How to Ensure 508 Compliance on Your Website
“Accessibility.” It’s a major point of emphasis in a lot of the discovery meetings we have with web clients. It’s a term you’ve undoubtedly heard, but if you don’t work with websites, it’s likely difficult to imagine how exactly you improve accessibility in a non-physical location.
“Website accessibility” usually refers to making a website easier to use and enjoy for users who have visual and auditory impairments. Most websites make use of imagery, animations, text, sound, and embedded media like YouTube videos, to create a digital experience that people want to tell their friends about. Website accessibility is all about making sure users with visual and auditory impairments can access information and enjoy the website to the same extent as anyone else.
One of the best frameworks we have for how to accomplish this is an amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 called Section 508. Here’s everything you need to know about 508 compliance.
Why Is Accessibility Important?
Why do so many of our clients care about website accessibility? And why should you?
Widen Your Customer Base
About eight percent of the United States (that's about 20 million people) have visual impairments. About 15 percent (37.5 million people), have difficulty hearing. That’s a lot of alienated people if your site isn’t accessible to them. If a user isn’t able to use your site, they won’t hesitate to go somewhere else that accommodates them.
Good for SEO
While Google doesn’t have a specific “accessibility” factor that influences their rankings, they care about user experience. Poorer accessibility typically indicates a worse user experience. Referring to the statistics above, imagine those percentages of your website users immediately realizing that they won’t be able to use your website, and promptly clicking the “back” arrow to return to the Google results page. Your website’s bounce rate (the percentage of users that leave before navigating to a different page) would skyrocket, the average time spent on the site would drop—both negative indicators for search engines.
It’s a Nice Thing to Do
Above all else, accessibility is important because we want anyone to be able to use websites regardless of disability. Websites, and really the internet in general, have been an increasingly significant part of our lives. A better question than "Why should you do it?" is "Why wouldn't you do it?"
Don’t Get Sued
There has been an increasing number of lawsuits over lack of website ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance, particularly for e-commerce websites. While not the most moral reason for inclusion, some people need their money threatened. Well, here you go. See? We're being inclusive.
What Is Section 508?
As mentioned previously, Section 508 is an amendment that was added to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This act, among other things, prohibits discrimination based on disability when it comes to hiring for federal agencies.
ADA vs. Section 508
It’s a bit like the ADA, but for websites. Actually, the ADA does apply to websites, so why should you care about Section 508? The ADA is the law that says businesses have to be accessible to everyone, even on the web, but it lacks some details. Section 508 is like the roadmap to accomplish the goal of being accessible.
In fact, on the ADA website, in the section titled “How to Make Web Content Accessible to People with Disabilities” it cites Section 508 as one of the existing technical standards that provides helpful guidance for web accessibility. So you should care about 508 compliance, if for no other reason than the ADA says you should.
Again, Section 508 was created specifically for government agencies, but it offers robust guidelines for how private sector sites can be more accessible.
How to Be 508 Compliant
Make sure your website is adhering to Section 508 by adding the following accessibility features:
Sufficient Contrast
There has to be enough contrast between the text, images, and the background they’re on. Section 508 states that, “Meeting the color contrast requirement ensures the visual presentation of text and images of text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1.” There are exceptions for large text, incidentals (which includes decorative images that aren’t essential to the user getting information), and logotypes.
Alternate Text on Images
Alternate text is simple, plain descriptions of images. They’re meant to help the visually impaired who are using screen readers by providing descriptions of images. You can add alternate text in the media folder of WordPress sites. Just click on a given image in the media folder, and then a few different text fields will appear on the right side. One of these fields is for alternate text, and you should add simple descriptions to these images. Although adding alternate text can be helpful for SEO, don’t go adding keywords. That’s called “keyword stuffing” and is generally frowned upon by search engines because it reduces its usefulness for its intended purpose. (It is universally frowned upon by people who know better.) Just provide enough of a description to convey what’s in the image, and move on to the next one.
Subtitles
Typically, this is the easiest feature to add since there are tons of automated subtitles, but they can make mistakes. It’s best to proofread the subtitles on your videos so you can make edits and adjust timing as needed. Pretty much any video hosting platform has a way to do this, and most of them will have specific WordPress embeds so you can add the videos to your site. If they don’t have a platform-specific way to embed, then you can copy the short code for the video, and put it in a short code Guttenberg block.
We get it—this is a lot to keep track of. Thankfully, when you partner with Mad Genius, you don't need to remember it. We pay people for that. So, if you're interested in a website that works for as many people as possible, chat with us. We can upgrade what you have, or build you something new. We embrace all opportunities equally.