Caveat: This content is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be relied upon as such.
Make sure it’s WCAG compliant.
We need this to meet Section 508.
If you work in digital technology, communications, or accessibility services at a college or university, you’ve probably heard both statements, sometimes in the very same conversation. And while WCAG and Section 508 are closely connected, they aren’t interchangeable. One is a set of accessibility guidelines; the other is a federal accessibility standard with legal and regulatory requirements.
Sometimes, WCAG gets treated as the requirement and Section 508 as something separate. Sometimes, Section 508 is treated as the real requirement while WCAG is viewed as optional guidance.
Neither is correct.
It's important to understand how these two fit together and how they are separate, so you don’t write requirements that fall short of your obligations, or assume you've addressed accessibility issues when you haven't.
WCAG is the technical guidebook. Section 508 is a federal legal requirement that points to that guidebook. They're not two competing standards you have to choose between. Understanding the difference changes how your institution plans, tests, and budgets for accessibility.
What Is WCAG?
WCAG stands for the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the same international group that sets many of the web's technical standards. WCAG is a technical standard, not a law. It has no legal authority on its own. It's a detailed set of guidelines that any business, government, or university can choose to follow.
What Is Section 508?
Section 508 is different in kind, not just in name. It's part of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act and a federal legal requirement overseen by the U.S. Access Board.
- Who it applies to: federal agencies (and their vendors) and federal contractors.
- What it covers: Section 508 applies to a wide range of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), including software, hardware, electronic documents, and telecommunications equipment.
Important Fact: For a long time, Section 508 had its own separate technical criteria, distinct from WCAG. That changed with the 2017 Section 508 Refresh, when the Access Board rewrote the Section 508 standard to incorporate WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA directly. The Refresh took effect in January 2018.
How Does Section 508 Apply to Higher Ed?
Section 508 is not a blanket mandate for higher education. Some folks assume it applies across the board while others assume it doesn't apply at all. Both are common misconceptions.
Section 508 applies to higher education when a specific federal grant, contract, or funding agreement explicitly makes compliance a binding condition of eligibility or an award requirement. In other words, compliance isn't triggered by an institution's status as a college or university; it's triggered by the terms of the federal dollars it accepts.
For example, if your institution accepts a federal research grant that requires Section 508 compliance as a condition of funding, you must comply.
Does Section 508 Apply to Your Institution?
It's important to realize that accessibility compliance obligations can vary within the same institution, department to department, and even grant to grant, depending on the funding source.
If you have a department conducting research funded by a grant that has Section 508 requirements baked in, that department faces a very different compliance model than a department funded entirely through state appropriations.
Assuming Section 508 applies across the board can cause institutions to over-invest in accessibility in the wrong place. While assuming it doesn’t apply at all may mean taking on unknown risks.
Rather than asking if Section 508 applies as an all-or-nothing proposition, ask: Which of our funding streams carry Section 508 requirements, and are we actively meeting those requirements?
Shifting the focus away from a blanket yes-or-no allows your institution to map compliance directly to its federal dollars, in turn safeguarding university funding and the people who rely on an accessible campus.
Resources
Caveat: This content is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be relied upon as such.
A human author creates the DubBlog posts. The AI tools Gemini and ChatGPT are sometimes used to brainstorm subject ideas, generate blog post outlines, and rephrase certain portions of the content. Our marketing team carefully reviews all final drafts for accuracy and authenticity. The opinions and perspectives expressed remain the sole responsibility of the human author.
