“Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect”
—Tim Berners Lee of W3C

President Clinton passed the Rehabilitation Act Amendments in 1998. The newly amended acts holds Section 508, which refers to the web. Section 508 stated that in 2001 those with disabilities must be able to access all federal electronic documents and information. The amended law effectively limits the options and tools used by designers and programmers when designing websites. The law has its pros and cons, but positively forces the web to be accessible to those with blindness, color blindness, or motor skill disabilities. The law currently applies to only federal or federal supported websites. Section 508 enforcement cross web is inevitable in years to come. We as designers should be aware of the negative and positive affects that spawn from this law. Understanding ways to satisfy this law will prepare us for the future and help those the law was intended for.

The law focuses on making content understandable and navigable, assigning alternate text to describe images, functioning resizable text, and providing content that can be presented to the user as audibly or visually. Satisfying these parameters takes a bit of know how and organization. HTML markup must be error free and hierarchically correct. This means denoting headers before paragraphs and using objects like lists and blockquotes appropriately. Along with HTML, CSS must be properly marked. There are software, browser add-ons, and websites that can be used to check both HTML and CSS code for errors and warnings. All images can be Section 508 compliant
by adding a description of the image in the alt attribute in the image tag. Using an image map for navigation is poor technique, but can be used in conjunction with CSS or a secondary text based navigation. Technology like Adobe Flash or Javascript can create great visual enhancements but do not satisfy Section 508 Standards. When using these technologies be careful to properly tag your Flash document to explain its purpose and do not rely on Javascript to create your main navigation. If a site is all flash, there should be an optional text-based version of that site to satisfy Section 508. Sitemaps are a great way to provide alternate navigation with titles. There are free sitemap generators that will scan your site and create a list of links by page titles in a neat Section 508 compliant XML based code. Most validation and web tools are free; web sources are located in the left column.

Having a site that is Section 508 compliant makes it easier to find for indexing services like Google or Yahoo. Indexing services use coded robots that are programmed to search the web for new links or content. Like the individuals Section 508 accompanies too, the robots cannot process animated flash, sound, video, or images. By properly tagging these objects your site will be easier to find and navigate for both parties. Better SEO page rankings awarded to Section 508 compliant sites with proper valid markup, a bonus reward for the extra work done and a great selling point to clients.
Guidelines from WC3

Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content
Don’t rely on color alone
Use markup and style sheets and do so properly
Clarify natural language usage
Create tables that transform gracefully
Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully
Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes
Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user interfaces
Design for device-independence
Use interim solutions
Use W3C technologies and guidelines
Provide context and orientation information
Provide clear navigation mechanisms
Ensure that documents are clear and simple

Developer Resources 

Web Developer Tool Bar
http://chrispederick.com
Google Sitemap Crawler
http://gsitecrawler.com
Web Content Accessibility Validation Tool
http://www.cynthiasays.com
Web HTML and CSS Validation
http://validator.w3.org
Content Sources

Cohen, Daniel J., and Roy Rosenzweig. Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the Past on the Web. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006. p. 137-40
“Section 508: The Road to Accessibility.” Section508.gov 27 Nov 2007
“W3C’s Section 508 and UAAG Requirements Mapping Suite.” W3.org 27 Nov 2007
“Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0.” W3.org 5 May 1999