SECTION 508 COMPLIANCE, ADA & WCAG 2.1
VIEWPOINT: New Web Standards Give Way to Old Advice…Make Sure Your Product Works. If you had the opportunity to engage potential clients that previously could not access your business, would you consider that a good move? I believe most business owners would agree if the cost to engage the potential clients did not exceed the potential return on investment. Updating your website to make it accessible to individuals with disabilities does not require a significant investment and taking that step may set you apart from your competition. Besides, why wouldn’t you want your website to be accessible to everyone? The World Wide Web Consortium has recommended that all websites follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1, just released on June 5. The W3C is a worldwide community that develops standards to ensure the long-term growth and standardization of the internet. The June 2018 update is the first in a decade and it sets the standard for the web development industry to follow. WCAG 2.1 details appropriate website accommodations for deafness and hearing loss, blindness and low vision, limitations of movement, speech disabilities, cognitive limitations, photosensitivity, and combinations of these. Read more
[BIZJOURNALS.COM]
LEGAL: Websites and the Americans With Disabilities Act – Definitely a Work in Progress. ADA lawsuits targeting businesses’ websites are not going away, nor is the law in this area going to become any clearer or more settled, any time soon. It is therefore important for businesses to do what they can to assess their potential liability and exposure for ADA claims relating to their websites and take whatever steps they can to eliminate or minimize such risk. Read more
[LAW.COM]
WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT: A Beginner’s Guide to ADA Compliance for Websites. Here’s a digital marketer’s advice on developing websites that are ADA accessible. Read more
[SEARCHENGINEJOURNAL.COM]
REVIEW: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 covers a wide range of recommendations for making Web content more accessible. WCAG 2.1 is developed through the W3C process in cooperation with individuals and organizations around the world, with a goal of providing a shared standard for Web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments internationally. WCAG 2.1 builds on WCAG 2.0 [WCAG20], which in turn built on WCAG 1.0 and is designed to apply broadly to different Web technologies now and in the future, and to be testable with a combination of automated testing and human evaluation. Read more
[W3.ORG]
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NOW ON SLIDESHARE: Tech Update Summary from Blue Mountain Data Systems May 2018 https://www.slideshare.net/BMDS3416/tech-update-summary-from-blue-mountain-data-systems-may-2018.
IT SECURITY SUPPORT: Blue Mountain Data Systems is actively involved in implementing FISMA and NIST standards with Federal Civilian Agencies. Due to our extensive experience in this area, Blue Mountain has developed processes and organizational techniques to help ensure security deliverables are completed on time, and performed in the most efficient manner possible. We ensure that NIST-800-53 control requirements are treated consistently during definition, analysis, implementation, auditing, and reporting phases of a system. Find out more about Blue Mountain Data Systems IT Security Support Services. Call us at 703-502-3416.
BLUE MOUNTAIN DATA SYSTEMS HAS THE EXPERIENCE: 1994 to Present – U.S. Dept. of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration. Responsible to the Office of Technology and Information Systems for information systems architecture, planning, applications development, networking, administration and IT security, supporting the enforcement of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act — ERISA. Within the EBSA, Blue Mountain is responsible for design, development and support for its various enforcement database management systems, as well as all case tracking and customer service inquiry systems. Blue Mountain also provides IT security services to the EBSA, in the form of FISMA Assessment and Authorization, System Security Plans, Risk and vulnerability assessments, monitoring and investigation support. Read more.
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REGISTER NOW: Website Accessibility Auditor: Learn How to Test Websites for Accessibility. This 2-day online instructor-led hands-on course covers essential design, coding, and testing procedures for Web designers and developers who want to be sure the sites they create or maintain are accessible to as many people as possible. Class participants will learn how to test a website for accessibility, based on Section 508 Compliance & WCAG 2.0 Standards…Levels A, AA & AAA. This class also includes a discussion of the recently-released WCAG 2.1 draft and what the current proposed changes mean for people with disabilities and website accessibility auditors. Register now.
