How do the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) relate to Section 508 compliance?
WCAG and Section 508 are closely related but serve different purposes.
Section 508 is a U.S. federal law that requires government agencies and organizations receiving federal funding to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. It’s a legal mandate with enforceable requirements.
WCAG is a set of technical standards developed by W3C that defines how to actually achieve accessibility. It’s not a law itself, but rather the benchmark that laws like Section 508 reference.
How they connect: In 2017, the U.S. Access Board updated Section 508 (known as the “Refresh”) to directly incorporate WCAG 2.0 Level AA as its technical standard. This means if your website or application meets WCAG 2.0 AA, you’re essentially meeting Section 508 requirements as well.
Key differences:
Section 508 applies specifically to U.S. federal agencies and federally funded organizations, while WCAG is a global standard adopted by regulations worldwide, including the ADA in the U.S., EN 301 549 in Europe, and SEBI guidelines in India.
Section 508 also covers non-web technology like hardware, firmware, and documentation, whereas WCAG focuses specifically on web and digital content.
What this means practically: If you’re building for WCAG 2.2 AA compliance, you’re already covering Section 508. But if you’re working with federal contracts or government projects, you’ll need to document compliance specifically against Section 508 requirements, not just WCAG.
Either way, the testing process is similar. You need to validate your app against defined success criteria across real browsers, devices, and assistive technologies to ensure actual compliance, not just theoretical conformance.