Disabilities come in many forms, including visual, auditory, cognitive and physical. In today's digital age, the information environment is a public space that people with disabilities have a right to access.
Section 508 of the rehabilitation act of 1973 requires federal agencies to develop, procure, maintain and use electronic and information technology (EIT) that is accessible to people with disabilities—regardless of whether or not they work for the federal government. This covers ALL electronic communication, internal and external, which includes, but is not limited to, notifications, documents, templates, forms, web pages, presentations, training materials, etc.
This means that by law, as a communicator for the DoD, all of your communication products must be 508-compliant.
Explore the following to better understand the ways each type of disability experiences electronic products.
Visual Disabilities
Visual disabilities span a wide spectrum, from complete blindness to color blindness to low vision caused by blocked peripheral vision, spotted vision, blurred vision and ghosting issues. A 508-compliant product must consider all of these disabilities.
Examine the following examples of what persons with a visual impairment may experience when viewing a web page and being color blind, having blurred or blocked vision or binocular or peripheral vision.
What Persons Without Impairment Experience
What Persons with a Visual Impairment May Experience
Auditory Disabilities
Auditory disabilities include both low and no hearing.
Examine the following examples of what persons with an auditory impairment may experience when watching a video online. They will use tools like transcripts and captions in order to understand the video.
What Persons Without Impairment Experience
What Persons with an Auditory Impairment May Experience
Cognitive Disabilities
Cognitive disabilities are often overlooked when we think about compliance. Cognitive disabilities include things like dyslexia, ADHD, stress, anxiety and PTSD. The good news is a lot of these are easy to accommodate.
Examine the following examples of what those with a cognitive impairment may experience when trying to read a document and have dyslexia. There are many different forms of dyslexia they may experience, including visual distortions like letter swapping and blurred swirl effects.
What Persons Without Impairment Experience
What Persons with a Cognitive Impairment May Experience
Physical Disabilities
The ADA mandates physical accessibility measures for Americans with disabilities, like wheelchair ramps and accessible bathroom stalls. But how can we ensure physical access online? Impairments like arthritis, tremors, etc. can make using or clicking buttons on web pages and mobile devices more difficult.
Examine the following examples of what those with physical impairment may experience when trying to navigate a web form using only keyboard controls.
What Persons Without Impairment Experience
What Persons with a Physical Impairment May Experience
Adobe product screen shots reprinted with permission from Adobe Inc.
Some image examples in this article are from the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI): Accessibility Fundamentals: Video Captions. Shadi Abou-Zahra, eds. Status: Updated 23 January 2019.)
References
Level Access. (2021, June 21). Test your site for accessibility.
Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). (2021, April 14). Accessibility compliance checklists.
Orey, M. (2018, December 21). No learner left behind: Designing and delivering accessible learning programs.
U.S. Access Board. (2017). About the ICT Accessibility 508 Standards and 255 Guidelines.