Section 508: Accessibility

Some of the definitions are from the 508 standards.

Accessible: Compliant with the official Section 508 standards.

Agency: Any Federal department or agency, including the United States Postal Service. (§ 1194.4)

Alternate Formats: Alternate formats usable by people with disabilities may include, but are not limited to, Braille, ASCII text, large print, recorded audio, and electronic formats that comply with this part. (§ 1194.4)

Alternate Methods: Different means of providing information, including product documentation, to people with disabilities. Alternate methods may include, but are not limited to, voice, fax, relay service, TTY, Internet posting, captioning, text-to-speech synthesis, and audio description. (§ 1194.4)

Applet: A small application program. On the Web, using Java, the object-oriented programming language, an applet is a small program that can be sent along with a Web page to a user. Java applets can perform interactive animations, immediate calculations, or other simple tasks without having to send a user request back to the server.

Assistive technology: Any item, piece of equipment, or system, whether acquired commercially, modified, or customized, that is commonly used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. (§ 1194.4)

Client-side image maps: An image map is a graphic image defined so that a user can click on different areas of the image and be linked to different destinations. In a client-side image map, the map information is delivered to the user's browser with the rest of the web page cod

Data cells: The basic components of data tables (used for data storage and display) as opposed to tables that are used to layout sections of a web page.

Electronic and information technology (E&IT): Includes information technology and any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment, that is used in the creation, conversion, or duplication of data or information. The term electronic and information technology includes, but is not limited to, telecommunications products (such as telephones), information kiosks and transaction machines, World Wide Web sites, multimedia, and office equipment such as copiers and fax machines. The term does not include any equipment that contains embedded information technology that is used as an integral part of the product, but the principal function of which is not the acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange, transmission, or reception of data or information. For example, HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) equipment such as thermostats or temperature control devices, and medical equipment where information technology is integral to its operation, are not information technology. (§ 1194.4)

Frames: A feature that enables Web authors to divide browser display areas into two or more sections (frames). The contents of each frame are taken from a different Web page.

Hardware: Physical E&IT equipment like disks, disk drives, display screens, keyboards, printers, boards, and chips. In contrast, software is not physical. Software exists as ideas, concepts, and symbols.

Header cells: Title cells for data in tables.

Information Technology: Any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment, that is used in the automatic acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange, transmission, or reception of data or information. The term information technology includes computers, ancillary equipment, software, firmware and similar procedures, services (including support services), and related resources. (§ 1194.4)

Multimedia: More than one media, for example, combined audio and visual components. It is important to note that a number of interactive presentations, shockwave & flash predominantly, only contain one media but are generally accepted as multimedia components and do pose a number of accessibility issues as they frequently are difficult for assistive technology to access.

Operable controls: A component of a product that requires physical contact for normal operation. Operable controls include, but are not limited to, mechanically operated controls, input and output trays, card slots, keyboards, or keypads. (§ 1194.4)

Plug-in: Plug-in applications are programs that can easily be installed and used as part of your Web browser. A plug-in application is recognized automatically by the browser and its function is integrated into the main HTML file that is being presented. Examples of commonly used plug-ins are Adobe Acrobat Reader and Macromedia Flash Player.

Procurement: A new contract of any value above $2,500, including work assignments, delivery orders, task orders, GSA schedules, purchase orders, and other ordering mechanisms.

Product: Electronic and information technology. (§ 1194.4)

Purchase: To procure through a contract (including work assignments, delivery orders, task orders, GSA schedules, purchase orders, and other ordering mechanisms) issued after June 21, 2001, or through an amendment to such a procurement which changes substantively the original procurement.

Redundant text: Information that repeats from page to page on a Web site.

Self-contained product: Products that generally have embedded software and are commonly designed in such a fashion that a user cannot easily attach or install assistive technology. These products include, but are not limited to, information kiosks and information transaction machines, copiers, printers, calculators, fax machines, and other similar types of products. (§ 1194.4)

Server-side image map: An image map is a graphic image defined so that a user can click on different areas of the image and be linked to different destinations. In a server-side image map, the map information is stored on the host server and is accessed when the users clicks an area on the associated graphical image.

Software: Computer instructions or data. Anything that can be stored electronically is software. The storage devices and display devices are hardware.

Style sheet: A set of specifications that define the layout and/or manner in which information in a document is presented for various mediums. This may include position of elements, fonts (face, size, and style), colors, line spacing, voices, display options, etc. Style sheets may not only define the visual presentation of information but also how that information is presented if it is read back by assistive technology.

Telecommunications: The transmission, between or among points specified by the user, of information of the user's choosing, without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received. (§ 1194.4)

TTY: An abbreviation for teletypewriter. Machinery or equipment that employs interactive text based communications through the transmission of coded signals across the telephone network. TTYs may include, for example, devices known as TDDs (telecommunication display devices or telecommunication devices for deaf persons) or computers with special modems. TTYs are also called text telephones. (§ 1194.4)

Undue burden: Undue burden means significant difficulty or expense. In determining whether an action would result in an undue burden, an agency shall consider all agency resources available to the program or component for which the product is being developed, procured, maintained, or used. (§ 1194.4)