Coming Soon: iSenpai’s 508 Testing Tool

What is 508 Compliance?

            508 Compliance is a section in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It was established to provide protection and services for individuals with disabilities. Section 508 specifically covers issues related to computer technology, especially the internet. All website content is to be accessible to people with disabilities. The current standard for web accessibility is the WCAG 2.1, maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

What does it mean to be 508 Compliant as a website?

            A website is 508 Compliant when it is accessible by all users. Accessibility is determined by how well a website meets certain standards, mainly what allows the disabled community to access the website and be able to navigate it easily and proficiently. How well the website works with Captions, Transcripts, Keyboard Navigation, Screen Reading, ALT Text for Images and Videos, Color and Contrast, and No Timeouts, determines how accessible it is. All these features make up 508 Compliance and Accessibility.

Why is being 508 Compliant and Accessible important?

            The internet has grown rapidly and is the center piece for resources and opportunities. Sixty percent of the world accesses the internet everyday. Imagine being someone who couldn’t access what everyone else around you can? This is where 508 Compliance steps in. It compels website owners and businesses to “develop, procure, maintain, and use electronic and information technology” so that those with disabilities are able to access the same internet that those who don’t have disabilities can access.

Why is 508 Compliance important to iSenpai?

            Accessibility and universal participation are driving factors behind the commitments and projects at iSenpai. We came into existence with the goal of eradicating childhood blindness. In the meantime, our employees and leaders strive to ensure that physical disability does not impact a person’s chance to participate in the technology industry.

How 508 Compliance, Accessibility, and PWA is Tested:

            We are using Google Lighthouse to perform audits for 508 Compliance, Accessibility, and PWA standards. Google Lighthouse scans the first page of the website, the landing page. The Lighthouse score is a weighted average of all the audits (each audit tests a specific WCAG Criteria or PWA standard). Each audit is either pass or fail, no partial points are given. Since each audit has its own weight (based on the corresponding WCAG Level or PWA standard), the more heavily weighted audits have a bigger impact on that website’s score.

Websites are assigned a grade (from the Lighthouse accessibility score) based on the table below: