Section 508 is legislation for accessible electronic and information technologies. It applies to all U.S. Federal agencies when they develop, procure, purchase, and maintain such technology. The legislation is an example of pull legislation—the federal government is a big purchaser of technology, so companies who want to sell to the government must make an effort to include accessibility in their product. This should hopefully increase the accessibility of products available to others as well. While the legislation specifically applies to federal agencies, state and local governments and other organizations may also require Section 508 compliance when they are procuring technology.
The current Section 508 standards are showing their age. The U.S. Access Board (an independent agency of the government devoted to accessibility for people with disabilities) has been undertaking a multi-year refresh of Section 508 with reports and drafts that have been published in 2008, 2010, and 2011. Recent rumors have been pointing to a notice of proposed rulemaking being published on February 18, 2015.
Miracles happen: Access Board says #section508 updated rules on it's website this Wednesday. Public hearing at #csun15 on 3/5 #a11y
— Lainey Feingold (@LFLegal) February 16, 2015
508 Refresh cleared OMB. NPRM expected on 2/18. #a11y #section508
— montek (@montek) February 14, 2015
When published, there will probably be a 90-day public comment period.
As part of my work at the Trace Center, I have been working on the Section 508 standards during the refresh process: analyzing the provisions and suggesting changes and rationale. I was the main author of the Trace Center’s comments on the 2011 proposal. I plan to analyze the next version when it comes out (hopefully soon). I will post some of my thoughts and analysis of the proposed standards here on my blog.
