Section 508 materials courtesy of The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

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WHAT IS SECTION 508?

Section 508 is a part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which requires that electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by the Federal government be accessible to people with disabilities. On August 7, 1998, the President signed into law the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which includes the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998. Section 508 was originally added to the Rehabilitation Act in 1986; the 1998 amendments significantly expand and strengthen the technology access requirements in Section 508.

Section 508 is a Federal ruling on Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards that went into effect on 21 Dec 2000. These are mandatory guidelines aimed to make Federal websites and property accessible to people with disabilities. Federal Web sites and property are affected by the guidelines, which were devised by the interagency U.S. Access Board. They take effect June 21, 2001. The final rule does not reference the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0.

WHY ARE ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS NECESSARY FOR THE WEB?

Section 508, Part 1194.22, accessibility standards will change the way users access information on the Web. These standards will help users who:

• not be able to see, hear, move, or may not be able to process some types of information easily or at all.
• may have difficulty reading or comprehending text.
• may not have or be able to use a keyboard or mouse.
• may have a text-only screen, or may be using a screen reader to view the web.

QUICK LIST OF SECTION 508 RULES

§ 1194.22 Web-based intranet and internet information and applications.

This is a partial listing of the complete Section 508 Rule. The list is for Web-based Intranet and Internet Information and Applications. Each alphabetical paragraph can be clicked on to get a full description on a particular item. On that page you will find links to further information. There is also an additional section regarding Video and multimedia products.

Click here for tools which might assist you. Be sure to use these tools to validate your code, see how your page looks to a screen reader, and much more.

Click on any one of the paragraphs below to get more information.

1. A text equivalent for every non-text element shall be provided (e.g., via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content).
   
   
2. Equivalent alternatives for any multimedia presentation shall be synchronized with the presentation.
   
   
3. Web pages shall be designed so that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from context or markup.
   
   
4. Documents shall be organized so they are readable without requiring an associated style sheet.
   
   
5. Redundant text links shall be provided for each active region of a server-side image map.
   
   
6. Client-side image maps shall be provided instead of server-side image maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available geometric shape.
   
   
7. Row and column headers shall be identified for data tables.
   
   
8. Markup shall be used to associate data cells and header cells for data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers.
   
   
9. Frames shall be titled with text that facilitates frame identification and navigation.
   
   
10. Pages shall be designed to avoid causing the screen to flicker with a frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.
    
    
11. A text-only page, with equivalent information or functionality, shall be provided to make a web site comply with the provisions of this part, when compliance cannot be accomplished in any other way. The content of the text-only page shall be updated whenever the primary page changes.
    
    
12. When pages utilize scripting languages to display content, or to create interface elements, the information provided by the script shall be identified with functional text that can be read by assistive technology.
    
    
13. When a web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other application be present on the client system to interpret page content, the page must provide a link to a plug-in or applet that complies with §1194.21(a) through (l).
    
    
14. When electronic forms are designed to be completed on-line, the form shall allow people using assistive technology to access the information, field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission of the form, including all directions and cues.
    
    
15. A method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive navigation links.
    
    
16. When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted and given sufficient time to indicate more time is required.
    
    

§ 1194.24 Video and multimedia products.

1. All analog television displays 13 inches and larger, and computer equipment that includes analog television receiver or display circuitry, shall be equipped with caption decoder circuitry which appropriately receives, decodes, and displays closed captions from broadcast, cable, videotape, and DVD signals. As soon as practicable, but not later than July 1, 2002, widescreen digital television (DTV) displays measuring at least 7.8 inches vertically, DTV sets with conventional displays measuring at least 13 inches vertically, and stand-alone DTV tuners, whether or not they are marketed with display screens, and computer equipment that includes DTV receiver or display circuitry, shall be equipped with caption decoder circuitry which appropriately receives, decodes, and displays closed captions from broadcast, cable, videotape, and DVD signals.
   
   
2. Television tuners, including tuner cards for use in computers, shall be equipped with secondary audio program playback circuitry.
   
   
3. All training and informational video and multimedia productions which support the agency's mission, regardless of format, that contain speech or other audio information necessary for the comprehension of the content, shall be open or closed captioned.
   
   
4. All training and informational video and multimedia productions which support the agency's mission, regardless of format, that contain visual information necessary for the comprehension of the content, shall be audio described.
   
   
5. Display or presentation of alternate text presentation or audio descriptions shall be user-selectable unless permanent.