Frequently Asked Questions

Who needs an accessible Web site?
People with vision, hearing, mobility, and learning impairments may not be able to access your Web site if it is not accessible. But Everyone benefits from an accessible Web site.

What is an accessible Web site?
An accessible Web site conforms to either the Section 508 and/or the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards. There is a Section 508/WCAG comparison table below.

What needs to be done to make a Web site accessible?
Special programming is done to address areas that cause problems for people with disabilities. These include: text equivalents, multimedia, color, style sheets, image maps, data tables, frames, screen flicker, scripts, applets, plug-ins, electronic forms, repetitive navigation links, timed responses, and others.

What laws apply to Web site accessibility? Do the laws apply to me?

• Public Accommodations (nongovernmental) and Commercial Facilities (almost any business or organization that has a Web site)
  
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) Title III
09/09/1996 The US Department od Justice issued a policy ruling stating that, "Covered entities that use the Internet for communications regarding their programs, goods, or services must be prepared to offer those communications through accessible means as well." (Covered entities include private entities that offer goods and services to the public.) http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/foia/tal712.txt

• Federal government agencies and some of their contractors
  
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards (Section 508) especially paragraphs 1194.22(a) - (p)
Prohibits federal agencies (with few exceptions) from developing, purchasing, using, or maintaining information technology that is inaccessible to persons with disabilities. This law also applies to Federal government vendor's Web sites that are accessed for vendor product information or as a help desk.

• State and local government agencies including public libraries
  
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) Title II
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
The first successful accessibility lawsuit was against the City of San Jose in 1996.

• Educational institutions
  
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)Title II
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (for programs that receive Federal financial assistance)
The Assistive Technology Act of 1998 (Tech Act)
Schools may lose funding if their Web site is not accessible.

Don't accessible Web sites require a graphical version and a text-only accessible Web site at twice the cost?
Most Web sites built with accessibility in mind cost only slightly more to create and maintain than a non-accessible Web site. A text-only Web site is done only if there is no way to make the Web site accessible.

Don't accessible Web sites require the cost-prohibitive use of multimedia-streaming and high bandwidth?
They do only if audio, video, or other multimedia is provided to the general public. People with disabilities are only asking for equal access.

Don't accessible Web sites only help disabled people?
Accessible Web sites help everyone including the Web site owner, people that use slow connections, and people using alternative Internet devices like cell phones and personal digital assistants.

Are disabled people my clients?
Yes! Some disabilities, like color blindness (10% of all males) cannot be seen. In 1997, approximately 54 million people in the U.S. had at least one disability (U.S. Census). In 1998, the discretionary income of people with disabilities was $175 billion (President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities).

Can't accessibility issues be tested and fixed with only software?
Software cannot determine if colors have enough contrast or generate a text description of a photograph. Computers are very good at playing Chess. But there are a lot of decisions that still require human judgment.

What is the difference between Section 508 and WCAG?