Provo.edu
Web Standards and Section 508 Compliance
Provo City School District provides a current, accessible, and informative web site for students, employees, and the community; many of whom may have visual, hearing, motor, and/or cognitive disabilities. In order to make this web site more accessible to individuals with disabilities, Provo City School District has adopted certain web development standards and Section 508 guidelines.
Section 508 is part of the rehabilitation act of 1973, which is intended to end discrimination against people who have disabilities.
Enacted by the U.S. Congress on August 7th, 1998, Public Law 105 – 220 significantly expanded 508’s technology access requirements.
Section 508 became U.S. law on June 21, 2001. It directly affects Federal departments and agencies, as well as web developers who produce work for them.
The law also applies to government-funded projects and to any states that choose to adopt it. Many states have done so, including Utah.
In a nutshell, Section 508 applies to the following:
- Federal departments and agencies (including the U.S. Postal service)
- Deliverable from contractors who serve them
- Activities sponsored or funded by the Federal government
- Activities sponsored by states that have adopted the regulation
For more information on accessibility, read "Introduction to Web Accessibility" or watch "Keeping Accessibility in Mind", a video that provides an overview of the difficulties disabled users face. when using web browsers.
This web site complies with the following standards:
- World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) - Priority 1 Level A requirements.
- Section 508 Guidelines.
- Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML) 1.0 Strict.
References
- Introduction to Web Accessibility
- Keeping Accessibility in Mind
- Web Accessibility Initiative
The Web Accessibility initiative website is the root of all information available on accessibility. Here, you can find detailed guidelines, checklists and references. If you need detail this is the site to visit. - WebAIM
WebAIM focuses on helping web designers and developers keep accessibility in mind. This site shows web page access from the point of view of disabled people and provides invaluable information on accessibility. - Web Standards Project
The Web Standards Project is a grassroots coalition fighting for standards that ensure simple, affordable access to web technologies for all. This site contains news, updates and information on the latest web standards and browser. - Usable Net
UsableNet provides the industry-leading software that empowers web developers and organizations to automate website accessibility and usability testing, repair and delivery.
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