[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]There’s a new standard to ensure that people without traditional physical abilities can still access all internet information. As of now, ADA Section 508 standards currently apply to electronic and information technology procured by the federal government. This means any element of a website that is a government agency. This also means a website that utilizes government funds to serve the public.

These websites must currently meet the requirements of ADA Section 508. It is only a matter of time before all websites must meet the accessibility standards of ADA Section 508.

Why meet ADA Section 508 standards?

Web developers today are designing new websites to meet these disability standards. For one reason, they are anticipating changes to federal law. And two, it just makes good sense to have your website be accessible to anyone. If you have videos in your site that you want people to view, those videos should be viewable and understandable by anyone, even if they can’t see or hear. If you’re an ecommerce website, this just makes the audience of people who could find your products and services even greater.

The ADA Section 508 standards make information on the internet accessible to everyone. The ADA Plugin provides an easy way for that to happen. The way technology stands today, it can take an IT manager hours or days to check every element on a website. Files, tables, image tags, iframes, videos, audio, objects, embeds, and forms must be checked for information that makes them accessible to all users. For instance, videos should be captioned. Do all images have “alt text” that describes the image? This text can be read by a person who is hearing impaired. A software reader can read it to a visually impaired person.

The ADA Plugin works behind the scenes to check these elements for ADA Section 508 compliance. Turn the plugin on, and a checklist of what needs to happen to meet ADA compliance on your website appears. It couldn’t be easier to use, and it makes the difference between spending hours or days on ensuring compliance and spending what could just be a few minutes. Want to know more? Get in touch and we’ll walk you through how it works.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Section 508 Compliant Websites means that each element on your website is easy to access for people who may not be able to see, read or hear as well as other people.

What are Section 508 Compliant Websites?

How does this work? Many sites have things like files, tables, image tags, iframes, videos, audio, objects, embeds, and forms. Non-impaired site users easily access and understand these things. But for people with eyesight or hearing issues, images, downloadable forms and videos become obstacles to being able to access the information on the website.

ADA Plugin for WordPress sites is a plugin that scans all of these elements on a site. For each element, ADA Plugin lists the posts that the object is in and an excerpt of the code that was detected. A checklist of action items helps the person managing the Section 508 Compliant standards for the website. The checklist ensures that steps are taken to meet the requirements.

Section 508 Compliant websites are now required by federal law for all governmental websites. However, any website can benefit from these standards. You don’t have to be a government website to use ADA Plugin. Any website that serves the disabled community can definitely benefit from this plugin. But any website can improve their accessibility to people with non-traditional abilities. This not only increase their customer base, but ensures that everyone is treated equally on the web![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]