneficial approach is to combine the ADA website checker tools with manual audits to get impressive results.

Final word

Searching for an ADA checker that offers legal compliance for Section 508? Visit the link given below and have a word with the industry leading accessibility specialists.

https://adacompliancepros.com/