The General Services Administration (GSA), in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), submits the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Governmentwide Section 508 Assessment—referred to hereafter as the “Assessment”—to the Senate Committees on Appropriations and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committees on Appropriations and Oversight and Accountability, pursuant to the requirements in Public Law No. 117-328 (codified at 29 U.S.C. § 794d-1). GSA understands that the Department of Justice (DOJ) plans to submit the FY24 Assessment in fulfillment of the requirement that the DOJ report every two years on the state of federal agencies’ compliance with Section 508 under 29 U.S.C. § 794d(d)(2). The DOJ worked with GSA to ensure that the FY24 Assessment included questions and analysis necessary for the Department’s biennial Section 508 report.
Beginning the second year of this initiative, GSA, OMB, and the U.S. Access Board (Access Board) built on the progress made in the FY23 Assessment, along with the new guidance issued by OMB in the Strengthening Digital Accessibility and the Management of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (M-24-08) memo, to further advance governmentwide Section 508 compliance. The inaugural Assessment provided a necessary baseline for understanding federal agencies’ accessibility of digital content and compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, aimed at ensuring accessible Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for people with disabilities (PWD). This year, our analysis has expanded to include year-over-year highlights.
Assessment criteria – developed by OMB in consultation with GSA, the Access Board, Department of Justice (DOJ), and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) – remain the cornerstone of our evaluation. OMB and GSA collected data from 245 reporting entities based on 103 assessment criteria. This approach ensures a broad and deep understanding of Section 508 compliance and accessibility across the federal landscape of digital content.
The Assessment gathered valuable insights about the ongoing efforts and improvements across federal agencies. These developments were largely fueled by the FY23 Assessment results, which guided agency actions for the next assessment cycle. The resulting insights highlight successes and point to areas that need further improvement. GSA designed the recommendations to foster continuous improvement and drive meaningful progress with respect to digital accessibility.
Improving digital accessibility in government is essential not only to meet legal obligations but also to further the inclusion of people with disabilities in activities of daily living. In 2023, 22.5% of people with disabilities were employed, and the unemployment rate for people with a disability was 7.2% vs. 3.5% for people with no disability, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)(PDF). By ensuring all individuals can access vital services, agencies help remove barriers that contribute to the employment gap, among other barriers, fostering greater opportunities for people with disabilities to achieve economic independence and success.
GSA extends its continued gratitude to all reporting entities for their ongoing commitment to improve digital accessibility, respond to this robust data call, and transparency. Their efforts have been crucial in advancing our collective goal to increase Section 508 compliance and improve digital accessibility across the federal government. This Assessment strives to generate positive outcomes for federal employees and the American public.
If you have any questions about this report, please do not hesitate to contact GSA.
Respectfully submitted,
Robin Carnahan
Administrator
Reviewed/Updated: December 2024
