ADA and section 508

On Monday of this week I made a point of making contact with the Web team at my work; this contact happens 100% through email because the team is actually in a different state. My first email was basically a heads-up to watch for the email I was going to send about new documents we needed to add, and I talked a little about the class project for 840 and how I might send those suggestions on towards the end of the semester. I got a less-than-enthusiastic and very apologetic email back about how they would be happy to do what they can with my project suggestions, but that the site was really dependant on several government approved templates and ADA restrictions.

I mostly already knew this from chatting with my supervisor, but let me discuss it here because it's highly relevant to Library Science. The Americans with Disabilities Act and 508 compliance basically sets out rules for government websites to make them as highly accessible as possible to everyone regardless of their unique abilities. For example, all video clips need to be captioned so they are accessible without audio, and all pictures need to have text descriptors so they are described if a user is employing a screen-reader. While color can be used on a site, it cannot be used as a sole indicator of navigation (i.e. "press the red button....") for users who have color blindness. For a complete description, check out the 508 compliance codes here:

http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/guide/1194.22.htm

It has implications for my project because it does add a extra level of consideration, but it's also part of the ethics of the profession we discussed in 801 last semester in terms of providing fair and equal access to patrons.

Anyways, I wrote back telling my contact on the web team that I understood about the unique needs of government sites and that I had read over 508 compliance, and explained about how the project was really more an exercise in reducing the number of clicks between a user and the information they are seeking through intuitive design. I also said that I was 100% here to learn on this one, so it would be great if there were any resources they could send on to me. I got back a very relieved email stating what a frustration it was every time someone wanted to add something neat they saw on another site, and they had to explain the rules--they would be very happy to work with me, and highly recommended Krug's "Don't Make Me Think!" (a book we discussed in class) for user-centered design in websites.