With publication in the FederalRegister on January 18, 2017, the long-awaited Section 508 Refresh became areality. Publication started a 60-day countdown to the rule’s taking effect onMarch 20. Compliance with the new Section 508–based standards is requiredstarting January 18, 2018. This Spotlight provides basic information regardingwhat the Refresh might mean for eLearning.
What is Section 508?
Section 508 is an amendment to the US Rehabilitation Act of1973. It requires federal agencies to ensure that all electronic andinformation technology (often referred to as “ICT,” or information andcommunications technology) and content that they develop, obtain, or maintainis fully accessible to people with disabilities. The Refresh updates therequirements that equipment and content must meet to be considered accessible.
So, what does the Refresh mean for eLearning?
Federal agencies are required to comply with Section 508;therefore, any business that supplies electronic and information technology,goods, or services to a federal agency must ensure that those items meet the updatedaccessibility standards. This includes hardware and software, website design,apps—and educational or training programs.
In addition, many state governments have adopted Section 508,and all states receive funding under the Assistive Technology Act. Therefore,most stateagencies and their suppliers, including state universities, are also requiredto comply.
The regulations apply to all publicly accessible content andto most official communication content, including emergency notifications,policy announcements, notices of program eligibility or employmentopportunities, questionnaires, forms and templates, and educational or training materials.
This means, for example, that all eLearning that a stateuniversity offers, whether standalone courses or elements of in-person courses,must meet the new guidelines.
What does the Refresh require?
The Section 508 Refresh incorporates by reference the WCAG2.0 standard, a global standard for accessibility of Internet content. The rulealso explicitly refers to WCAG 2.0 levels A and AA success criteria and conformance requirements in several places.
Content
WCAG 2.0 is a set of guidelines and recommendations forensuring that online content is accessible. Level A stipulates, for example,that all images have alt text, which is a description of the image that ascreen reader can read to a person who has a visual impairment. Level A also stipulatesthat closed captions and transcripts or audio descriptions be provided for allnon-live audio; Level AA adds synchronized captions for live multimedia eventsthat include audio as well. This would cover, for example, a video conference, live-castof a lecture, or a webinar. The Refresh also covers support documentation,which may be provided to learners with disabilities in alternate formats, suchas Braille, large print, or audio files.
Authoring tools
Section 504.2 of the Refresh requires that authoring toolshave the ability to create content that conforms to all criteria in Levels Aand AA except when used to directly edit plain text source code. Authoringtools must preserve accessibility information, such as alt text descriptions,when content is edited or converted to multiple formats. The tools should beable to prompt users to include accessibility content and tags during content creationor saving. The requirements for authoring tools apply to any eLearningauthoring platform purchased by or used in a federal or covered state agency,including a state university.
Technology
WCAG 2.0 is technology-neutral; the guidelines and successcriteria apply equally to web content, PDFs, user interface components, non-webdocuments, and the content of platforms (including eLearning modules) andapplications.
Hardware
Information and communication technology includes hardware,such as self-contained information kiosks, self-service machines, and the like.Thus eLearning delivered via an automated kiosk would need to comply ifdelivered to or used by a covered agency.
What else does the Refresh cover?
The published rule includes several “advisory” paragraphs,which describe best practices. Some of these list examples of accommodations oracceptable alternate formats for content, as well as suggestions for providingcontent and assistance in a variety of formats and via multiple deliverychannels—underlining the need for flexibility and adaptability when designingeLearning to meet the needs of a broad range of potential learners.
Resources
For additional information, review:
- Learning Solutions Magazine’s serieson creating accessible content
- The Federal Register announcement
- Text of the new ICT Standards and Guidelines (the Section 508 Refresh rules)
- A PDF of the Federal Register article
Learn more
Join Jenny Nilsson, owner of Varma Multimedia Learning, at Learning Solutions 2017 Conference & Expo, March 22 – 24 in Orlando, Florida.Her session, Building Accessible eLearning in Captivate,takes place Wednesday, March 22, at 10:45 AM.
The eLearning Guild will host a Summit on accessibleeLearning on May 17 and 18, 2017. Watch the Guild’s website for schedule andregistration information.
