WCAG Compliance CheckSection 508 and WCAG
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires federal agencies to make the information and communication technology (ICT) they develop, buy, maintain or use accessible. The Revised 508 Standards, published by the U.S. Access Board, set the technical rules (U.S. Access Board, Revised 508 Standards and 255 Guidelines).
The WCAG link
The Revised 508 Standards incorporate WCAG 2.0 by reference: web content, electronic documents and software user interfaces must meet the WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA success criteria. Because WCAG is backwards compatible, content that meets WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 AA also meets 2.0 AA.
More than websites
The standards apply WCAG 2.0 not only to web pages but also to electronic documents (PDFs, Word files, slide decks) and to the user interfaces of software, reading "web page" as "document" or "software" where needed. They also cover hardware and the support documentation that comes with a product. Agencies' official communications, such as public notices and forms, must be accessible in whatever format they are published.
The legacy safe harbor
ICT that met the original 2000 Section 508 standards and has not been changed since 18 January 2018, when the Revised 508 Standards took effect, doesn't have to be upgraded. Any change to a component, such as a redesigned page or a new release, brings that component under the revised standards.
Who has to comply
- Federal departments and agencies, for ICT they develop, buy, maintain or use.
- Vendors are not covered directly, but agencies buy against the standards, so vendors are asked to document conformance, usually in an Accessibility Conformance Report based on the VPAT template.
How to test
- Run automated checks on each page and template, and fix every failure.
- Test each WCAG 2.0 A and AA criterion manually; the WCAG 2.2 AA checklist covers all of them and more.
- Record results per criterion: that record is what an Accessibility Conformance Report summarises.
Section508.gov, run by GSA, has the government's testing guidance and buying resources (Section508.gov (GSA)).