ADA Section 508 Compliance
ADA Compliance refers to the American with Disabilities Act. Compliance with
the ADA law, specifically section 508, requires that a website be accessible to
people with disabilities. Criteria for compliance are based on access guidelines
developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium.
Also, COMAR 17.06.02.05 (
More information:
How to check
Follow these steps to check how compliant your website is:
- Go to http://achecker.ca/checker
- Enter your website's home page address in the form field
- Click "Check It"
- Allow the page to load
- A list of compliance issues will appear
Note: the information above is correct as of 1/5/2011
Some issues are considered more egregious than others. For
example, not using Alt Text for images is considered especially
bad. Using Alt Text with images means that web page reader
software can read a description of the image to a visually
impaired person. To add Alt Text to an image (using Front Page
or SharePoint Designer) follow these steps:
- Double-click the image - the "Picture Properties" window
appears
- On the General tab, in the Text field under "Alternative
representations" enter a short description of the image
- Click OK
- Save
What happens in the html is that an "alt" attribute is added
to the image tag like this:
<img src="someimage.jpg" alt="text read aloud by reader" />
The Alt Text information "text read aloud by reader" is
not displayed to the web visitor but can be read aloud by a web
page reader.
If you have questions regarding the list of compliance
issues or other ADA compliance questions please contact the Web Office.
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