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Bureau of Indian Affairs
Fire and Aviation Management
Section 508 - The Rules
This is a lengthy and boring page devoted to describing and explaining the rules of access that this Web site - and all Federal Web sites - are required to abide by, under the provisions of "Section 508". Anyone who plans to publish official materials via the medium of the Internet should know and comply with these rules. For more information, see the Accessible Technology Center Web site.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was revised by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to include that all ". . . electronic and information technology allows, regardless of the medium of the technology--
(i) individuals with disabilities who are Federal employees to have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access to and use of the information and data by Federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities; and
(ii) individuals with disabilities who are members of the public seeking information or services from a Federal department or agency to have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access to and use of the information and data by such members of the public who are not individuals with disabilities."
In order to comply with these provisions of Section 508, sixteen Web Accessibility Standards have been established:
"A web site will be in compliance with the 508 standards if it meets paragraphs (a) through (p) of Section 1194.22.
a. Images (Text equivalent)
b. Multimedia presentation
c. Color
d. Organization
e. Server-side image maps
f. Client-side image maps
g. Data tables
h. Multi-logic row or column header
i. Frames
j. Flicker
k. Text-only
l. Scripting language
m. Applets and plug-ins
n. Electronic forms
o. Content tracking
p. Timed response"
These standards are described at greater length in the document "Section 508/Web accessibility Standards", which you may download (.pdf file) by clicking here or on the title. Anyone preparing pages for publication on the BIA-FAM Web site or on the NWCG Web site will comply with ALL of these standards.
Tip: These two Web sites exist for the primary purpose of providing information to a narrow group of users, the wildland fire community. We are not in the business of selling anything, nor providing entertainment, and we do not have to provide enticement nor encouragement to visit our pages; people visit these pages because they want the information contained on them. Therefore, we can make our pages simple and direct, without graphical adornment, which also happens to be the most efficient way to comply with Section 508.