Office of the Chief Information Officer &
High Performance Computing and Communications

Section 508 Guidance for Webmasters

With the publication of the Section 508 Standards on December 21, 2000, all government Web sites, i.e., Intranet and Internet information and applications, developed after June 21, 2001, are required to be in conformance to the Section 508 1194.22 - "Web-based Intranet and Internet information and applications" technical standard. Because Web pages have been the focus of Section 508 mitigation, there are many resources available to assist in modifying and testing pages for accessibility. With a little attention to detail, a well-designed Web page easily be a useful resource for people with disabilities.

There are automated tools that can assist Web authors in meeting the accessibility requirement. The Government Computer News published articles in August 2001 and in October 2002 comparing many of these products. However, it is important to note that no set of automated tools alone can ensure that a Web page fully conforms to the Section 508 standards. Conformance with Section 508 standard can only be assured when accessibility is part of the initial design, and when each standard is validated. Most tools alert the author's attention to specific issues and can ensure consistency in design of presentation.

Some questions to ask during the design and evaluation phases are: Were commercial repair tools used to aid the evaluation? What parameters were set in the tools regarding the number and types of items to be flagged for attention? Were people with disabilities and people with experience in using assistive technologies involved in the evaluation? What tests were actually utilized?

The Access Board has developed a guide to the standards that gives the reason for each Web standard, along with specific examples of how to implement each standard. By following the guidelines, the resulting Web pages are more universally usable and will operate on more platforms, such as a cellphone Internet browser.

The Department of Commerce (DOC) has incorporated the Access Board's technical standard, 36 CFR 11942.22, for Web-based intranet and internet information and applications, as a DOC Web Policy ensuring that DOC organizations (e.g. NOAA) will certify the accessibility of their Web sites under Annual Web Site Certification Policy. This provides a framework for NOAA to provide guidance to its web developers, authors, managers and anyone responsible for a NOAA web site. The NOAA Chief Information Officer is required to certify annually that all NOAA Web sites comply with the DOC Web policy.

The Section 508 Checklist from WebAIM is a guide that lists each item of the 1194.22 Web standard and describes what it means to pass or fail. Web authors will find the guide handy to have as they develop their Web pages. If a Web author uses nothing else, he or she should use the Section 508 Checklist.

When there is a significant redesign to a site, the Web site will have to meet the standards. Web sites are, by nature, a changing form of information dissemination, and as the site is updated it must meet the standards.