The Importance of 508 Compliance: Making Your Library Accessible for All

If you’re a fully-functioning library in 2021, you’ve probably heard of the term “website accessibility” more than once. And more importantly, you understand the necessity for its inclusive practice.

In 2020, the School Library Journal reported that more than 2,200 web accessibility lawsuit cases were filed in federal court in 2018. This year, the publication Software Development Times disclosed that these digital accessibility lawsuits increased by twenty-three percent in March, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past seven months as the world has begun to reacclimate to a sense of normalcy, these numbers have continued to rise to over fifty percent and show no intention of slowing down.

If you’re reading this and have made it this far, we have to ask:

Is your library’s online platform and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) 508 compliant?

If you’re not sure, don’t know what 508 compliance is, or need some assistance with user-friendly website development, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered, LocalHop style. Keep reading to get some helpful tips, recommendations, and service options to prevent your library from turning into a percentage stat.

On January eighteenth of 2017, the U.S. Access Board updated the accessibility requirements for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in American libraries. Under this law, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Office of Government-wide Policy (OGP) is entrusted to provide technical assistance to Federal agencies so they comply with these statutes and ensure that covered ICT is accessible to, and functional for individuals with disabilities. So, what does this mean, exactly? And perhaps the biggest question of all: how does this affect your library?

Let us break it down for you.

What exactly is Section 508? Initially, it was strictly referred to as the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which required access to programs and activities that are funded by Federal agencies and to Federal employment. But, in 2017, Section 508 was developed as an amendment to that act which declared all ICT that is used in Federal establishments such as libraries must be developed, procured, maintained, and easily accessible for employees and individuals with disabilities.

The main thing to remember is that the 508 compliance requirements have been updated to provide clarity on two types of electronic components, and how they must work together to increase accessibility for individuals with disabilities. The first component is technologies already within your library such as software, digital platforms, web browsers, and operating systems. The second component is assistive technology, AKA the tools that help users with disabilities access your technology. Assistive technology are things like screen readers, speech recognition, and screen magnifiers, which, when integrated into your library’s technology, will boost user-friendly connectivity and make your community thrive.

The newest updates to Section 508 also instruct that all variations of public facing content (any sort of web interface that is available to the general public), as well as certain non-public facing content, also needs to be accessible to employees and users with disabilities. This is important to note because under previous variations of Section 508, this information (and whether or not it was covered) was never fully disclosed.