What is effective 508 website accessibility?
Section 508 is essentially a part of the United States Workforce Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It defines a set of requirements and guidelines that need to be adhered to to ensure that information is easily and conveniently accessible to people with disabilities.
For websites to provide accessibility for users with disabilities and hence increase traffic and conversions, Section 508 compliance is crucial. Your websites run the danger of having fewer page visits, fewer site statistics, and a smaller target audience if you overlook the accessibility requirements of your audience.
There are some Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 that need to be followed in order to implement 508 website accessibility effectively. Some of the essential elements that enable your website to successfully comply with Section 508 accessibility include the following:
- Navigation and accessibility using the keyboard
Effective 508 website accessibility recognizes that users who use screen readers or have specific motor limitations rely significantly on keyboard-only visual indications. Because of this, websites must support interactions with assistive technology.
For effective 508 website accessibility, buttons, links, or input fields should be easily controlled with the arrow, tab, or other keys to increase accessibility rather than needing a mouse click. Users should be able to use navigation simply by jumping through page sections, headers, paragraphs, and other page elements.
Therefore, ensuring that a website is 508-compliant requires that users be able to traverse the platform using a keyboard and that all site elements are keyboard accessible.
- Alternative text for images
Alternative (ALT) text refers to a description of what is depicted in an image provided on a website. People with impairments can understand the content of the image because screen readers can read this language with ease. For users who cannot see images, alternative text provides context for the visuals on a page.
To be effective, ALT descriptions, as important Section 508 accessibility requirements, need to be accurate, descriptive, and helpful. In case there are any links to the image such that if the user clicks on the image and a new webpage is opened, the ALT description for effective 508 website accessibility requires that the link destination be mentioned in the ALT text as well.
- Alternative text for videos
Effective 508 website accessibility mandates that websites include alternate descriptions for videos embedded on webpages in order to enable screen readers to easily describe the video to those with visual impairments. This is similar to ALT text for images.
- Transcripts or captions for videos and audio
The main purpose of transcripts and captions is to provide textual representations of spoken audio and video content. Transcripts and captions are simply the text included for the hearing impaired, also referred to as closed captioning.
While subtitles normally display in tandem with spoken words in the video, a transcript is a textual representation of the content delivered in a separate document. Auto-generated captioning is frequently prone to errors, while manually writing captions is typically quite time-consuming.
However, a lot of organizations now provide podcast or video closed-captioned transcription services, which has aided in the successful implementation of Section 508 website accessibility.
- Screen reader capability
508 compliance certification will not be considered effective if users are not able to access the website content with a screen reader. These screen readers simply convert digital text into synthesized speeds, which helps people with visual impairments or others with cognitive and other learning disabilities who use screen readers to read website content aloud.
- Color and contrast
Color and contrast might pose special difficulties for individuals with visual impairments. Therefore, addressing color-based accessibility difficulties can be accomplished effectively by adding color-coded fields, labels, or icons.
For 508 compliance-accessible websites, make sure that they are color-smart. For instance, in an online form, use the color green to show that everything was entered correctly and the color red to highlight an error.
It's crucial to remember that individuals with visual impairments also require a particular contrast between website elements, such as the color of the text and the backdrop, in order to be able to recognize the information.
- No time limits
Section 508 compliance demands that you not set any time limits on your websites. This is simply because some users might require more time to do a particular action, and completing tasks within a time limit could be challenging for them.
Make sure the user is given enough time to complete the task at hand or that a notice is offered to postpone a time-out for successful 508 website accessibility. Making it possible for users to resume the action after the session has expired is crucial if a time response is still required.
- Avoidance of flickering objects on the screen
The fact that specific color schemes and screen flickers might cause seizures in some people should be considered while creating an effective 508 website. Websites must be made in such a way that they don't cause the screen to flicker at a set frequency that is higher than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.
Need help implementing 508 website accessibility?
It can be difficult if an entity's website is not accessible and does not accommodate all website users because a sizeable portion of visitors have learning or cognitive problems.
Having a fully accessible and 508-compliant website is unquestionably a best practice to stick to, regardless of whether your organisation is legally compelled to follow section 508 accessibility or not.
To discover out how accessible your website is, use our 508 compliance checker. You can also call (626) 486-2201 to schedule a Section 508 consult.