Policy and Standards

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination and ensures equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation. It also mandates the establishment of TDD/telephone relay services. The current text of the ADA includes changes made by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-325), which became effective on January 1, 2009.

• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination based on disability in any program or activity operated by recipients of federal funds. 
• Office of Civil Rights Disability Discrimination FAQ

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is a key initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Its goal is to develop globally recognized accessibility standards and materials for creating and evaluating digital content and applications. These standards are commonly known as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). WCAG not only applies to web-based content, but to all electronic content, including websites, documents and media, blog posts, and social media.

WCAG 2.0 was released in 2008 and currently is what you will see most often referenced in the literature. On June 5, 2018 the W3C released WCAG 2.1. WCAG 2.1 builds on to the WCAG 2.0 standards.

Section 508 Standards, which were first issued in 2000, were updated in 2017 and apply to information and communication technologies (ICT) developed, procured, maintained, or used by federal agencies. The new standards incorporate the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0.