Section 508 Training
Glossary
Access Board
Originally named the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, the Access Board is an independent Federal agency devoted to accessibility for people with disabilities. It operates with about 30 staff and a governing board of representatives from Federal departments and public members appointed by the President. Congress created the Access Board in Section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act to enforce the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) of 1968 and ensure development of design standards.
Accessible Design
Accessible design is different from “usable” or “universal” design.
Usable, user-focused, and user-centered design refer to creating products that are useful (lets the user achieve a significant goal), usable (the user can successfully use the product to achieve that goal), and desirable (people want to use it).
Universal design means creating things that are usable by the widest possible range of people. It can target the needs of people with disabilities, but it also includes other audiences such as novices, people who are illiterate, and children.
Accessible design is the focus of Section 508 and involves creating things that are usable by people with a wide range of abilities or limitations, either by inherently providing the support the person needs or by being compatible with assistive technology (AT). Although it specifically targets the needs of people with disabilities, it benefits people working in limiting circumstances (such as with a broken mouse or in a very noisy environment).
Assistive Technology (AT)
The Access Board defines AT as “Any item, piece of equipment, or system, whether acquired commercially, modified, or customized, that is commonly used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.” Many high-tech and low-tech devices are available to assist people with disabilities with daily living tasks, communication, education, work, and recreation. Examples of this include software that converts computer screen text to spoken words (screen readers), voice recognition software, visual magnifiers, hearing aids, and alternative computer mouse designs that can be used with the mouth, foot, or eye.
AT services support people with disabilities or their caregivers to help them select, acquire, or use AT devices. Such services also include functional evaluations, training on or demonstration of devices, and purchasing or leasing devices.
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Comparable Access
The concept of “comparable access” is crucial to understand and is often misapplied or ignored. This phrase means that a person with a disability can use the EIT as efficiently as a non-disabled person given the necessary tools. In other words, although a product may provide access to all features for a person with a disability, if it takes significant time and/or effort to use those features, then it is not comparable to access by someone without a disability.
One example of this is a software application that allows a user to complete an on-line form using the keyboard, but the “tab order” (navigating using the tab and cursor keys) of elements is not logical: using the tab key advances the user from the first element on the screen to one in the middle of the screen, back up to the top, and so forth. Although the user can access all the elements on the screen, using the EIT is much more difficult without sight.
Disability
A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
Electronic and Information Technology (EIT)
Any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment, that is used in the automatic acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange, transmission, or reception of data or information. More information on EIT. (links to 1040)
Equivalent Facilitation
A provision called “equivalent facilitation” is included in the Access Board standards to encourage creative solutions to the issues of accessibility. It is not a "waiver" from the requirement to provide accessibility, but a recognition that future or existing technologies may provide “substantially equivalent or greater access” compared to the ways described in the technical standards.
For example, an information kiosk which is not accessible to a person who is blind might be made accessible by having a telephone handset that connects to a computer that responds to touch-tone commands and delivers the same information audibly.
Major life activities
These are activities that an average person can perform with little or no difficulty. Examples include walking, seeing, speaking, hearing, breathing, learning, caring for oneself, and performing manual tasks.
Rehabilitation Act
In 1973, Congress passed the Rehabilitation Act to provide individuals with disabilities opportunities to gain meaningful and productive employment with the Federal government.
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Section 501
Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in Federal employment and requires Federal agencies to establish affirmative action plans for the hiring, placement, and advancement of people with disabilities in Federal employment.
Section 504
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination based on disability in federally funded and federally conducted programs or activities in the United States, including employment programs. Federal employees with disabilities and members of the public with disabilities who are participating in a federally-funded program are entitled to “reasonable accommodations” so that they can participate as completely as their peers without disabilities.
Section 508
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act was originally added to the Rehabilitation Act in 1986, establishing non-binding guidelines for technology accessibility. On August 7, 1998, the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which included the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998, was enacted. The final section 508 standards were included in the Federal Register on December 21, 2000. Enforcement of Section 508 began on June 21, 2001 (the effective date per the FAR is 6/25/01).
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