Creating accessible content is the basic requirement of many businesses operating in different regions. However, It is important to adhere to the specific regulations and accessibility guidelines as specified for your content type or region. WCAG and section 508 are two of the most popular guidelines and standards for accessibility adherence.

So today, let us try to have a detailed understanding of the WCAG and Section 508 in detail. We'll understand what WCAG and Section 508 refer to, followed by the key differences between these two accessibility standards.

What is WCAG?

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines or WCAG refers to the set of guidelines and standards created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for ensuring accessible web content. It ensures that the websites, web applications, and other web elements are easy to understand by people suffering from different types of impairments.


WCAG is based on the POUR principles which refer to the Perceivable, Observable, Understandable, and Robust website content. It has different standards like WCAG 1.0, WCAG 2.0 compliance, WCAG 2.1, and WCAG 2.2.



What is Section 508?

The section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 refers to a section prohibiting the US federal agencies from discriminating by the federal agencies based on the different impairments. The aim of section 508 is to ensure that different ICT products or services adhere to accessibility guidelines.

It is a federal law focusing on making ICT products and services accessible to all irrespective of their impairments.

Key differences between WCAG and Section 508

After having a quick understanding of the WCAG and Section 508, below are the key differences between these two:

Application

To start with, let us try to differentiate WCAG and Section 508 based on their scope and key applications.

WCAG is used to offer a broad approach to web accessibility. WCAG is created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). It is not specific to any region or country and applies globally.

Section 508 is one of the components of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 in the United States. It is specific to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) created or developed by the federal agencies. Hence, it is specific to the United States and is for ICT products or services.

Creation and updation

After understanding the basic application, the next step is to understand the creation and updates in the WCAG and Section 508.

WCAG is created by the W3C and the association regularly updates it to accommodate the technology advancements and digital accessibility needs. The different WCAG versions cover 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2.

Section 508 standards were updated in 2017 to achieve WCAG 2.0 compliance. Hence, these updates make the Section 508 standards align with the international standards of WCAG.

Legal conditions

The WCAG and Section 508 can be quickly differentiated based on their legal conditions in the following ways.

WCAG is not a law but any non-compliance to WCAG leads to legal cases. Hence, many countries and regions have adopted WCAG as a key standard.

Section 508 is a US federal law and it is essential for any agency receiving federal funds to adhere to the Section 508 standards.

Enforcement

Let us now try to understand the differences between the WCAG and Section 508 based on their enforcement areas.

The enforcement of WCAG is dependent on the different regions and countries that adopt it. Any non-compliance to the WCAG standards leads to legal cases and complaints.

The enforcement of Section 508 applies to the federal agencies. Any failure to the Section 508 standards leads to legal cases.

Technology use

WCAG and Section 508 can be differentiated based on technology use.

WCAG applies to different types of web-related content. It covers websites, multimedia content, and web applications.

Section 508 is created for Information and Communication Technology (ICT). It covers a range of ICT products and services like software, hardware, and multimedia.


Area of focus

Moving ahead, let us focus on the area of focus of the WCAG and Section 508.

WCAG is adopted globally by different organizations in different countries. Hence, it has a global perspective.

Section 508 refers to the US federal agencies focusing on accessible ICT products or services. All agencies entitled to federal funds come under the focus area of Section 508 standards.

Testing criteria

Last but not least, let us understand the different testing criteria for WCAG and Section 508 standards.

WCAG uses different types of accessibility testing and offers a set of testable criteria. The different WCAG conformance levels are A, AA, and AAA.

Section 508 requires strict adherence to the revised Section 508 standards covering the basic criteria of WCAG 2.0 level A and AA. Hence, these testing standards are mandatory for the development, procurement, maintenance, and use of ICT.



Parting words

Hence, it is easy to understand the details of the WCAG and Section 508 in detail. The key differences between the WCAG and Section 508 help us understand the different accessibility guidelines defined in these standards.

Businesses can go for the WCAG and Section 508 compliances according to the content requirements easily.