WCAG color contrast requirements to help achieve 508 compliance

For wcag color contrast to be accessible to people with all disabilities, the visual presentation of text and images of text has to have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 to 1, excluding large text. Large scale text and images of large-scale text has to have a contrast ratio of at least  3 to 1. Incidental text or images of texts that are part of an inactive user interface components that are pure decoration that are not visible to anyone, or that are part of a picture that contains significant other visual content have no contrast requirements.

Additionally, logo types, or text that is part of a logo or brand name, has no contrast requirements, the ratios in WCAG 2.0 contrast is a measure of the difference in perceived luminance or brightness between two colors. This brightness difference is expressed as a ratio ranging from one to one white on white, or 21 to one which is black on white.

Learn how Digital Echo’s accessibility services can help you identify wcag color contrast requirements, potential issues in your documents and how to best meet accessibility standards.

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508 Compliance Best Practices and Title II

This video covers title two of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Some of the learning objectives of this brief video are to provide an overview of title two of the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, understanding 508 compliance best practices within your organization, and really interpret what exactly is needed to achieve 508 compliance.

Section 508 Compliance Best Practices

Section508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. The law applies to all federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology. When applying 508 compliance best practices, agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public access to information that is comparable to the access available to others. Section 508 was amended in 2018 to include WCAG 2.0 AA standards.

The revised 508 standards incorporate by reference the success criteria and apply the WCAG 2.0 AA success criteria and conformance requirements to both web and non-web electronic content. The scoping requirements for electronic content applies to non-web electronic documents regardless of format, and other scoping provisions apply to non-web software. There is no distinction between web pages and non-web content. Because the same accessibility needs to exist for all electronic content. WCAG 2.0 AA is the conformance level used in most accessibility rules and regulations around the world, including the ADA.

To meet WCAG 2.0 AA conformance, the website needs to be usable and understandable for most people with or without disabilities. Some notable WCAG 2.0 standards include:

• Color contrast
• Alt text or a similar solution is used for images that convey meaning
• Navigation elements are consistent throughout the website
• Form fields have accurate labels
• Status updates can be conveyed through a screen reader
• Headings are used in a logical order.

These are just some of the requirements for AA.

Now, what does this all mean? Well, in plain terms, this requires federal agencies to make their information and communication technology accessible to people with disabilities. It applies to the development, procurement, maintenance and use of information and communication technology. Agencies must give disabled employees, students, and members of the public access to information comparable to the access available to others.

• What are some overall best practices for WCAG 2.0 AA compliance and section 508 in general?
• All your images, graphics and charts should have detailed alternate text, avoid using images that contain words.
• Documents should be made accessible that are posted online.
• Use fonts like Tahoma, Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, and times new roman but be aware of other color contrast requirements
• Be sure to not use color as the sole method of conveying content or distinguishing visual elements such as size, shape, and location.
• All the tables must have proper headers applied and should be only used to present data.
• All videos require captions; auto generated is not sufficient.

Title 2 of the ADA

Title two of the ADA applies to state and local government entities. It protects qualified individuals with disabilities from discrimination in services, programs and activities provided by the state and local government entities. Title two extends the prohibition on discrimination established by section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. As amended, it applies to all activities of state and local government regardless of whether these entities receive federal financial assistance.

Learn how Digital Echo’s accessibility services can help you identify 508 compliance best practices, potential issues in your documents and how to best meet accessibility standards within your organization.

Alternate Text Best Practices for 508 Compliance

This video is going to show alternate text best practices for Section 508 Compliance.

What exactly is alternate text? Informative images are any image that add to the context of a page. If the content of a page would suffer when an image was removed, then that image is informative, and it needs to have alternate text.

• Describe the image as concisely as possible. As a rule of thumb, avoid writing text alternatives longer than 100 characters. Having long alternate text will result in a poor user experience for those using screen readers. If the image requires that lengthier description it is better to describe the image in the content and provide shorter alt text.
• Avoid having a file extension as the alternate text.
• Avoid using the words picture of or image of in alternate text.
• Avoid using pictures of text.
• Ensure that all images are set to inline.
• Ensure that your alt text is clear and concise, remember to try to make it less than 100 characters if you can.

Learn how Digital Echo’s accessibility services can help you identify alternate text best practices, potential issues in your documents and how to best meet accessibility standards within your organization.

Accessible PowerPoint Themes

Starting with a proper theme is critical in creating an accessible presentation.  This video will walk participants through how to create and use a default theme and template that is accessible and 508 complaint.

Learn how Digital Echo’s accessibility services can help you create robust PowerPoint Themes and how to best meet accessibility standards.

Alternate text in PowerPoint

Alt Text is critical in conveying the content within images, charts, and other infographics to those with visual impairments or blindness. This video will walk participants through how to set alternate text in a PowerPoint file.

Learn how Digital Echo’s accessibility services can help you create alternate text and how to best meet 508 compliance and other accessibility standards.

PowerPoint Outline View- Is an important tool/view to ensure accessibility. This video will walk participants on how to use outline view and when to avoid using textboxes for 508 compliance.