Yes, today we write another article about ADA compliance for websites as new regulations recently came up that will most likely affect your website and its compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (also known as ADA).

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d) is a federal law that requires federal agencies to provide those with disabilities equal access to electronic data and information to those with no disabilities. This of course includes websites of such agencies

Though it is targeting federal agencies, recent ADA guidelines have expended to any business or organization doing business with the public. This most likely means you.

On the official 508 Section website, you will find a lot of information. A lot of it will be vague and open to interpretations. That is especially true for their blog posts. Saying this, their mission is important and valuable but we, as developers, are hoping for more precised rules and how they suggest those rules can be met. We have been told that they are actively working on it.

More about what Section 508 is (excerpt from their site):

“In June 2001 Section 508 of the Workforce Rehabilitation Act went into effect specifying the requirements for accessible Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that each federal agency needed to follow. As part of its responsibility under this law to provide technical assistance to help agencies comply with these requirements, GSA’s Office of Governmentwide Policy (OGP) authorized development of a suite of automated tools–the Buy Accessible System. These tools simplify compliance with Section 508 and provide a paper trail to demonstrate compliance.”