What is "Section 508" very very simply?

Question

Hi friends,

I researched at google and found many confusing, looooong explanations for Section 508! made me even more confused.

very simply, what is this Section 508?

Thanks a lot!

Answer 1

A fairly simple explanation can be found here; summed up nicely by this snippet:

Section 508, an amendment to the United States Workforce Rehabilitation Act of 1973, is a federal law mandating that all electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by the federal government be accessible to people with disabilities. Technology is deemed to be "accessible" if it can be used as effectively by people with disabilities as by those without.

This page also offers another good, simple explanation:

Section 508, in simple terms, requires that when Federal Agencies develop, procure, maintain or use electronic and information technology, information and data should be accessible to people with disabilities.

Obviously there's lots more involved in this process, but you already knew that. Hopefully this clarifies things a little bit!

Answer 2

What is Section 508 Accessibility Law?

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, is a US law requiring the federal government to make all goods and services-including web sites and intranets fully accessible to people with disabilities. It identifies specific standards for Internet and Web accessibility, which are often used as a basis for evaluating whether or not Web sites meet accessibility requirements.

Answer 3

Google harder! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_508 first paragraph is a pretty straight forward summary.

Answer 4

An over-simplified explanation would be 'your website must work even when javascript, Flash, ActiveX, and CSS are all disabled'. But you don't want an over-simplified explanation, right?

Answer 5

The idea is the following: unless your product is fully Section 508 compliant you may be unable to your product sell to the US Government organizations.

Answer 6

I gave a talk about this at the last PyCon:

http://djangocon.blip.tv/file/3261238/

508 compliance is about making your site accessible to everyone, no matter their handicap. While much of 508 is focused on people using screen readers, you also have to consider those that are physically handicapped (and may have trouble mousing over tiny areas), or those that are deaf (and would love to play your Flash game, but can't hear the beeps required to win!).