Prepare now for 508 web-compliance changes

Ensuring that federal online content is accessible to the disabled--as section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires--is typically an afterthought, said Bruce Bailey, accessibility IT specialist at U.S. Access Board, during an federally-sponsored web developer conference on April 27.

But access requirements could become more important as the federal Access Board prepares a refresh of the regulations. The board will hold a public hearing May 12 on guidelines it released in March; the draft rule is available for comment until June 21.

The new rules may not be enforceable for a year or two, but "it's very formative now and we're getting a feeling for what we need to be doing differently," Bailey said.

Social media is one grey area under hot debate. While Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and YouTube are great tools for hosting original media content in the private sector, most social media sites are not Sec. 508 compliant. "I haven't seen a formal assessment of Facebook or Myspace, but I can bet they're pretty awful as far as accessibility," said Bailey. He suggested attendees test sites using tools available at www.wave.webaim.org, www.visionaustralia.org.au/ais/toolbar/, and the Firefox web developer toolbar.

"The future will be captioned," said Bailey. The government can act as an advocate for accessibility and pressure the private sector to better serve disabled web users, he added.

However, some contractors are still falling short on Sec. 508, even when they claim to comply. "If they're web designers in 2010, and they're bidding government contracts, they should know what accessibility is," said Laura Keen, user interface developer for the Library of Congress. 508-compliant contractors can be found through http://buyaccessible.gov/.

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