Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a federal government code that requires organizations that receive federal funds to have websites, web apps and electronic documents that are accessible to people with disabilities.
Accessibility can be a complex topic. The resources below have been valuable for ABAG/MTC staff, and may help on your organization’s path to Section 508 compliance.
Digital.gov
The Introduction to Accessibility web page provides an excellent overview.
Section508.gov
Section508.gov is a definitive resource that includes a wealth of free training materials, including online training courses, video training, Section 508 tools, and more.
WebAim.org
Has free tools and articles, including a comprehensive Introduction to Web Accessibility. The site also offers paid training and certifications.
“Read Out Loud” Software
One good way to tell if web documents have been tagged properly for assistive software is to use programs that read your document out loud. Some popular programs include:
- VoiceOver: built into Mac
- Narrator: built into Windows
- NVDA: free software for Windows
- JAWS: paid software for Windows
Built-In Accessibility Checkers
Many commonly-used business programs (Microsoft, Adobe, etc.) have built-in “accessibility checkers.” These “checkers” are imperfect, but can help you have a better understanding of accessibility compliance. Look under “Tools” for “Check Accessibility” or “Accessibility Check” to be guided through prompts that can help fix some accessibility errors.
Color Contrast Checkers
High color contrast is very important for users with low vision and certain visual disabilities. To ensure that you are using color combinations that offer high enough contrast, use one of the free checkers available:
- WebAIM’s Color Contrast Checker
- The Coblis Color Blindness Simulator
Alternative Text
Alternative text, or “alt text,” is what some assistive technology will use to “read” graphic elements. Without good alt text, an image or chart might be useless or invisible to someone using a screen reader or other assistive technology. These tools offer good guidance for writing better alternative text.
- Interactive tool with practice examples including photos, diagrams, charts, graphs, and maps
- Quick tips for writing meaningful alt text
Equity Bench Consultant Catalog
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) have developed an on-call Equity Consultant Bench as part of the agency’s commitment to advance equity internally and throughout the Bay Area. The Equity Bench intentionally adopted “cooperative use” language to allow other entities to leverage MTC’s contracting process to satisfy contracting and procurement standards for public agencies. Please use this catalog to familiarize yourself with the range of qualified firms with demonstrated capacity to help advance your agency’s equity efforts.