Recommendations

Congress should update Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. § 794d) and 29 U.S.C. § 794d-1 to include:

• Definition of Agencies Subject to Section 508: Consider clearly defining which federal agencies are subject to Section 508. Confusion as to who should respond to this annual assessment stemmed from ambiguity as to who is subject to Section 508. Clarifying who should be following Section 508 standards will have numerous downstream impacts including the ability to enforce Section 508 compliance and identifying reporting requirements for this assessment.

• Updated Language, Terminology, and Scope: The Access Board and GSA receive numerous technical assistance requests every year related to clarification of Section 508 language, terminology, scope and applicability. Given that the original Section 508 language is outdated with the current and evolving digital environment, an update to harmonize and strengthen the language for applicability to the current and future digital landscape would resolve confusion and provide much needed clarification.

Strengthen Enforce Section 508 Compliance: Congress should explore options to strengthen enforcement of Section 508 compliance across the federal government. As shown throughout this report, overall Section 508 compliance is low. Enforcement through internal audits, accountability mechanisms, among others, would lead to overall improved Section 508 compliance.

Address Duplicative Digital Accessibility Reporting Requirements: To prevent duplication and reduce agency burden, Congress may consider clarifying reporting requirements, including the scope of the DOJ biennial report.

Target Accessibility of High-Use Software: 1. Congress may continue to consider conducting oversight efforts of major ICT providers to the federal government to determine how to improve accessibility of high-use products. As noted in Table 4 showcasing response count for Section 508 conformance of ICT products, key ICT used both by federal government employees and the public do not fully conform to the Section 508 standards. As agencies universally use office productivity applications, survey tools, and other mainstream IT products, promoting standard Section 508-conformant solutions would enhance ICT accessibility throughout the government.

Increase Oversight of Section 508: Better resourced reporting entities tend to have better conformance outcomes and reporting entities noted that a lack of budget or funding was a major challenge. Since additional funding to aid Section 508 implementation is a key factor for helping implement digital accessibility, agency Chief Information Officers (CIO) or equivalents should consider appropriately resourcing their Section 508 programs and ensure Section 508 program resourcing is explicitly included in budget requests.

Incorporate Section 508 Throughout the Technology Lifecycle: Given that 63% of respondents do not assess risk of Section 508 nonconformant ICT throughout the technology development lifecycle, agencies should incorporate digital accessibility considerations into relevant internal control processes to better ensure accessibility throughout the technology lifecycle. As an example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the VA include Section 508 compliance as part of the Authority To Operate (ATO) certification process, underscoring the significance of creating and maintaining secure and accessible applications.

Adopt the Baselines for Web and Electronic Documents: As testing methodologies and outcomes have been reported to be inconsistent, agencies are encouraged to use the Section 508 ICT Testing Baselines for Web and Electronic Documents to create baseline-aligned test processes. Incorporating the baseline tests into a test process ensures necessary elements are tested, reducing the risk of overlooking important requirements. The baseline provides clear guidance on what needs to be tested, helping organizations assess the accuracy of their testing methodology and tools.

Increase Conformance Validation Testing and Remediation: The average conformance continues to be under 2.0 on a 5-point conformance Index scale and 50% or more respondents said they did not have resources to test their ICT. Therefore, agencies should increase automated and manual Section 508 conformance testing, validation, and defect remediation before deployment. Increased validation will likely create substantial positive downstream impacts as more conformant products and services are deployed.

Require Annual Section 508 Training by Roles and Responsibilities: Although a significant improvement from last year, only about34% of entities reported require any Section 508 training for employees. Additionally 37% of respondents have no Section 508 training plan defined. Agencies should require annual Section 508 training for all employees who create, maintain, or otherwise contribute to the agencies’ digital content. An example of such training can be seen in Section 508: What It Is and Why It’s Important? In addition:

• It is recommended the following online training courses or equivalent be required to achieve COR Certification:

  • Micro-Purchases and Section 508 Requirements (FAC 047)

  • Soliciting and Evaluating Accessibility Conformance Reports in Federal ICT Procurement (FAC 049)

  • Procuring Section 508 Conformant ICT Products and Services (FAC 056)

• As only 18% of respondents require Section 508 training for developers and 26% of respondents require Section 508 training for web content managers, agencies are encouraged to require training for all ICT testers on agency testing methodologies. One example methodology would be Trusted Tester Conformance Test Process for Web developed by the Department of Homeland Security.

Invest in Human Capital, Culture, and Leadership Efforts: For 141 entities, or approximately 58%, either the accessibility performance metrics are unknown or there are no such metrics in leadership performance plans and no current intent to include them. Agencies should develop accessibility-related metrics to include in annual leadership performance plans. Increasing accountability may increase prioritization of digital accessibility, likely improving conformance of ICT.

Reviewed/Updated: December 2024