WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: 508 update? when?

for

From: Bevi Chagnon
Date: Sep 25, 2012 11:32AM

One problem I have with the new draft of the 508 refresh is that it sweeps
all federal information into WCAG 2.0. There are so many areas where Word,
PDF, and other electronic files don't fit the WCAG model (which was
developed specifically for web information only) that it becomes difficult
sometimes to know how to meet the requirements for normal office documents.
This has produced a huge gap of murkiness in the regulations,
misunderstandings, and confusion, and I suspect we'll see some future
lawsuits from this problem.
Previous 508 drafts had separate sections for documents, as opposed to
websites, and that was very helpful.
We can't choose to make only websites accessible: all information, no matter
what form it is in, must be accessible. The new draft misses this critical
nuance entirely.
--Bevi
-
Bevi Chagnon, <EMAIL REMOVED>
PubCom - Trainers, consultants, designers, and developers
Print, Web, Acrobat, XML, eBooks, and Federal Section 508 Accessibility
-
* It's our 30th Year! *