Revised Section 508 - Key Things You Need to Know!

Session Summary:

Designed for federal, state, local government and educational staff, key facts are provided for helping bring those tasked with implementations up-to-speed on the requirements for Section 508 compliance.

Description:

Please join Katie Haritos-Shea (from W3C AGWG & WAI-IG, EverFi and Knowbility) to learn what you need to know to understand the refreshed standards and requirements for compliance with Section 508. Though the international W3C and ISO standard, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, has been around since 2008, they became new to Section 508 as of 2018, and it is turning out to be quite a task for public institutions, and those supporting them, to change course to meet the WCAG 2.0 and other requirement of Section 508. This talk intends to help provide an understanding of these necessities to meet needs of users with disabilities who rely on more modern standards to interact successfully with ICT in the United States. This talk is designed for federal, state, and local government staff (and those providing implementations for them), and well as for those involved in providing solution for educational organizations and other verticals that must meet the legal and functional needs of Section 508. The key facts and taking points provided in this talk, stem from full-day federal Section 508 Coordinators trainings taught previously. The focus is for bringing participants up-to-speed on the Revised Section 508 standard’s unique usage of definitions, requirements from the WCAG 2.0 Conformance Requirements and Success Criteria, and their application to documents and software (including SaaS), authoring tools additions, and the important changes to documentation and support. We will explore not only the current requirements, but also best practices (using Level AAA and WCAG 2.1 SC) that can be put in place to provide improved accessibility for persons with disabilities over what is required today, but will also prepare agencies and schools for future requirements, as well as, provide the best environment for creating an inclusive and level playing field for all to achieve success in their endeavors. We will discuss how the federal government is trying to provide resources to supplement what the Web Accessibility Initiative from the W3C has been able to provide. Especially we address the areas and topics that are specific to the United States public service institutions, which lay outside the common coverage that the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative usually covers. We will discuss any updates on the procurement front as far as the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requirements, resources for ICT solicitation and contracts, and Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates, go. Topics will provide guidance on: • Why Section 508 + WCAG is Better than WCAG Conformance Alone • Pay Attention to Definitions • Cool Important Parts o Safe Harbor o WCAG 2.0 for Web, Software, Mobile, Media and Documents o WCAG 2.0 and PDF/UA for PDFs o Authoring Tool Provisions • Procurement / Vendors / VPATs • Where to Go for More Details

Practical Skills:

Please join Katie Haritos-Shea (from W3C AGWG & WAI-IG, EverFi and Knowbility) to learn what you need to know to understand the refreshed standards and requirements for compliance with Section 508. This talk is designed for federal, state, local government and educational staff, key facts are provided for helping bring those tasked with implementations up-to-speed on the requirements for Section 508.

Presentation Materials:

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