Policy:

All Web sites of Department of Commerce organizations shall be designed to ensure that members of the public with disabilities, and Federal employees with disabilities, have access to, and use of, information and data that is comparable to the access and use available to persons who do not have disabilities.

The DOC adopts, as a Department of Commerce standard, the regulations implementing Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 that pertain specifically to Web sites.  These regulations are found at 36 CFR 1194.22 and are restated in this policy as the DOC Standards for Web Site Accessibility.

Scope:

All Department of Commerce Web sites.

Purpose:

• To ensure that all DOC Web sites are certified as accessible under the Annual Web Site Certification Policy.
  
  
• To create a framework for the Department to provide guidance and resources to DOC organizations attempting to make their Web sites accessible.

Exceptions:

Web pages posted before June 21, 2001, are grandfathered. However, Commerce organizations are encouraged to make all Web pages posted prior to June 21, 2001 accessible. Web pages that have remained static since 2001 should be reevaluated at least once a year to determine if they should still be on the Internet.

Deadline for Implementation:

Immediate.

Discussion:

Scope Issues: Note that "all Department of Commerce Web sites" in the Scope includes Department of Commerce intranet sites as well as public Web sites, regardless of whether developed in-house or by contractors.

Standards for Web Site Accessibility lists the nineteen specific accessibility
requirements that your Web site must meet and provides additional resources to help you make your site compliant.

Accessibility Frequently Asked Questions provides answers to common questions about this policy.

Revision History:
August 29, 2008: Implemented revisions as approved by WAG.
April 3 , 2008: Corrected formatting.
April 12 , 2001: Approved.