Accessibility : 508 Compliance

SECTION 508 OF THE REHABILITATION ACT  There are an estimated 800,000 visually impaired persons currently using the Web. It is projected that there are 6.5 million Americans age 55 or older that experience severe vision loss; by 2030 this number will double.

On August 7, 1998, the President signed into law the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Public Law 105-220. Title IV of the Act is the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998. Subsection 408(b) amended section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d). Subsection 508(a)(1) requires that when Federal departments and agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use Electronic and Information Technology (EIT), they shall ensure that the EIT allows Federal employees with disabilities to have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access to and use of information and data by other Federal employees. Section 508 also requires that individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public seeking information or services from a Federal department or agency, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public without disabilities. This law went into effect June 21, 2001.