| What Is
Section 508?
Section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act is a federal statute
aimed at ensuring accessibility to IT resources
for people with varying degrees of physical
ability. The essence of the law, as explained
on the Section 508 website, is as follows:
"Section 508
generally requires Federal agencies to
ensure that their procurement of EIT takes
into account the needs of all end users
– including people with disabilities.
Doing so enhances the ability of Federal
employees with disabilities to have access
to and use of information and data that
is comparable to that provided to others.
Similarly, agency procurement of accessible
EIT enhances the ability of members of
the public with disabilities who are seeking
information or services from a Federal
agency to have access to and use of information
and data that is comparable to that provided
to others. Comparable access is not required
if it would impose an "undue burden"
on the agency. If an agency invokes the
undue burden exception, the statute requires
the information and data to be provided
to individuals with disabilities by an
alternative means of access." (http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=75)
Why Section 508 Is Important
to Us
At GHS, we believe
that ensuring accessibility to as many users
as possible is our responsibility as a corporate
citizen. We believe that technology should
benefit more people — not just benefit
a few people more. Although Section 508
is aimed specifically at Federal agencies,
we believe that its principles should be
applied wherever possible.
There are a lot of
conditions which can hinder people from
getting the most out of IT resources, from
visual and hearing impairments that limit
the type of outputs a person can process,
to motor impediments restricting the types
of inputs they can use. Section 508 aims
to give people affected by these conditions
an equal chance to benefit from digital
resources — and an equal chance to
use these resources to benefit the community.
Accessibility is a win-win situation, and
we're always up for that.
Why Section 508 Is Important
to You
Of course you, like
us, want to be a good corporate citizen.
But like all organizations, you have many
stakeholders; and some of them may feel
that Section 508 compliance means making
a large investment for a relatively small
return.
But, the principle
behind Section 508 isn't that you need to
spend huge sums to give everything to everybody.
In fact, the law allows an exception where
accessibility would create an "undue
burden" — that is, where it would
be cost-prohibitive. 508 does say, however,
that where it can be done for a reasonable
cost, disabled individuals should have either
"equivalent facilitation" (i.e.,
the technology used should be accessible
to all) or "alternative means of access"
(i.e., the ability to get comparable information
in a different way).
So in reality, accessibility
is just good business sense. For a relatively
small investment, you can broaden the usefulness
and potential market for your products and
services, and gain users that might otherwise
have to go elsewhere.
And you can let the
world know that your commitment to corporate
citizenship isn't just a slogan on your
website. |
