What Is Section 508 Of The Rehabilitation Act Of 1973
What is Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act?
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a federal law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in federal agencies, as well as any organization that receives federal funding.
In 1998, the law was amended to include Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires federal agencies and any institution that receives federal funding to make electronic technology and information equally accessible for individuals with disabilities. This means that an organization's website must have all features just as accessible for individuals with disabilities as these features are for individuals without disabilities. For example, it must be equally easy for an individual with a disability to find information about an organization's services on their website as it is for non-disabled individuals to access this information.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Requirements
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires applicable organizations to make their website and/or app equally accessible for individuals with disabilities.
Who Needs to Comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Requirements?
Organizations that must satisfy Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requirements include, but are not necessarily limited to:
- Banks or credit unions,
- Schools,
- Government agencies,
- and more
What Does a Website or App Need to Fulfill Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Requirements?
Individuals with a disability must be able to access parts of the website with equal ease as individuals without a disability. In order to do this, a website or app must be made with website accessibility functionality.
Examples of website accessibility functionality includes, but are not limited to:
- "Skip Navigation" options for screen readers,
- ALT text associated with website images to describe an image to blind or visually impaired users,
- Sufficient text and image contrast for visually impaired users
The accessibility requirements for Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act align with accessibility standards from the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0).
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Why is Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Important for Businesses?
The Cost of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Non-Compliance
Failing to comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act could result in hefty regulatory non-compliance fees.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Litigation Risks
In addition to regulatory fees, failing to comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act leaves an organization vulnerable to lawsuits.
While Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act applies to organizations that receive federal funding, similar ADA website compliance requirements apply to all organizations that provide goods or services to people. Businesses that do not receive federal funding have been sued for lack of website accessibility.
As an example, a federal judge ruled that burger restaurant Five Guys violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because its website allowed for online ordering, but their online ordering wasn't equally accessible for individuals with disabilities.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Matters for A Lot of Your Customers
19% of people in the U.S. have a disability. That means that nearly 1 in 5 customers or clients could have an issue using your website or app if you don't take actions to get compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
In today's connected world, a company's website is increasingly becoming a person's first impression of that company. If a potential customer or client with a disability has difficulties accessing information or services on your website, they'll likely get confused and frustrated, then leave your site to explore other options.
In brief, if your website isn't compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation, there's a good chance that you're losing potential customers or clients.
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Get Compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
How does an organization go about making their website or app compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act? A website must be designed with accessibility features in mind. Beyond a new website design with accessibility functionality built in, it is often possible to edit an existing site to make the site equally accessible for individuals with disabilities.
Is your website accessible and compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act? The experienced website design professionals at ACS Web Design and SEO can help you answer this question.
ACS Web Design and SEO provides website accessibility audits. In a website accessibility audit, our website designers and usability experts can identify areas to address to make your website compliant and accessible.
Our team also has years of experience in providing accessible, compliant website design services.
Whether you need a website accessibility audit of an existing website, or you need a website design for a new, compliant website, ACS Web Design and SEO can deliver the results you need.
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What Is Section 508 Of The Rehabilitation Act Of 1973
Source: https://acs-web.com/digital-marketing-lexicon/section-508-of-the-rehabilitation-act/
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