Section 508 Compliance
Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act (as amended in 1998)
Section 508 creates binding, enforceable standards for electronic and technology accessibility that are to be incorporated into the Federal procurement regulations.
Each Federal department/agency is required to revise their procurement policies and regulations to incorporate the 508 standards.
That Act defines "information technology" to include "any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment, that is used in the automatic acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange transmission, or reception of data or information." It includes computer hardware, software, networks, and peripherals as well as many electronic and communications devised commonly used in offices.
Section 508 requires that when Federal agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology, they must ensure that is accessible to people with disabilities, unless it would pose an "undue burden" to do so. Federal employees and members of the public who have disabilities must have access to and use of information and services that is comparable to the access and use available to non-disabled Federal employees and members of the public.
Federal agencies, which provide information to the public or to their employees through Web sites, must ensure that such sites are available to all persons with internet or intranet access, including persons with disabilities.
California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office, Legal Opinion:
Legal Opinion - January 2001
Legal Opinion - March 2003
V-PATS:
Apple Mac Pro
Cisco 7900 Series IP Phone
HP Business Desktop PC's
Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard Software
Microsoft Office 2003
Microsoft Office Access 2007
Microsoft Office Publisher 2003
Windows Internet Explorer 7
Xerox 700 Digital Color Press
Xerox DocuColor 242 252 260 Production Unit
Xerox DocuShare CPX Version 6.5
Xerox Nuvera 100 120 144 Production Unit
Xerox 4118 Copier
Xerox 4150 Card Swipe Printer
Xerox 4595 Copier
Xerox 5632 5638 Copier
Xerox 5665 5675 5687 Copier