Accessibility compliance guides · United States

Section 508 compliance for federal agencies and vendors

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires U.S. federal agencies to make their information and communication technology accessible. Because the duty covers technology agencies buy, it also reaches every vendor that wants to sell them a website, app, or document.

Technical standard: Revised 508 Standards, incorporating WCAG 2.0 Level AA
In effect: January 18, 2018
Who: Federal agencies and the vendors who supply their ICT

What it is

Section 508 requires federal agencies to ensure that information and communication technology (ICT) is accessible to employees and members of the public with disabilities. The U.S. Access Board’s Revised 508 Standards, in effect since January 18, 2018, incorporate WCAG 2.0 Level AA for web content and extend that bar to non-web documents and software.

Federal acquisition rules tell agencies to buy accessible ICT when it is available. Solicitations ask vendors for accessibility documentation. An inaccurate Accessibility Conformance Report can lose a bid or breach a contract.

Section 508 is not the ADA. The ADA covers state and local government and businesses. Many states also apply their own “little 508” procurement rules. A product sold to both federal and state buyers usually needs to clear WCAG 2.1 AA, which satisfies the 508 baseline and the newer ADA Title II rule.

Who needs to comply

The legal duty sits on the agency. The commercial duty sits on anyone who wants the contract.

Federal agencies. Departments, agencies, and other federal bodies that develop, procure, maintain, or use ICT — public websites, intranets, software, kiosks, and documents.
Vendors and contractors. Software companies, web agencies, SaaS platforms, and document publishers selling to the federal government. If the agency cannot buy an inaccessible product, your conformance file is part of the sale.
Subcontractors. A prime contractor remains responsible for ICT it delivers. Accessibility clauses flow down to the teams who actually build the interface.

Timeline

Section 508 has been in force for years. The practical clock is the next solicitation.

January 18, 2018. Revised 508 Standards take effect, incorporating WCAG 2.0 Level AA and covering documents and software.
Each procurement. Agencies ask for a current Accessibility Conformance Report. An old VPAT from a previous release is not evidence about the product you are selling now.
Alongside the ADA. State and local buyers are moving to WCAG 2.1 AA under Title II, with technical deadlines of April 26, 2027 and April 26, 2028. Testing to 2.1 or 2.2 AA covers both regimes.

What the rule requires

The standards cover more than the public homepage.

Web, software, and documents. Public sites, internal tools, electronic documents (PDF and Office files), hardware with a user interface, and support documentation.
WCAG 2.0 AA as the floor. The Revised 508 Standards point at WCAG 2.0 Level AA. We test to WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 AA so a later state or ADA requirement does not force a second audit.
An honest ACR. A completed VPAT is an Accessibility Conformance Report. It should say supports, partially supports, or does not support for each criterion, based on a real test — not a checkbox self-assessment.

How we help

We produce the audit and the conformance report agencies can actually rely on, then we fix what the report says does not support.

A Section 508 / WCAG audit of the product you sell or the site the agency operates.
A VPAT-based Accessibility Conformance Report written from the test, with a remediation roadmap where support is partial.
Manual testing with NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver, plus keyboard-only use and browser zoom. The failures these rules care about are often invisible to an automated scan.
Remediation in your production code by our developers, so the fix lives in the product and not only in a report.
An accessibility statement and, where a buyer or regulator expects one, a VPAT-based Accessibility Conformance Report grounded in the audit.
Training for the people who publish pages, documents, and campaigns after the audit.
A retest after major releases, so a later deploy does not quietly undo the work.

Web accessibility audit and remediation

Our process

Confirm what applies to you. We identify whether you are the agency, the prime, or a vendor, and which ICT (site, app, documents) the solicitation or duty actually covers.
Audit the live experience. We review the pages, flows, documents, and apps people actually use, with assistive technologies as well as automated checks, and map each finding to the standard this rule points to.
Fix the barriers that block access. Our developers remediate structure, keyboard access, forms, contrast, names, and media in your codebase, starting with the journeys that gate a service.
Document what was tested. You receive the findings, what we fixed, and the statement or conformance report your team, counsel, or procurement office needs on file.
Keep it from slipping. We train publishers and retest after significant releases so new content does not reopen the same gaps.

Longer background: Section 508 compliance guide.

Frequently asked questions

Is a VPAT the same as an ACR?

The VPAT is the template. The completed report is the Accessibility Conformance Report. Buyers want the completed ACR, tied to the version of the product they are purchasing.

Does Section 508 apply to our company if we are not a federal agency?

The statute binds the agency. It reaches you when the agency procures your ICT. If you do not sell to the federal government, look at the ADA instead — and at any state procurement rule your buyers use.

WCAG 2.0 AA is the standard. Why test 2.1 or 2.2?

2.0 AA meets the Revised 508 Standards. ADA Title II and many state buyers now expect 2.1 AA. Testing the newer criteria avoids a second project when the same product is sold to a city or a state.

Can the report say “supports” for everything?

Only when the test shows that. Agencies compare claims to the product. An ACR that overstates conformance is worse than an honest partial with a fix plan.

Related guides

This page is general information from Peradeo Technologies Inc., not legal advice.

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