Using technology to enhance value is an integral part of the postal services transformation plan. The resources in this section were developed by the accessible electronic documents community of practice aed cop. How updated section 508 accessibility standards map to wcag 2. Nov 01, 2001 implement standard accessibility apis e. Review of section 508 standards for web accessibility. Beginning in june of 2001, all government web sites were required to conform to these standards. Federal laws, including section 508 of the rehabilitation act, mandate that people with disabilities have access to the same information that someone without a disability would have. Conformance to requirements for softwareauthoring tools requirement in the revised 508 standards. Agencies must comply with these standards to ensure our technology is accessible and usable by individuals with disabilities.
The revised 508 standards contain scoping and technical requirements for information and communication technology ict purchased, built, maintained or used by federal agencies. Section 508 standards for electronic and information technology. Follow the revised 508 standards to ensure your information and communication technology ict is accessible and usable by individuals with disabilities. Pdfua is intended as a companion standard, to be used in conjunction with other standards as. The following standards are excerpted from section 508 of the rehabilitation act, 1194. Pdf tags provide the structured, textual representation of the pdf content that is accessed by screen readers, for the purpose of reading a document outloud. Pdf files cannot be validated for compliance with section 508 by currently available automation. Having a wellstructured source file does not necessarily translate into an. Nov 12, 20 chances are sooner or later youre going to be assigned a project requiring 508 compliant accessibility standards. Section 508 has moved from gauging accessibility based on a rigid set of static rules to measuring accessibility compliance against the more principlebased web content accessibility guidelines wcag 2. Section 508 handbook as508 june 2004 transmittal letter a. Original section 508 standards did not explicitly provide technical standards for electronic documents. Keep reading to learn more about section 508 and accessibility compliance.
The office of the chief information officer ocio is responsible for hhs section 508 compliance. They contain technical criteria specific to various types of technologies and performancebased requirements which focus on functional capabilities of covered products. Oct 08, 2019 section 508 requires that all website content be accessible to people with disabilities. There is a noteworthy difference between section 508 which is a law while wcag is just a set of guidelines that are considered to be the standard. Ssas guide to applying section 508 standards section 1194. Send us your accessibility feedback, questions, or concerns. Section 508 standard basics the elearning practitioner. Tagging a pdf can be tedious and requires acrobat pro or expensive thirdparty software.
About the section 508 standards united states access board. Dec 21, 2000 section 508 also requires that individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public seeking information or services from a federal agency, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency. Section 508 requires that all website content be accessible to people with disabilities. This checklist is not official section 508 documentation. Contact us about information technology accessibility. The original section 508 amendment was added to the rehabilitation act back in 1986. Please view these video tutorials on creating 508 compliant documents. The impetus for the action was a desire to refresh the nearly 20yearold, static accessibility standards within each act, adopting a more modern and internationally recognized standard. Welcome to the w3cs section 508 and uaag requirements. Review the section 508 checklist for accessible pdfs before you create your document to help aid your design, or after to verify your content is accessible. Where these apis do not enable the user agent to satisfy the requirements of this document, use the standard input and output apis of the operating environment.
Please include the web address and a description of the problems you have encountered. Naturally so, section 508 has tighter limits and requires special attention over traditional and simple accommodation processes. Adobe acrobat reader does not includeany accessibility validation tools and therefore it is not used to test pdfs in this test process. Dhs section 508 compliance test process for applications. Additional detail on what the law requires, techniques specific to the chapters technologies, and further discussion addressing each standard can be found in the section 508 technical reference guide. Emi maintains a locally authored policy guide that covers all aspects of section 508 compliance known as appendix a. Section 508 standards section 508 compliant document.
The following are the basics of courseware accessibility guidelines section 508. Pdfua clarifies and simplifies the pdfspecific technical requirements to meet wcag 2. How to test and remediate pdfs for accessibility using adobe acrobat dc. Users with a disability who rely on assistive technologies for input. Section 508 also requires that individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public seeking information or services from a federal agency, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency. The official language for each section 508 standard. Dhs section 508 compliance test process for applications about this document who should use this document this document has been designed for and is intended for use by dhs trusted testers. Us access board guide to the standards webbased intranet and internet information and applications please note. Section 508 refresh part 1 tpg the accessibility experts. Structure the document correctly in your authoring software and be sure to make tags when creating the pdf, then check the resulting file for compliance or. For the full text of section 508, please see the official government 508 web site.
International standards harmonization web content accessibility guidelines. View and download standard c508 instruction manual online. Supports text that is stamped into pdf documents becomes part of the document content stream and can be resized by assistive technologies or standard pdf viewer magnification increase or decrease. Section 508 stipulates requirements on how federally funded entities develop, procure, maintain, or otherwise use information technology. A beginners guide to section 508 and accessibility compliance. Section 508 is a reference to the relevant section of the u. Now that the revised section 508 standards and section 255 guidelines have been published, learn how incorporating the wcag 2. Note, much of this guidance predates the revised 508 standards. How to create accessible portable document format pdf documents that conform to the revised 508 standards. Section 508 checklist for accessible pdf accessible.
The resources in this section were developed by federal agencies and shared here for your convenience. To validate pdfs for section 508 compliance, testers must utilize the tools available in adobe acrobat professionalto conduct manual and automatic section 508 compliance testing. Irs section 508 compliant pdf forms internal revenue service. A trusted tester is a person certified to provide accurate and repeatable section 508 compliance test results for software and web applications. The forms on this page are provided in adobe acrobat portable document format. How the updated section 508 standards map to wcag 2. Section 508 guide tagging pdfs in adobe acrobat pro. Procuring section 508 conformant ict products and services basic overview of the federal acquisition process with regard to procuring ict products and services that are section 508 conformant.
Ssas guide to applying section 508 standards social security. As originally written, the enforcement provisions of section 508 would have taken effect on august 7, 2000. Any item not rated as fully compliant needs an explanation in detail as to why the standard. Standard operating procedures for creating accessible audio and visual media release of new section 508 awareness computerbased training. In addition to section 508 requirements, hhs has policies, standards, and requirements for electronic documents that include but are not limited to the following. Section 508 standards guide california state university. Section 508 standards webbased intranet and internet information and applications. These pdf forms are fully accessible but there is no computation, validation, or verification of the information you enter. This applies to web applications, web pages and all attached files on the intranet, as well as, the internet.
The section 508 standards are part of the federal acquisition regulation far and address access for people with physical, sensory, or cognitive disabilities. Jan 29, 2015 accessible pdf files are referred to as tagged pdfs, even though there is more to an accessible pdf than tags. Section 508 guide tagging pdf s in adobe acrobat pro. Micropurchases and section 508 requirements how to make micropurchases that conform with the revised 508 standards. Omb memo about procurement solicitations attachment 1 doi section 508 contact list. Pdfua is needed because while the pdf specification creates accessibility mechanisms it fails to set clear rules for actually creating or delivering reliably. Access boards new rules that updates accessibility requirements for information and communication technology ict in the federal sector covered by section 508 of. As we increase our reliance on information systems to help us manage information, improve service, manage costs, and carry out our mission more. Adobe has a builtin accessibility checker, which is located under the tools section. Emergency management institute 508 and technical standards. The us access board is in the late stages of revising its accessibility standards through the formal rulemaking process.
312 967 968 352 413 1317 1260 1083 1223 1463 1560 1512 1128 583 1269 375 1069 326 349 303 503 1433 1326 1151 780 99 746 683 279 926 918 1441 288 363 56