Section 4 Of The Act
Frederic Laureano
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Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act charges the Access Board with developing and promulgating this rule. The statute also charges the Access Board with providing Technical Assistance on Section 508, which is provided through webinars, trainings, and in close collaboration with GSA and materials available from Section508.gov.
Section 508 requires access to ICT developed, procured, maintained, or used by federal agencies. Examples include computers, telecommunications equipment, multifunction office machines such as copiers that also operate as printers, software, websites, information kiosks and transaction machines, and electronic documents. The Section 508 Standards, which are part of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, ensure access for people with physical, sensory, or cognitive disabilities.
EXCEPTION: Records maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) pursuant to Federal recordkeeping statutes shall not be required to conform to the Revised 508 Standards unless public facing.
The purpose of this part is to implement section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. 794d). Section 508 requires that when Federal agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology, Federal employees with disabilities have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use by Federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency. Section 508 also requires that individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public seeking information or services from a Federal agency, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency.
Nothing in this part is intended to prevent the use of designs or technologies as alternatives to those prescribed in this part provided they result in substantially equivalent or greater access to and use of a product for people with disabilities.
SUMMARY: We, the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board or Board), are revising and updating, in a single rulemaking, our standards for electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by Federal agencies covered by section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as well as our guidelines for telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment covered by Section 255 of the Communications Act of 1934. The revisions and updates to the section 508-based standards and section 255-based guidelines are intended to ensure that information and communication technology covered by the respective statutes is accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.
DATE: This final rule is effective March 20, 2017. [Note: The Board changed the effective date to March 21, 2017, as indicated in a notice published on March 2, 2017.] However, compliance with the section 508-based standards is not required until January 18, 2018. Compliance with the section 255-based guidelines is not required until the guidelines are adopted by the Federal Communications Commission. The incorporation by reference of certain publications listed in the final rule is approved by the Director of the Federal Register as of March 20, 2017.
In this final rule, the Access Board is updating its existing Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards under section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, ("508 Standards"), as well as our Telecommunications Act Accessibility Guidelines under Section 255 of the Communications Act of 1934 ("255 Guidelines"). Given the passage of nearly two decades since their issuance, the existing 508 Standards and 255 Guidelines are in need of a "refresh" in several important respects. This final rule is intended to, among other things, address advances in information and communication technology that have occurred since the guidelines and standards were issued in 1998 and 2000 respectively, harmonize with accessibility standards developed by standards organizations worldwide in recent years, and ensure consistency with the Board's regulations that have been promulgated since the late 1990s. The Revised 508 Standards and 255 Guidelines support the access needs of individuals with disabilities, while also taking into account the costs of providing accessible information and communication technology to Federal agencies, as well as manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment.
Additionally, the term "information and communication technology" (ICT) is used widely throughout this preamble. Unless otherwise noted, it is intended to broadly encompass electronic and information technology covered by Section 508, as well as telecommunications products, interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) products, and Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) covered by Section 255. Examples of ICT include computers, information kiosks and transaction machines, telecommunications equipment, multifunction office machines, software, Web sites, and electronic documents.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (hereafter, "Section 508"), as amended, mandates that Federal agencies "develop, procure, maintain, or use" ICT in a manner that ensures Federal employees with disabilities have comparable access to, and use of, such information and data relative to other Federal employees, unless doing so would impose an undue burden. 29 U.S.C. 794d. Section 508 also requires Federal agencies to ensure that members of the public with disabilities have comparable access to publicly-available information and services unless doing so would impose an undue burden on the agency. Id. In accordance with section 508(a)(2)(A), the Access Board must publish standards that define electronic and information technology along with the technical and functional performance criteria necessary for accessibility, and periodically review and amend the standards as appropriate. When the Board revises its existing 508 Standards (whether to keep up with technological changes or otherwise), Section 508 mandates that, within six months, both the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FAR Council) and Federal agencies incorporate these revised standards into their respective acquisition regulations and procurement policies and directives. Thus, with respect to procurement-related matters, the Access Board's 508 Standards are not self-enforcing; rather, these standards take legal effect when adopted by the FAR Council.
Section 255 of the Communications Act (hereafter, "Section 255"), requires telecommunications equipment and services to be accessible to, and usable by, individuals with disabilities, where readily achievable. 47 U.S.C. 255. "Readily achievable" is defined in the statute as "easily accomplishable and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense." Id. In determining whether an access feature is readily achievable, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which has exclusive implementation and enforcement authority under Section 255, has directed telecommunications equipment manufacturers and service providers to weigh the nature and cost of that feature against the individual company's overall financial resources, taking into account such factors as the type, size, and nature of its business operation. Section 255 tasks the Access Board, in conjunction with the FCC, with the development of guidelines for the accessibility of telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment, as well as their periodic review and update. The FCC, however, has exclusive authority under Section 255 to issue implementing regulations and carry out enforcement activities. Moreover, when issuing implementing regulations, the FCC is not bound to adopt the Access Board's guidelines as its own or to use them as minimum requirements.
The Revised 508 Standards and 255 Guidelines replace the current product-based regulatory approach with an approach based on ICT functions. The revised technical requirements, which are organized along the lines of ICT functionality, provide requirements to ensure that covered hardware, software, electronic content, and support documentation and services are accessible to people with disabilities. In addition, the revised requirements include functional performance criteria, which are outcome-based provisions that apply in two limited instances: when the technical requirements do not address one or more features of ICT or when evaluation of an alternative design or technology is needed under equivalent facilitation.
From the outset, one of the Access Board's primary goals in this rulemaking has been to increase harmonization with international standards relating to ICT accessibility that have been developed worldwide over the past decade. Some of these standards (such as WCAG 2.0) are incorporated by reference in the Revised 508 Standards and 255 Guidelines. For other standards (such as EN 301 549, which is the European accessibility standard for public ICT procurement), harmonization comes in the form of ensuring that the relevant accessibility specifications in such standard and the final rule can both be met simultaneously without conflict. Harmonization with international standards and guidelines creates a larger marketplace for accessibility solutions, thereby attracting more offerings and increasing the likelihood of commercial availability of accessible ICT options.
The Revised 508 Standards specify that all types of public-facing content, as well as nine categories of non-public-facing content that communicate agency official business, have to be accessible, with "content" encompassing all forms of electronic information and data. The existing standards require Federal agencies to make electronic information and data accessible, but do not delineate clearly the scope of covered information and data. As a result, document accessibility has been inconsistent across Federal agencies. By focusing on public-facing content and certain types of agency official communications that are not public facing, the revised requirements bring needed clarity to the scope of electronic content covered by the 508 Standards and, thereby, help Federal agencies make electronic content accessible more consistently.
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