[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Have you looked at the requirements for Section 508 ADA Compliance in official websites? If you’re a Section 508 compliance manager or a digital agency representing clients who require ADA compliance, you surely have looked at them. You’ve seen how confusing they can be. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a Section 508 Checklist?

We’ve not only created a Section 508 Checklist, we’ve put that checklist in plugin form. With one click to get the ADA Plugin going, you can turn on a powerful checklist program. It goes over the pass/fail checklist of compliance features required by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Here is one example of how a Section 508 Checklist would be helpful…One Section 508 standards requires that data tables have row and column headers identified. Assisstive devices such as screen readers need help identifying columns and rows headers of tables.

A “fail” on a Section 508 checklist would be to have data tables that have no header rows or columns. Another “fail” would be to have tables without true headers labeled with headers.

A “pass” for this category on a Section 508 checklist would ensure that data tables have column and/or row headers appropriately identified using the element.

Non-compliant Tables are identified.

Going through each of the standards required by the ADA Compliance act without a Section 508 checklist of any kind would be time consuming. It’s something that you have to do as part of your job if you’re a manager of ADA compliance. There’s a better way to spend your time!

The ADA Plugin takes the checklist metaphor and brought it to life. The plugin scans the site it is installed on and does the checklist work for you. If an element on your site is not compliant, it offers the explanation for why and gives you an opportunity to fix it.

No more hunting down each element, page by page, line of code by line of code. Let the ADA Plugin do the work! Schedule a new scan if you have added elements to your site since the last scan. Simply start the plugin up again and it will tell you if anything new requires your attention to become ADA compliant. Get in touch for more information!

There’s an option to run a manual scan or set automated recurring scans.

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[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]If you work in website development you’re going to be hearing a lot of people ask, What is Section 508? Compliance to the website standards in Section 508 are an important new way to equalize access to the internet.

What is Section 508?

Section 508 is an amendment to the United States Workforce Rehabilitation Act of 1973. President Nixon enacted the original legislation in 1973 to emphasize programs and services to people with disabilities. It replaced the previous law, the Vocational Rehabilitation Act. That law authorized grants to develop services and job training for people with disabilities. The Section 508 Amendment was added by Congress in 1998.

The original law, the Workforce Rehabilitation Act, required that all federal agencies provide grants for vocational rehabilitation services and research and training programs. These provided a special emphasis on services to those with the most severe disabilities. Section 508 was added in recognition of the rise of electronic information technology.

“What is Section 508?” is not a simple question to answer when you really start getting into detail about what the requirements are! A website is considered “accessible” if its information is presented in a form that can be accessed by everyone. Access to all means whether they have a disability or not. For example, if the website contains video tutorials, the videos would have captions allowing them to be read and heard.

Section 508 establishes requirements and standards for electronic and information technology that is developed, maintained, procured, or used by the federal government. Section 508 is intended to ensure that all people, regardless of their physical abilities, can access the information on a federal agency’s website.

What is the full text of Section 508?

There are many articles and sub-articles within Section 508. Article 1194.22 is the one that specifically addresses website accessibility. It’s called “Web based intranet and Internet information and applications” and has 16 sub-articles. Each of these 16 sub-articles addresses a specific technological concern. A web developer or technology manager would implement a solution for each concern for the site to be considered accessible.

The full text of Section 508 is itself made up of seven parts, each with numerous sub-parts and sub-sections. Each section fully explains the requirements for reporting and evaluations as well as the technological standards themselves. Section 508 is a complicated answer to an important issue. ADA Plugin strongly believes that information and technology should be accessible by all people. Our plugin ensures that websites can do that in the easiest and most cost-effective way.

The internet plays a vital role in allowing governments to better serve all of its citizens, and providing all users with an equitable website experience on state and local government websites is an important part of that. With the ADA Section 508 Compliance Plugin for WordPress, web administrators can quickly and easily confirm compliance across the website. The ADA Plugin works behind the scenes on our website to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act Section 508 standards.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]