FAQ

What is Section 508?

Section 508 is a part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It requires all the electronic and information technology that are developed, procured, maintained, or used by the Federal Government shall be accessible to people with disabilities.

Who should comply with 508 Compliance Standards?

Under the U.S. Law, starting with June of 2001, all government Web sites must conform to these standards. Any contractor doing business with the Federal Government must conform to these standards. The scope of section 508 is limited to the Federal sector. It does not apply to the private sector, nor does it generally impose requirements on the recipients of Federal funds.

However, 508/WAI compliant Web based applications and software systems aren't important only to government agencies. Any business can benefit from the increased audience provided by an accessible Web site or software. And, of course, for those businesses that cater for the elderly and handicapped – such as hospitals, charities, medical fundraising organizations, and others – it is almost imperative that their site can be easily accessed and navigated by people with disabilities. Accessibility is just a good business.

What does it mean for electronic information technology to be accessible?

An accessible information technology system provides alternative ways of accessing the information. For example, a system that provides some output that is solely contained in a visual format may not be accessible to people with visual impairments. Systems that provide output only in audio format may not be accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Some individuals with disabilities may need accessibility-related software or peripheral devices in order to use systems that comply with Section 508.

I plan to sell my product in Europe. Do I have to make it 508 Compliant?

No. 508 Standard is for those who want to sell products in the U.S. If you want to sell products in Europe you need to follow WAI guidelines. See more information at http://www.w3.org/WAI/Policy.

What are accessibility regulations in different countries worldwide?

Please read Overview page.

What is W3C?

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an independent, international body that creates Internet and programming language standards, broadly accepted by governments and the private sector. W3C is one of the first groups to develop accessibility standards. These standards have been used by several organizations to make their content accessible, and influenced the final Section 508 requirements in the U.S. For more information visit W3C home page http://www.w3.org/.

What is WAI? How is WAI different from Section 508?

WAI stands for the Web Accessibility Initiative of W3C. WAI has developed the most important accessibility guidelines. WAI has 3 levels of accessibility compliance: "A", "AA", "AAA". "AAA" is the most advanced level. "A" is the simplest level. Section 508 requirements can be seen as some sort of derivative of WAI. "A" level of WAI has similar, but not identical, requirements as Section 508. Many governments and standardization bodies use WAI Guidelines as a base for new laws and standards. Visit http://www.w3.org/WAI/ for more information.

What benefits will I get?

Retrofitting of your site to 508/WAI compliance:

• makes your Web site accessible to people with disabilities
• increases audience and attracts new users and customers
• reduces your risk of lawsuits
• gives your organization a positive public image
• prepares for new technologies
• allows you to perform transactions with the government
• provides you with overall additional testing of your application or system

How much time will it take to make my Web site/application accessible?

Audit, estimation, retrofitting and re-testing of your Web based application or software product can take different periods of time depending on the complexity and size. If you have a simple Web site with a few HTML pages, the project takes a few days only. If you have a complicated multi-tier system with a few hundreds forms and pages, the project takes a few months.

How much will it cost?

It depends on the complexity and scope of the work and may cost from a few hundreds dollars in the simplest case to dozens of thousands for a complicated system. We provide an initial consultation and estimation free of charge. Simply contact us.

What applications should be converted?

The 508/WAI Guidelines provide criteria specific to various types of technologies, including:

• Software applications and operating systems
• Web based information or applications
• Telecommunication products
• Video and multimedia products
• Self contained, closed products (e.g., information kiosks, calculators, fax machines)
• Desktop and portable computers

We specialize in converting Web sites, Web based applications and software products of any size and complexity.

What platform do you support?

We support Windows and UNIX platforms (Linux, Solaris, BSD).

What makes your services unique?

We offer:

Knowledge – our staff tracks the development of the accessibility issues worldwide.
Experience – many successfully finished accessibility compliance projects.
Proprietary Technology – our Direct Source™ software reduces time and cost of accessibility projects.
Know-how transfer – we train developers of our customers so that they could produce new systems compliant with accessibility requirements and provide our Direct Source™ software to each our customer.
Affordable Cost – due to using of development staff in Eastern Europe we can offer much lower rates than industry average.
Reliability – we guarantee agreed cost and time frames, as well as absolute confidentiality.