Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act - Frequently Asked Questions

Roles and Responsibilities

C.1. - Who within the agency is responsible for ensuring EIT purchases comply with Section 508?

Acquisition of EIT that meets the applicable technical provisions of the Access Board’s standards is the shared responsibility of requiring activity officials and contracting officials.

• Requiring activity officials (i.e., officials in the program office or organization that is funding and acquiring the EIT) are responsible for:

  • Identifying applicable technical provisions of the Access Board’s standards in their requirements documents (see FAR 11.002 and section B.2.ii, above);

  • determining and documenting whether an exception applies; conducting market research to identify what products, if any, are available to meet those provisions;

  • drafting specifications; and

  • documenting nonavailability and undue burden determinations.

• It is expected that agencies will designate requiring activity officials in their organizations to carry out these responsibilities at an appropriately accountable level.

• Contracting officials are expected to pursue effective acquisition strategies for acquiring EIT.

Thus, successful implementation of Section 508 requires the cooperation and coordination of requirements and contracting officials within the agency.

Each agency has a Section 508 Coordinator. This person is often someone in the Chief Information Officer’s office. He or she can provide additional information on agency procedures and the steps being taken within his or her agency to implement Section 508. For more information, see Agency Section 508 Coordinator List.

C.2. - If EIT is acquired through another agency’s contract, which agency is responsible for Section 508 compliance?

The requiring agency (i.e., the agency with the need for EIT) is responsible for ensuring that the acquisition complies with Section 508. See FAR 39.203(b)(3). This responsibility remains with the requiring agency irrespective of the vehicle used to complete the transaction -- e.g., the requiring activity has this responsibility when its agency is acquiring EIT under a multi-agency contract pursuant to the Economy Act procedures under FAR Subpart 17.5, a government-wide acquisition contract (a so-called "GWAC"), or GSA’s Federal Supply Schedules.

This notwithstanding, contracting offices that award indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts (such as those mentioned above) also have responsibilities. They must inform the requiring and ordering activities of the requiring agency which supplies and services the contractors indicate meet (either fully or partially) the applicable technical provisions of the Access Board’s standards. They must also provide the source of vendor information regarding Section 508 (e.g., the vendor’s or other exact web site location). See FAR 39.203(b)(2) (which imposes this requirement on all contracting offices that award IDIQ contracts). In addition, if the servicing agency places the order on the requiring agency’s behalf, the servicing agency needs to take necessary management steps before placing the order to ensure that the requiring activity (its customer) has appropriately considered its Section 508 obligations with regard to that order.

C.3.i. - Does Section 508 require contractors to manufacture EIT that meets the applicable Access Board’s technical provisions?

No. Section 508 requires the government to purchase EIT that meets the applicable technical provisions of the Access Board’s standards, with certain exceptions. By doing so, Section 508 provides an incentive for EIT manufacturers and designers to ensure that their products are usable by everyone – including people with disabilities.

Agencies are responsible for ensuring that they undertake their acquisitions for EIT consistent with the requirements of Section 508, as implemented in the Access Board’s standards and the FAR -- which includes identifying applicable Section 508 provisions to interested contractors. Similarly, agencies – not contractors – are responsible for making determinations regarding whether any exceptions apply. (See section G.6.vi below)

In turn, contractors wishing to do business with the government must provide products and services that meet (either directly or through equivalent facilitation) an agency’s stated requirements, including applicable technical provisions from the Access Board’s standards as identified by the agency. Contractors (including manufacturers and designers) are under no obligation to consider either Section 508 or the Access Board’s standards if they do not wish to market their products to the Federal government.

C.3.ii. - Do vendors have to provide product documentation in alternate formats?

Yes, if it is a deliverable under a contract. Section 1194.41 of the Access Board's standards provides that product support documentation that is provided to end-users must be made available in alternate format upon request. However, it is the agency's responsibility, not the vendor's, to comply with this provision. Typically, agencies will require such documentation from the vendor to be in an alternate format as part of the deliverables required under the contract. The format of the documentation requested from the vendor may vary. For example, an agency may request the documentation in an electronic format that will allow the agency to reprint information in Braille or alternate formats. Other agencies may request the information to be provided by the vendor in Braille, large print, audio cassette or other format as part of the procurement.

C.4 - Are subcontractors subject to Section 508?

Section 508 does not impose requirements on contractors or subcontractors. Instead, it only imposes requirements on the product specifications of EIT procured by federal agencies. Prime contractors may enter into subcontracts in the performance of a Federal contract for EIT, but the prime remains obligated to deliver what is called for under the contract (e.g., EIT that meets the Access Board's standards).

C.5.i. - Who is responsible for enforcing Section 508? Are there any reporting requirements?

Individuals with disabilities are responsible for enforcing the requirements of Section 508. Individuals with disabilities may file a complaint with an agency or bring a civil action in Federal Court for an agency's noncompliance with the requirements of Section 508. Section 508(f) requires agencies to provide procedures for resolving complaints by individuals who allege that an agency has failed to comply with the requirements of Section 508 in providing EIT. It states that agencies are to apply the complaint procedures established to implement Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to resolve administrative complaints related to Section 508.

Section 508(d)(2) requires the Attorney General to prepare a biennial report and make recommendations regarding the state of Federal department and agency compliance with the requirements of Section 508.

C.5.ii. - What was the purpose of the Department of Justice's recent government wide survey of federal web sites?

Section 508(d)(2) requires the Attorney General to prepare and submit a report and recommendations to the President and Congress regarding the state of Federal department and agency compliance with the requirements of Section 508, including any actions regarding individual complaints. The survey was designed to help the Department of Justice assess agency compliance. The Department of Justice and other agencies may use the recommendations and findings in this report to facilitate implementation of Section 508 by the Federal government.

C.6.ii. - If a Federal agency is distributing a television or multimedia production or a web-cast presentation, does it have to be open or closed captioned and audio-described?

Section 1194.24(c) and (d) of the Access Board's standards require that all training or informational video and multimedia productions which support the agency's mission and which have audio information or visual information that is necessary for the comprehension of the content, be captioned or audio described. Hence, if the production is multimedia (e.g. image and sound) and is considered "training or informational," then it must meet the applicable requirements of 1194.24 (c) and (d) of the Access Board's standards. If the production is web-based, regardless of whether it is multimedia, such as a live webcast of a speech, then it must also meet the applicable requirements of 1194.22.

C.6.iii. - Does the requirement to open or close caption and audio describe apply to productions that have a limited purpose, scope, and shelf life or contain quickly "perishable" information?

Section 1194.22 of the Access Board standards applies requirements to web-based intranet and internet information and applications without regard to the perishable nature of a production. Similarly, Section 1194.24 addresses video and multimedia products without regard to the shelf life of a production.

C.6.iv. - Do videotapes of briefings or "raw or stock" film footage for documentation purposes have to be captioned or audio described? What if the videotape is later played for an audience? Do graphs and charts used in the briefing have to be audio described?

Briefings or other recordings made for purposes of documentation are not considered "training or informational videos." As noted in the preamble to the Access Board's final rule, Section 1194.24 does not require that a videotape recorded by a field investigator to document a safety violation be captioned or audio described. However, if such a videotape were subsequently used as part of a training or informational presentation, it would have to be captioned and audio described (see 65 Federal Register 80517, December 21, 2000). Any graphs or charts that are not described in the narration of the video would have to be audio described if the visual information was necessary for the comprehension of the content.

C.6.v. - Is the requirement to open or close caption, and to provide audio description specific to English?

No. The requirement to caption (i.e., to provide access to audio information for persons with hearing impairments) and provide audio description applies irrespective of the language. It is recommended that captioning and audio description is in the same language as the content of the production. For example, Spanish audio should be captioned in Spanish. There is no requirement to provide captioning in a language different from the content of the production (e.g., English audio need not be in Spanish or vice versa).

C.6.vi. - Must the lyrics in songs embedded in productions be open or closed captioned?

This answer depends on whether the lyrics are considered content essential for comprehension. For instance, a production that features a dialogue between two people while a radio softly plays a song in the background should have the conversation in the foreground captioned. However, since the song from the radio is not essential for comprehension, the captions could simply indicate that music is playing in the background.

C.6i. - If a Federal agency conducts training and uses multimedia, such as videotapes or computer based training, must the materials developed be accessible under 508?

Yes. Multimedia is considered EIT and, if used by the Federal government, must be accessible unless an exception applies (see sections F and G below). Section 1194.22 of the Access Board's standards addresses requirements for web- based intranet and internet information and applications. Section 1194.24 addresses video and multimedia products. In addition to the requirements of Section 508, agencies also have obligations to their employees under Sections 501 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

C.7.i. - Must Portable Document Format (PDF) files that are displayed on a Federal website meet the Access Board's standards?

Yes. Section 1194.22(m) requires the web page containing a PDF file to include a link to a plug-in that complies with the software requirements of 1194.21(a) through (l). In addition, Section 1194.22(a) requires provision of a text equivalent for every non-text element.

A PDF file is a file format created using Adobe Acrobat. Many agencies use PDF files to post documents to their web site because they create an exact representation of the original document. In order to view a PDF file, a user must use a browser "plug-in." Thus, the agency has two options when addressing PDF content and the Access Board's standards. First, it can ensure that its PDF file is accessible and include a link to a PDF reader that conforms to the software requirements of Section 1194.21. Alternatively, if such a plug-in is unavailable, Section 1194.22(k) permits the agency to provide a link to a duplicate file that contains the same information in an accessible format.

C.7.ii. - Can a federal agency provide alternate web pages for users with disabilities to supplement web pages that have innovative features which are inaccessible to assistive technologies?

While the provisions in 36 CFR 1194.22 allow web authors to be creative and innovative in the use of new technologies, Section 1194.22(k) requires that a text-only web page be provided only as a method of last resort for bringing a web site into compliance with the other requirements in 1194.22. This practice is discouraged because it leads to problems of multiple document updating and servicing. (When used, text-only pages must contain equivalent information and functionality as the primary pages and must be updated whenever the primary pages change).

C.8 - Are Section 508 access requirements satisfied if the agency provides such access following a request for it, as opposed to in anticipation of a request for access?

No. The requirements of Section 1194.24 (c) and (d) of the Access Board's standards are to be met at the time the product is developed or, in the case of a procurement, when the product is delivered (unless an exception applies). For example, the production of a training video, which is covered by the Section 508 standards, must include the incorporation of open or closed captioning and audio description during the development phase, not after a request is made for it.