36 CFR Part 1194 Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards (Section 508 Standards)

Subpart A — General

§ 1194.1 Standards for Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

The standards for information and communication technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by Federal agencies covered by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act are set forth in Appendices A, C and D to this part.

[82 FR 5832, Jan. 18, 2017]

§ 1194.2 Guidelines for Section 255 of the Communications Act.

The guidelines for telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment covered by Section 255 of the Communications Act are set forth in Appendices B and C to this part.

[82 FR 5832, Jan. 18, 2017]

(a) Products covered by this part shall comply with all applicable provisions of this part. When developing, procuring, maintaining, or using electronic and information technology, each agency shall ensure that the products comply with the applicable provisions of this part, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency.

(1) When compliance with the provisions of this part imposes an undue burden, agencies shall provide individuals with disabilities with the information and data involved by an alternative means of access that allows the individual to use the information and data.

(2) When procuring a product, if an agency determines that compliance with any provision of this part imposes an undue burden, the documentation by the agency supporting the procurement shall explain why, and to what extent, compliance with each such provision creates an undue burden.

(b) When procuring a product, each agency shall procure products which comply with the provisions in this part when such products are available in the commercial marketplace or when such products are developed in response to a Government solicitation.  Agencies cannot claim a product as a whole is not commercially available because no product in the marketplace meets all the standards.  If products are commercially available that meet some but not all of the standards, the agency must procure the product that best meets the standards.

(c) Except as provided by §1194.3(b), this part applies to electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by agencies directly or used by a contractor under a contract with an agency which requires the use of such product, or requires the use, to a significant extent, of such product in the performance of a service or the furnishing of a product.

§ 1194.3 General exceptions.

(a) This part does not apply to any electronic and information technology operated by agencies, the function, operation, or use of which involves intelligence activities, cryptologic activities related to national security, command and control of military forces, equipment that is an integral part of a weapon or weapons system, or systems which are critical to the direct fulfillment of military or intelligence missions.  Systems which are critical to the direct fulfillment of military or intelligence missions do not include a system that is to be used for routine administrative and business applications (including payroll, finance, logistics, and personnel management applications).

(b) This part does not apply to electronic and information technology that is acquired by a contractor incidental to a contract.

(c) Except as required to comply with the provisions in this part, this part does not require the installation of specific accessibility-related software or the attachment of an assistive technology device at a workstation of a Federal employee who is not an individual with a disability.

(d) When agencies provide access to the public to information or data through electronic and information technology, agencies are not required to make products owned by the agency available for access and use by individuals with disabilities at a location other than that where the electronic and information technology is provided to the public, or to purchase products for access and use by individuals with disabilities at a location other than that where the electronic and information technology is provided to the public.

(e) This part shall not be construed to require a fundamental alteration in the nature of a product or its components.

(f) Products located in spaces frequented only by service personnel for maintenance, repair, or occasional monitoring of equipment are not required to comply with this part.

§ 1194.4 Definitions.

The following definitions apply to this part:

Agency.  Any Federal department or agency, including the United States Postal Service.

Alternate formats.  Alternate formats usable by people with disabilities may include, but are not limited to, Braille, ASCII text, large print, recorded audio, and electronic formats that comply with this part.

Alternate methods.  Different means of providing information, including product documentation, to people with disabilities.  Alternate methods may include, but are not limited to, voice, fax, relay service, TTY, Internet posting, captioning, text-to-speech synthesis, and audio description.

Assistive technology.  Any item, piece of equipment, or system, whether acquired commercially, modified, or customized, that is commonly used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.

Electronic and information technology.  Includes information technology and any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment, that is used in the creation, conversion, or duplication of data or information.  The term electronic and information technology includes, but is not limited to, telecommunications products (such as telephones), information kiosks and transaction machines, World Wide Web sites, multimedia, and office equipment such as copiers and fax machines.  The term does not include any equipment that contains embedded information technology that is used as an integral part of the product, but the principal function of which is not the acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange, transmission, or reception of data or information.  For example, HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) equipment such as thermostats or temperature control devices, and medical equipment where information technology is integral to its operation, are not information technology.

Information technology.  Any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment, that is used in the automatic acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange, transmission, or reception of data or information.  The term information technology includes computers, ancillary equipment, software, firmware and similar procedures, services (including support services), and related resources.

Operable controls.  A component of a product that requires physical contact for normal operation.  Operable controls include, but are not limited to, mechanically operated controls, input and output trays, card slots, keyboards, or keypads.

Product.  Electronic and information technology.

Self Contained, Closed Products.  Products that generally have embedded software and are commonly designed in such a fashion that a user cannot easily attach or install assistive technology.  These products include, but are not limited to, information kiosks and information transaction machines, copiers, printers, calculators, fax machines, and other similar types of products.

Telecommunications.  The transmission, between or among points specified by the user, of information of the user’s choosing, without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received.

TTY.  An abbreviation for teletypewriter.  Machinery or equipment that employs interactive text based communications through the transmission of coded signals across the telephone network.  TTYs may include, for example, devices known as TDDs (telecommunication display devices or telecommunication devices for deaf persons) or computers with special modems.  TTYs are also called text telephones.

Undue burden.  Undue burden means significant difficulty or expense.  In determining whether an action would result in an undue burden, an agency shall consider all agency resources available to the program or component for which the product is being developed, procured, maintained, or used.

§ 1194.5 Equivalent facilitation.

Nothing in this part is intended to prevent the use of designs or technologies as alternatives to those prescribed in this part provided they result in substantially equivalent or greater access to and use of a product for people with disabilities.