Section 508's Move to WCAG and Accessibility Litigation Risks

There is an increasing number of organizations in the USA that are facing lawsuits because their websites are not accessible. The Americans with a Disability Act (ADA) has been the law of the land for decades, but until recently websites were being held up to Section 508 which was published in 1997. The Department of Justice has now set a precedent whereby organizations are legally responsible to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 AA for both web and mobile sites.

This is a great advantage for Drupal 8, as this platform has been built and tested to include defaults that will make it as easy as possible to make your website comply. Little elements like requiring alt tags on images by default will make it easier for content creators to avoid the most common errors.

The costs of retrofitting a website to meet WCAG 2.0 AA standards can as much as it costs to build it. Certainly for interactive sites it is going to be simpler and more cost effective to simply start with Drupal 8 (or possibly Drupal 7).

By attending this presentation get an understanding of WCAG 2.0 AA standards versus Section 508 and learn how Drupal’s accessibility features will help your team.