Why Section 508 is added to the Rehabilitation Act?
Accessibility is required because there are 285 million visually impaired people, 275 million with moderate hearing issues and a large number are having some sort of physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities. This is such a huge number that cannot be ignored. Hence, section 508 is important for
- For providing equal access to electronic and information technology.
- For business purposes, a good number of the population has a disability.
- To ensure that the disabled can also buy and use your product and services.
What does the Rehabilitation Act deal with?
The need for federal legislation for the accommodation of disabled American citizens was felt in the 1970s which led to the formation of the Rehabilitation Act in 1973. This was the first American legislation that was brought into the picture to support people with disabilities. This federal legislation was made to give accommodation to people with mental and physical disabilities who struggle to perform their day-to-day activities independently.
Who is bound by section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act?
The accessibility provision was not there in the Rehabilitation Act when it was originally made. The section is added through the Amendment Act of 1998 in the Rehabilitation Act 1973 which majorly emphasized the accessibility to the disabled. It is a mandatory provision that bound the federal agencies, federally funded organisations such as education institutions and service providers of the federal agencies strictly.
It directs the government entities to access their information and communication technology (ICT) to people with disabilities as well. They cannot bring their ICT into the public domain unless it is a Section 508 Complaint.
In layman’s language, they have to create, use and maintain their website and digital platform in such a way that it becomes accessible to disabled employees as well as general users as well.
What does ICT include in respect of section 508 of accessibility compliance?
Information and communication technology or ICT include the internet and intranet websites, mobile apps, online training, webinars and teleconferences, technical support call centres, PDF documents, software and operating systems and user guides for software and tools. This list is not exhaustive.
What are Web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG)?
The latest update was made in section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act in the year 2012. The update introduced the web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG) which is the global standard of web accessibility compliance. These guidelines are to be used by individuals, organizations and governments worldwide to make their websites, text, images, sounds and videos accessible to disabled people.
Does section 508 bind the private sector contractor and website designer as well?
Although section 508 of the accessibility laws binds the federal agency and or a federal contractor and not the private contractor, various other accessibility laws require that their ICT should pass the accessibility test and one of them is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 1990.
Consequences of the non-compliance of the Section 508 accessibility compliance
Non-compliance with section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act may lead to serious legal action such as lawsuits and heavy fines. A bundle of cases has been filed in the last 15 years against federal agencies and federally funded organisations for non-compliance with this provision. Some of the leading cases include The National Association of the Deaf v. Harvard University and MIT and Michael Leiterman, a blind attorney v. Department of Homeland Security.
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