[Web4lib] Clarification on Section 508

[Richard Wiggins]

Section 508 is a procurement law for Federal agencies.  Section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act requires that electronic and information
technologies acquired by Federal agencies be accessible.  Some people
believe that Section 508 establishes a "building code" for entities outside
the Federal government, but I just don't see such a provision in the law.

If a university develops IT systems or Web sites for use by Federal
agencies, then the law presumably applies.

http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=3 says:

"The standards cover technology procured by Federal agencies under contract
with a private entity, but apply only to those products directly relevant to
the contract and its deliverables."

This is not to day that a university should not comply with Section 508 and
other standards.  My only point is that Section 508 imposes obligations on
the Federal government, not on universities as does Title IX in college
athletics or FERPA in student records.  It is not a matter of the law not
being enforced; it is simply not against that law for a university to put up
a Web site that fails to meet 508 standards.  Some universities have adopted
campus-wide standards for official sites; many have not.

/rich


On 4/15/06, Thomas Dowling <tdowling at ohiolink.edu> wrote:
>
> I'm sure Jon can answer this at least as well as I can, but let me jump
> in.
>
> Most publicly funded institutions of higher education in the U.S.
> technically have a legal obligation [I am not a lawyer!] to make their
> web sites comply with Section 508, though there's explicitly no
> enforcement provision in that obligation.