Section 508 is part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a United States federal law that requires federal agencies to make their information and communications technology (ICT) accessible to people with disabilities. The law applies to all federal agencies, organizations receiving federal funding, and vendors doing business with the federal government.
Section 508 was added to the Rehabilitation Act through amendments in 1986 and was strengthened significantly by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. The U.S. Access Board, an independent federal agency, is responsible for developing and maintaining the technical standards.
On January 18, 2017, the U.S. Access Board issued a final rule updating the Section 508 Standards and Section 255 Guidelines. This rule went into effect on January 18, 2018, and is commonly referred to as the "Section 508 Refresh."
The refresh made several important changes:
The revised Section 508 Standards incorporate by reference the WCAG 2.0 Level A and Level AA Success Criteria. This means that federal ICT must conform to all 38 applicable WCAG 2.0 success criteria.
A page or document that fails to meet even one of the 38 applicable WCAG success criteria does not conform to the Section 508 Standards.
The WCAG 2.0 Level AA requirements apply broadly to:
WCAG 2.1 is backward compatible with WCAG 2.0, meaning that conformance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA also satisfies the Section 508 WCAG 2.0 requirement.
WCAG Pulse provides automated accessibility testing that supports Section 508 compliance efforts:
Automated testing can detect approximately 30-40% of WCAG success criteria violations. For comprehensive Section 508 compliance, supplement automated scanning with manual expert audits, assistive technology testing, and document accessibility reviews.