Universal Web Accessibility

Guidelines & Laws

Laws
The 1998 amendment to Section 508 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act requires that Federal agencies' electronic and information technology be accessible to people with disabilities, including members of the public. Section 508 establishes requirements for any electronic and information technology developed, maintained, procured, or used by the Federal government. Its sub-section 1194.22 lists specific standards for Web-based intranet and internet information and applications.

California state law SB105, signed into law in September of 2002, noted that anyone receiving state funds must also comply with Section 508. These 508 requirements have been incorporated into Government Code section 11135, which is the basic state nondiscrimination statute enforced by the Chancellor's Office.

SB 105 removes any grey area that may have existed in the interpretation of Section 508 as a federal law and its jurisdication over the California systems of higher education.

Standards
Santa Monica College must comply with the Section 508 Web Accessibility Standards.

Additional guidance for Web accessibility is available in the California Community Colleges' Distance Education: Access Guidelines for Students with Disabilities, issued in August 1999. The standard referred to in these Guidelines is the Priority One level of items from Version 1.0 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines established by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C]. A working draft of Version 2 of this document was released in March, 2004
Although we are all encouraged to comply with Priority One standards not included in Section 508, as well as the Priority 2 and Priority 3 standards, our legal minimum standards are those in Section 508.

Resources
The following resources give more information about the Section 508 Web standards:

WebAIM Section 508 Web Accessibility Checklists
Provides brief explanations and pass/fail tests. Also has a link to a printable (Adobe Acrobat) version of the checklists.

University of Wisconsin Section 508 Web Development Guidelines
This helpful guide lists each Web standard and provides explanations, techniques and examples.

Federal Access Board's Guide to Web-based Intranet and Internet Information. Provides the 508 requirements that must be followed, with links to fuller information on specific provisions..

Side-by-side Comparison of Section 508 Web Standards and WCAG Priority 1 Checkpoints

NetMechanic's Building Web Sites that Comply with Section 508
Lists each Section 508 requirement and explains what it means for Web designers.