[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4cast #487: Section 508

[OPLIN Support]

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.
<http://www.oplin.org/4cast/>
[image: OPLIN 4Cast]

OPLIN 4cast #487: Section 508
April 27th, 2016

[image: Section 508] No, it's not the title of a sci-fi novel. Section 508
is a 1986 amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, mandating that
information technologies used by the federal government should be
accessible to people with disabilities. Section 508 is currently in the
process of revision (a lot of new technology has happened since 1986), but
its provisions on website accessibility are still an important measure.
There are some free tools on the internet that will check your website for
Section 508 compliance, so it's not hard to find out if it measures up. You
have probably taken great pains to make sure that your physical library
site is accessible. Is your online library site also accessible? (Hint:
only about a third of Ohio public library websites are.)

   - In government, accessibility is a team effort
   <http://www.federaltimes.com/story/government/management/sect508/2016/04/18/government-accessibility-team-effort/83030258/>
   (Federal Times | Michael Hardy)  "Section 508 was added to the
   Rehabilitation Act in 1986, and has been revised since then, most notably
   in 1998, when an amendment changed its prescriptions from non-binding
   guidelines to binding, enforceable standards. In short, the section
   requires that electronic and information technology that federal agencies
   create or purchase must be accessible to people with disabilities unless it
   would pose an undue burden to do so. The agencies are responsible for
   ensuring accessibility of their technologies."
   - IMLS website accessibility
   <https://www.imls.gov/about-us/contact-us/imls-website-accessibility>
   (Institute of Museum and Library Services)  "Inaccessible technology
   interferes with an individual′s ability to obtain and use information
   quickly and easily. Section 508 was enacted to eliminate barriers in
   information technology, to make available new opportunities for people with
   disabilities, and to encourage development of technologies that will help
   achieve these goals. The law applies to all Federal agencies when they
   develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology.
   Under Section 508 (29 USC 794d), agencies must give disabled employees and
   members of the public access to information that is comparable to the
   access available to others."
   - Section 508, WCAG 2.0, Oh My!
   <https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/law-policy-and-it/section-508-wcag-20-oh-my>
   (Inside Higher Ed | Tracy Mitrano)  "The Rehabilitation Act, which was
   first promulgated in 1973, applies to students. It is the legislation that
   has long required schools to make accommodation for students with
   disabilities. For example, while a private institution in let's say 2005
   did not have to implement full-scale web accessibility, as did the Federal
   government and its agencies after section 508 came out, it did have to
   accommodate individual students. In terms of web content, section 508
   created a baseline of standards by which a private institution would
   demonstrate compliance."
   - Designing for disabilities: Section 508 and international
   accessibility compliance for beginners
   <http://www.sitepoint.com/designing-disabilities-section-508-international-accessibility-compliance-beginners/>
   (Sitepoint | Tara Hornor)  "Some non-Federal agencies, while not legally
   required to be 508 compliant, may also request that a project meet these
   outlines, especially if the agency provides public services or their target
   market includes a high amount of people with disabilities. If you have
   recently acquired a client that is in need of a design that meets Section
   508 requirements, don't be too intimidated. It can sound difficult or scary
   to learn, but it just requires careful adherence to a set of compliance
   rules, many of which are already best practices."

*Articles from Ohio Web Library <http://ohioweblibrary.org>:*

   - Web accessibility: Is your content ready for everyone?
   <https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=101435177>
   (*EContent*, March 2015, p.22-28 | Mindy Charski)
   - Design standards take federal websites to new levels of usability.
   <https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cph&AN=112339781>
   (*Information Today*, Jan./Feb.2016, p.1-29 | Nancy K. Herther)
   - Accessibility is more than curb cuts and ALT tags.
   <https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cph&AN=112316569>
   (*Computers in Libraries*, Jan./Feb.2016, p.22-24 | jessamyn west)

------------------------------
The *OPLIN 4cast* is a weekly compilation of recent headlines, topics, and
trends that could impact public libraries. You can subscribe to it in a
variety of ways, such as:

   - *RSS feed.* You can receive the OPLIN 4cast via RSS feed by
   subscribing to the following URL:
   http://www.oplin.org/4cast/index.php/?feed=rss2.
   - *Live Bookmark.* If you're using the Firefox web browser, you can go
   to the 4cast website (http://www.oplin.org/4cast/) and click on the
   orange "radio wave" icon on the right side of the address bar. In Internet
   Explorer 7, click on the same icon to view or subscribe to the 4cast RSS
   feed.
   - *E-mail.* You can have the OPLIN 4cast delivered via e-mail (a'la
   OPLINlist and OPLINtech) by subscribing to the 4cast mailing list at
   http://mail.oplin.org/mailman/listinfo/OPLIN4cast.

© 2016 Ohio Public Library Information Network
[image: Find us on Slideshare] <http://www.slideshare.net/oplin>  [image:
Find us on Facebook] <http://www.facebook.com/oplin.org>  [image: Find us
on Google+] <https://plus.google.com/107751358238995507967>  [image: Find
us on Twitter] <http://www.twitter.com/oplin>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.oplin.org/pipermail/oplin4cast/attachments/20160427/9baafd95/attachment.html>