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Accessibility Policy
(ud.sp 06Nov 21) Army MWR pledges to make a continued effort to assure that this website is accessible to Americans with disabilities. We support President George W. Bush's New Freedom Initiative. 508 Standards and Websites The Access Board is an independent Federal agency devoted to accessibility for people with disabilities. The Board developed standards for electronic and information technology under the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments requires that when Federal departments or agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology, they shall ensure that the technology is accessible to people with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the department or agency. Among other things, it applies to Federal pages on the Internet or the World Wide Web. The Board's standards will become part of the Federal procurement regulations. Additional information on Section 508 is available at: here. The Final Standards are available at this website: here. What are Federal agencies required to do in the short term to comply with Section 508? Agencies must evaluate their current electronic and information technology systems for accessibility to individuals with disabilities, and submit a report to the Attorney General containing the results of the evaluation. The Attorney General will then submit a report to the President on the extent to which the electronic and information technology of the Federal Government is accessible to individuals with disabilities. The U.S. Department of Justice has provided a Web Page Accessibility Self Evaluation to help determine the weak points in a website. How will Section 508 be enforced? There is an administrative complaint process, which becomes effective six months after the Board issued its final standards. It enables any individual with a disability to file a complaint alleging that a Federal department or agency has not complied with the accessible technology standards in a procurement made after that date. The complaint process is the same as that used for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, for complaints alleging discrimination on the basis of disability in Federally conducted programs or activities. It provides injunctive relief and attorney's fees to the prevailing party, but does not include compensatory or punitive damages. Individuals may also file a civil action against an agency. When is Section 508 Compliance effective? June 21, 2001 which is six months after the Standards were issued. How can I tell if my website is 508 Compliant? You can use a couple of test websites: Bobby and Wave to help evaluate your current website compliance. You may also download a 30-day trial of IBM's Home Page Reader to test your website. Or you can use a text-only web browser, such as the public domain browser Lynx to check how your page loads. Note: The appearance of a link does not constitute endorsement by the DOD, the U.S. Army or FMWRC. In a nutshell, what are the essentials of website compliance with 508? These are some minimum standards for compliance:
Also, be sure to include in current and future web development projects a 508 Compliance requirement, whether performing in-house or with a contractor. Contacts? Virginia (Ginger) Calhoun [Virginia.Calhoun@osd.mil] is the 508 Compliance representative for DOD. She advises that Ms. Shirley Bayne (703-428-1242, DSN 328-1242) is the 508 Compliance representative for the U.S. Army. Army's alternate POC is now Mr. Mike Cather (703-428-1238, DSN 328-1238). Relevant History of the Access Board: In 1965 Congress created the National Commission on Architectural Barriers to Rehabilitation of the Handicapped. This Commission issued a report in June 1968 on what was being done to eliminate barriers, and propose measures to eliminate and prevent barriers. Congress began implementing the Commission's recommendations by enacting the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) on August 12, 1968. In passing this law, Congress aimed to make Federal facilities fully accessible to people with disabilities. In 1973, Congress observed that compliance with ABA had been uneven and that no initiatives to create Federal design standards for accessibility were underway. Congress considered the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 502 of this law created the Access Board, originally named the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board. The Board was charged with ensuring Federal agency compliance with the ABA and proposing solutions to the environmental barriers problems addressed in the ABA. The Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1978 authorized the Board to establish minimum accessibility guidelines under the ABA and to ensure compliance with the requirements. In 1990, President George Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law. The ADA expanded the Board's mandate further. In 1996, the Telecommunications Act added to the Board's Mission the responsibility for overhauling regulations of the telecommunications industry, recognizing the importance of access to telecommunications for people with disabilities in the Information Age. Section 255 requires telecommunications products and services to be accessible to people with disabilities where "readily achievable." In 1998, President Clinton signed into law the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 which covers access to federally funded programs and services. The law strengthens section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and requires access to electronic and information technology provided by the Federal government. Source: http://www.access-board.gov/about/boardhistory.htm We offer the following links to assist in this effort (Note: The appearance of a link does not constitute endorsement by the DOD, the U.S. Army or FMWRC.):
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