About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (January 11, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/govenyu0001 and id is 1 raw text is: S Congressional ____ ~ Research Service Digital Accessibility: Agencies Receive New Guidance from OMB January 11, 2024 The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued guidance to agencies on making websites and digital services accessible to persons with disabilities. OMB's guidance includes information provided in a September 2023 memorandum (M-23-22) on implementing the 21St Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (P.L. 115-336), as well as requirements and recommendations in a December 2023 memorandum (M-24-08) on complying with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. @794d). Section 508 requires that an agency's electronic information technology (EIT)-including hardware, software, and electronic content, such as websites and intranets-is to be accessible to members of the public and federal employees with disabilities. Accessible in this context means EIT that enables people with disabilities to have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use provided to people without disabilities (29 U.S.C. §794d(a)(1)(A)). More information on Section 508 can be found in CRS In Focus IF 12093, The Accessibility of Federal Information and Data: A Brief Overview of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, by Natalie R. Ortiz. This Insight discusses OMB's recent guidance to agencies on the accessibility of digital services. Using Accessibility Standards Section 752 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328), required OMB to disseminate guidance to agencies on conforming digital services to the Section 508 standards, as determined by the appropriate testing. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires the Access Board, an independent federal agency, to develop these standards, which establish technical and performance criteria for EIT that would ensure that individuals with disabilities can access and use federal information and data (29 U.S.C. @794d(a)(2)). The Access Board incorporates the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C's) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 into the standards it establishes for electronic content (36 C.F.R. § 1194 Appendix A E205.4). WCAG 2.0 was issued in 2008 and, therefore, available for the Access Board to incorporate into the standards it promulgated in 2017. W3C released WCAG 2.1 and WCAG 2.2 in 2023. Each successive WCAG adds to the criteria for enabling accessibility. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN12298 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most