All Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) websites, applications, and other digital media are expected to comply with Section 508 requirements. New and redesigned sites should be compliant when submitted to the Web Governance Team for approval to send live.
Section 508 requires all federal agencies to make their electronic and information technologies accessible to people with disabilities. In practice, this means that the content on your websites should be provided in a way that is accessible to all of your visitors, no matter how they access your site. For more information, visit Section 508.gov.
How do you meet Section 508?
Some of the most common tasks related to Section 508 are:
- Writing alt text for images
- Writing text versions for videos and animations
- Adding captions to videos
- Following the graphic guidelines for color contrast and image refresh rates
- Making PDFs accessible
- Developing web applications so they can be used without a mouse. EERE has specific guidelines for
testing applications for accessibility.
Before you start a website or application project, know what you will need to do to meet Section 508 requirements. It's easy to make an accessible product if you work accessibility into your normal planning, design, and coding schedule.
More Information
- Section508.gov
- Section 508 Awareness, a video from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Testing Applications for Accessibility