Section 508 Compliance Checklist

So you’ve got a website? Most businesses and organizations do. And since those websites are considered public domain, they must be accessible by people who have disabilities as well as by people who don’t. Just like a restaurant, a website where someone accesses products, services or information must be accessible by all.

To that end, a Section 508 Compliance Checklist will help you be aware of the federal standard for website accessibility. The following checklist is just a partial list of some of the major requirements of Section 508 compliance. If this Section 508 compliance checklist seems overwhelming for you, get in touch with us!

Our agency has implemented two solutions to help solve this problem. We have created the ADA Plugin, which is an affordable option for people who manage websites and are confident in making the fixes themselves. The ADA Plugin scans a website for Section 508 Accessibility compliance issues, flags them, and connects them with the standard’s requirements so they can easily be fixed. The second solution is to hire our agency to run the scan for you and fix any and all issues your site may be experiencing.

With that option, your site is thoroughly reviewed by someone whose job it is to understand the complex technical requirements of Section 508 Accessibility and fix them. You will be assured that your site is compliant from the ground up, and you can more easily maintain that compliance as time goes on.

If the answer to any of these questions is No, then your site would not pass a Section 508 compliance audit.

Here’s Your Section 508 Compliance Checklist

Do images have alt attributes?
Does the alternate text convey contextual relevance to the page it is on?
Do your images contain text? In other words, does text content contained in images disappear when images are not available?
Do noframes elements have appropriate equivalent or alternative content for user agents that do not support frames?
Is a full text transcript provided for all pre-recorded audio and/or video?
Is information conveyed by color also conveyed by context, markup, graphic coding, or other means? In other words, if a person were unable to see color, would they be able to understand the required actions?
Does a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 exist between text, and images of text, and background behind the text?
Is a correct contrast ratio maintained when CSS is disabled?
Are links distinguished from surrounding text with sufficient color contrast?
When the link is activated is the contrast noticeable?
With CSS disabled, are headings, paragraphs, and lists obvious and sensible?
With CSS disabled, is most text, other than logos and banners, rendered in text rather than images?
When tables are used for layout, does the content linearize properly when layout tables are turned off?
For tables containing data, do the elements appropriately define every row and/or every column headers?
For tables containing data, is the summary attribute used to explain the meaning of the table if it is not otherwise evident from context?
Does each frame and iframe element have a meaningful title attribute?
Do all documents have a text-only version? If so, does it meet all Section 508 criteria and contain the same exact information as the original document?
Is any content or functionality provided by JavaScript through mouse action also provided through keyboard-triggered event handlers?
Are links provided to any special readers or plug-ins that are required to interpret page content?
Do form error messages identify the error(s) to the user and describe them to the user in text?

In 2010, the US Department of Justice published ADA Standards for Section 508 Accessibility. They called that document the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design. The purpose of the document was to help people learn about Section 508 accessibility and provide standards for how electronic and information technology would be made accessible to people with disabilities.

These standards must be upheld by any commercial and public entities that have “places of public accommodation,” which used to be considered brick-and-mortar places of business but are now also considered to be publicly accessible websites.

The Section 508 Accessibility law applies to private employers with 15 or more employees, businesses operating for the benefit of the public, and all government agencies. The only way to be sure that your website complies with Section 508 Accessibility laws is to do a self-assessment or hire an expert to do the assessment.

A self-assessment is difficult. Why? Because while the law is straightforward, the requirements are complex and technical. Unless you have a very clear understanding of website structure and coding, you will be challenged to identify what is wrong on a site, compare it with what is required to fix it, and actually implement those fixes.

Sound good? Get in touch and we’ll talk about what you need for a site scan. Ready to buy the plugin? That’s easy. Just decide whether you want one, 5 or 10 or more and we’ll take it from there.

People wonder if they can complete Section 508 testing on your own. It is certainly possible to do a limited amount of testing if you are familiar with the guidelines. Even then, you must be familiar with website hierarchy and with how your own site is set up so you can find code.

But for most people, Section 508 testing is best left to a professional or to a paid assistant in the form of website plugins that take some of the time-consuming work off your hands.

If you have access to screen reader software, plug that into your site. Then you can see how your site responds for users of this type of assistive technology. But again, fixing any issues that arise may be beyond your means.

Automated Section 508 testing such as what is done with the ADA Plugin helps a lot because the plugin explains the technological glitches and explains the steps needed to correct them. So even if you’re not technically savvy it gives you a headstart.

Also, because assistants like a plugin work behind the scenes, they’re able to do a more thorough test in a shorter amount of time than what a person can do manually. If you’re interested in assuring that your website is compliant and don’t want to do Section 508 testing on your own, look into a plugin like ADA Plugin for help and support.