Fed websites stumble over Rehabilitation Act

Federal agencies have a mixed record when it comes to making sure their web pages are accessible to the disabled and meet the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, Federal Computer Week reports. The law requires that all agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public the same kind of access that is available to everyone else. That means eliminating the barriers in information technology.

When Recovery.gov went live this month, for instance, advocates for people with disabilities noticed problems with accessibility. They were quickly pointed out and the administrators of the website fixed the problems immediately. Regardless, it remains an issue as the federal government extends more services online and makes transparency in government a reality.

Jim Thatcher, developer of one of the first IBM screen readers, is a watchdog on this issue, and he has found problems on WhiteHouse.gov, Data.gov and MakingHomeAffordable.gov. Some of the problems were fixed when he pointed them out to various agencies, but not all of them. He said the WhiteHouse.gov site went from an average of three errors per page in April, to one per page in June.

Judy Brewer, director of the Web Accessibility Initiative at the World Wide Web Consortium, told Federal Computer Week that it takes constant vigilance to make sure Section 508 is followed.

"While I believe that there has been significant progress in federal Web site accessibility, we still often hear of problems with federal Web sites," Brewer said. "It would be helpful to have updated and accurate data on the extent of current issues."

For more on agency websites and Section 508:
- see this Federal Computer Week article