IT Policies - MRI Web

Section 508 Requirements for Web Pages

Section 508 requires that individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public seeking information or services from a Federal agency or an agency recieving any federal funding, 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. Section 508 requirements apply to educational sites and pages, and sites and pages related to project(s) which receive government funding or subsidies.

Section 508 requires that all Web pages and sites must pass level 1 priority compliance with regard to W3C's accessibility and usability practices.

This includes, but is not limited to:

• text alternatives, which can be read by a screen reader, for all images
  
  
• text alternatives, which can be read by a screen reader, for all sound files
  
  
• text alternatives, which can be read by a screen reader, for all video or Flash files
  
  
• alternative presentation of all multimedia, which addresses hearing and vision impairment
  
  
• redundant text links for all image maps
  
  
• up to date code (i.e., HTML 3.2 or newer, XHTML 1 transitional)
  
  
• appropriate color contrast for the vision impaired
  
  
• percent based design which allows the oversizing of text for the vision impaired
  
  
• tables are only to be used to data and must have column and row headers
  
  
• no flickering or blinking elements
  
  
• method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive navigation links
  
  
• users must be given controls to start and stop function when audio or interactive video is used

For more information, please visit the government Web site for section 508.