The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is committed to buying technology that works for all users, including people with disabilities. If you want to sell technology products or services to DHS, the products or services must meet DHS accessibility standards as set forth in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.
You are in the right place if you:
- Manufacture technology products
- Build software or websites
- Design digital services
- Create electronic content
- Provide technology training
- Resell technology products or services
Must Meet Section 508 Standards
Your technology product and service must meet Section 508 accessibility standards. These standards ensure that all people -- with and without disabilities -- can effectively use the technology products and services.
Prove Your Product Works
You will need to demonstrate that your product and service meets accessibility standards by:
- Testing your product and service against Section 508 requirements
- Providing detailed test results
- Completing an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR)
- Demonstrating accessibility features when asked
- Document how to configure products and services for accessibility
What Works:
- Consider accessibility at the beginning of the product development cycle
- Train your development team on accessibility standards
- Include accessibility testers in development team meetings and sprints. This will:
- Allow testers to check new features immediately
- Resolve accessibility issues early in the development cycle while reducing costs and prevent delays
- Help developers adopt accessibility best practices and design patterns
- Build accessibility expertise within your organization
- Include people with disabilities in your usability testing
- Set clear accessibility requirements in your quality assurance checkpoints
- Keep accessibility documentation current
- Make accessibility a part of your organization’s culture
- Assign clear responsibility for accessibility within your organization
What Doesn't Work:
- Waiting until the end of the development cycle to build for accessibility
- This leads to costly redesigns and delays
- Treating accessibility as optional
- Accessibility is a federal requirement and not a "nice to have"
- Assuming that one-time testing is sufficient
- Each update needs testing
- Relying solely on automated testing
- Automated tools only catch 25-30% of accessibility issues
- Manual testing is essential for real-world usability
- Hiding or minimizing accessibility limitations
- Be upfront about the limitations of your product or service in your documentation
- Transparency builds trust with your stakeholders
- Failing to factor accessibility in updates and patches
- New updates can affect existing accessibility functionality and conformance
- Each change needs an accessibility review to ensure existing features continue to work properly
Good to Know:
- Early integration of accessibility during the discovery phase reduces future potential issues by making necessary adjustments more seamless and cost-effective
- Accessibility is about universal design, ensuring usability for everyone and not just those with disabilities
- Accessibility represents both an ethical commitment and a legal requirement
- Organizations or companies investing in accessible design can:
- Unlock new revenue opportunities
- Increase customer satisfaction
- Strengthen brand reputation
Documentation You Need:
- Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) - learn how to create an ACR
- Make sure you use a current version of VPAT
- Carefully complete all sections
- Be specific about what works and what doesn't
- Explain your testing process
- Supplemental Accessibility Report (SAR)
- Describe your testing methods
- Highlight accessibility features
- Include configuration instructions
- Demonstrate how to maintain accessibility
If You Create Content Tools Include:
- Samples of accessible content your tools can create
- Demonstrations of accessibility features
- Instructions for creating accessible content
- Examples of accessible templates
What to Include:
- Your accessibility statement
- Your approach to accessibility
- Your testing processes
- Your accessibility expertise
- Your commitment to maintaining accessibility
- Technical response
- How you meet each requirement
- Any additional accessibility features
- Configuration details
- Testing and maintenance plans
- Demonstrations of
- Accessibility features
- Real-world usage
- Configuration options
- Maintenance procedures