eHelpFor details and links to each of these laws, see the Cal Poly Pomona accessibility pages.
The Americans with Disabilities Act gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities. It had been assumed that it did not apply to web-based transactions as long as the same transactions could be carried out in person by people with disabilities, but a recent court decision in the case of a lawsuit against Target Corporation held that web sites are also covered by the law.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a civil rights law designed to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability in any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.—National Resource Center on ADIHD
Sect. 504 is the portion of the law that requires Cal Poly Pomona to provide accommodation to employees and students with disabilities. Web pages restricted to specific groups of employees or students are not subject to Sect. 508, below, but if the specific group includes a person with a disability, Sect. 504 applies. It is best to build all new web pages to meet or preferably exceed Sect. 508 requirements, since that assures that they will meet also Sect. 504 , if necessary.
In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities.—www.section508.gov
This law was applied to state agencies in California first by executive decree and then by an act of the Legislature. It is applied to the California State University by Executive Order 926.
As well as web-based intranet and internet information and applications, explained here, Sect. 508 also regulates software applications and operating systems, telecommunications products, video and multimedia products, self contained, closed products, and desktop and portable computers.
The sixteen requirements for web pages are usually simple to meet. However, Section 508 represents a minimum set of standards; it is always better to build new pages to meet stricter criteria, such as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, since it is often little or no extra work.
