Accessibility
Section 508
If you sell to the U.S. federal government — or you ARE the U.S. federal government — your site has to clear this bar.
What it is
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, refreshed in 2018 to incorporate WCAG 2.0 Level AA by reference. Mandates accessibility for all federal agency websites and any vendor's electronic content procured by the federal government.
Why it matters
Federal RFPs require Section 508 conformance, often demonstrated via a VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template). No 508 conformance means you're disqualified before bid review.
Who it applies to
Applies to federal agencies (.gov) and any vendor selling electronic content to the U.S. government.
- Site types: Government, SaaS / Product, Corporate / B2B, Education
- Jurisdictions: United States
How WQI scores it
Web Quality Index considers this standard satisfied when all of the 5 supporting factors pass.
| # | Factor | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 54 | Image alt text coverage | planned |
| 55 | Heading hierarchy validity | planned |
| 56 | Color contrast (WCAG AA) | planned |
| 57 | ARIA labels presence and validity | planned |
| 58 | Skip-to-content link | planned |
0 of 5 supporting factors are currently collected. Sites where the remaining 5 haven't been measured will show as partial or unknown on this standard until the data lands.
Related standards
- Implements
- WCAG AA
Standards that share factors with this one
Auto-computed from overlapping factor tickets in satisfiedBy, excluding standards already listed under "See also" above. Strong overlap suggests these standards rise and fall together when sites are scored.
Other references
- regulation GSA Section 508 program
- tooling VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template)