Section 508 Compliance Testing: Options & Strategies

Under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act(opens in a new tab), organizations that receive federal funding — or businesses that contract with them — must provide accessible information and communication technology (ICT) to individuals with disabilities. This includes content on websites, software, electronic documents (e.g., Word documents or PDFs), and mobile apps. The requirement also extends to contractors or vendors working with federal agencies. 

If this applies to your business, you need to have a Section 508 compliance strategy in place. However, because Section 508 includes such a broad range of entities, it’s crucial to understand the act’s requirements and how to test your digital content for them. 

So, how do you check your website for Section 508 compliance? We’ll outline how to do so below, as well as how to create an effective testing strategy.

What is Section 508?

Before we jump into what Section 508 is, a quick history lesson.

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973(opens in a new tab) was the first U.S. law to prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities. In 1988, Congress expanded it with Section 508, requiring all federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology (EIT) accessible to people with disabilities. 

Section 504(opens in a new tab) extends similar requirements to recipients of federal funding, including most state and municipal agencies — and all federal contractors. 

A list of communication types that must be compliant under Section 508, including PDFs, emails, mobile apps, online training programs, public-facing webpages, and word documents

Who Section 508 Applies To

If your organization:

• Does business with the federal government, or

• Receives federal funding or assistance

Your digital content must be accessible. This includes various types of content, including but not limited to:

• Public-facing websites, web pages, and mobile apps

• Internal and external emails

• PDFs and other digital documents

• Digital training resources

• Job application pages

What Section 508 Requires

Section 508 aligns with the guidelines outlined in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines(opens in a new tab) (WCAG), which covers issues like:

• Missing alt text

• Keyboard traps or inaccessible navigation

• Missing video captions

• Low-contrast text

• Screen reader and assistive technology barriers

To stay compliant, you need to regularly evaluate your digital content and fix identified issues to ensure users with disabilities can easily access and use it. 

Why Checking for Section 508 Compliance is Important

Testing for Section 508 compliance isn’t optional if you work with — or receive funding from — the federal government. Regular testing helps you reduce risk, protect contracts, and ensure people with disabilities can access digital content. 

Some additional reasons to test for Section 508 compliance include:

• Lower legal risk: Federal agencies, contractors, and grant recipients can face complaints, investigations, lost contracts, or enforcement actions if digital content is not accessible. Additionally, non-compliance can trigger formal remediation plans or jeopardize eligibility for future federal work. 

• Reduced business risk: Non-compliance can result in contract delays, remediation costs, loss of federal funding, and reduced competitiveness during procurement or renewal cycles. Regular testing can help you maintain your customer base and funding.

• Improved user experience: Accessibility barriers can make it hard, if not impossible, for those with disabilities to complete tasks, access information, submit forms, or use digital services. Improving accessibility can improve overall usability, clarity, and content quality.

• Increase SEO rankings: Many accessibility best practices — such as clean semantic structure, alt text, descriptive headings, and clear content  — also support better indexing and search visibility. Accessible websites also tend to load faster, perform more consistently across devices, and provide richer metadata, all of which improve discoverability.

Regularly testing for Section 508 compliance can help you unlock these benefits — and more — but only if the right approach is followed. You can’t confirm Section 508 compliance by guessing or spot-checking your most-used pages. Accessibility requires structured testing, including automated scans, expert reviews, and ongoing monitoring, to ensure optimal performance. 

We’ll walk through those specific methods and tools in more detail below.

A web browser with a number of icons indicating accessibility issues. In the bottom-right corner, there is an accessibility icon in the center of a pie chart

How to Test Your Website for Section 508 Compliance

To create an effective Section 508 testing strategy, you need to not only test all your digital content but also have the right tools in place. Let’s dive in.

Automated Testing

Most organizations choose to initiate the accessibility testing process using automated tools or comprehensive Section 508 compliance software. These accessibility tools test your digital content against WCAG success criteria and identify potential issues that might prevent users with disabilities from understanding or operating your website. Some compliance software can even apply fixes for specific accessibility issues in real time, streamlining the path to compliance. 

How to Choose and Use Automated Accessibility Testing Tools

• Choose a reliable scanner: Pick an automated accessibility tool that can detect common accessibility issues. Some popular options include WAVE, Google Lighthouse, Deque, and AudioEye. 

• Decide whether to scan your full site or key pages: Full-site scans give you complete coverage, while targeted scans help you evaluate templates, high-traffic pages, or areas critical for government procurement. 

• Review the report for high-severity issues: Focus first on errors that block assistive technology users, such as missing alt text, keyboard traps, improper heading structure, or inaccessible forms. 

• Prioritize fixes based on impact and frequency: Resolve issues that appear across multiple pages or affect essential user tasks. Use the report to assign owners and track fixes over time. 

Using an automated scanner is a powerful way to quickly and efficiently identify accessibility issues. For example, AudioEye’s Web Accessibility Checker automatically scans your digital content and finds 32 WCAG violations — more than any other tool on the market. With these insights, you can get an idea of how accessible your digital content is, where to prioritize fixes, and identify a clear starting point for achieving Section 508 compliance.

Manual Testing

As the name suggests, manual testing is usually performed by expert testers or users of the disability community who carefully review your digital content for WCAG conformance. One of the biggest benefits of manual testing (or expert testing) is that the approach can identify accessibility issues that software alone can’t detect. 

How to Conduct Manual Testing

• Test with assistive technologies and screen readers: Use common screen readers, such as JAWS, NVDA, or VoiceOver, to test your digital content. Check for keyboard accessibility, focus order, and screen reader announcements. Make note of anything that reads incorrectly or gets confusing.

• Review video and image content: Ensure videos have accurate captions and images include descriptive alt text so all users can access and understand information. 

• Check color contrast: Use color contrast checkers to verify that text, icons, and interactive elements have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1. This will help improve readability for users with low vision or color blindness. 

• Engage experts and the disability community: To further enhance accessibility, involve accessibility experts and real users with disabilities. They can test your content and identify barriers that automated tools might miss and give insights into how to improve the user experience.

Hybrid Testing

One thing to note about automated testing: it can only identify some accessibility issues (things like missing alt text or captions and poor color contrast). Similarly, manual testing can be a time-consuming process. That’s why we recommend taking a hybrid approach to Section 508 testing. 

Hybrid accessibility testing combines automated and manual methods to provide a more complete approach to Section 508 compliance. Automated tools help you quickly identify common issues and give a broad overview of your site’s accessibility. Expert testing then supplements this by uncovering more complex challenges, such as seamless keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, or the accuracy and quality of subtitles.

Put simply, a hybrid approach to Section 508 compliance testing gives you a more thorough assessment of how accessible and compliant your digital content is. Additionally, it enables you to address a broader range of accessibility issues and create a more inclusive digital environment.

Step-by-Step Hybrid Workflow

If you’re looking to bring a hybrid testing approach to your processes, here’s how to do so:

• Conduct automated scans monthly: Run a full-site or key-page using a reliable accessibility tool to catch common issues, like missing alt text, low contrast, or broken headings.

• Flag issues and assign fix owners: Review the results from your report, identify high-priority violations, and assign responsibility to the appropriate team members to ensure timely fixes.

• Conduct expert testing quarterly (or after major updates/redesigns): Bring in accessibility specialists to evaluate complex elements, such as keyboard navigation, screen reader interactions, and multimedia content, that automated tools may miss.

• Track KPIs: Measure progress with key indicators, such as the number of issues found, fixed, or recurring. This helps demonstrate ongoing compliance and improvement over time. 

• Repeat and document for procurement or contract compliance: Maintain records of all accessibility scans, fixes, and expert audits. This will help demonstrate good faith efforts, meet federal reporting requirements, and support procurement audits. 

Using a hybrid approach is the best way to check your website for Section 508 compliance as it ensures you’re not just checking boxes — you’re actively maintaining compliance, protecting your organization, and improving the user experience.

What to do After Testing

Accessibility testing is just the first step towards Section 508 compliance. To maintain ongoing compliance and accessibility, you need to fix issues, document your work, and monitor continuously. 

Remember, accessibility is not a one-and-done task. It requires ongoing attention to ensure all users can access your digital content.

Key Steps After Testing

• Fix identified issues: Prioritize high-impact violations first, then address recurring or minor issues. Ensure that changes are verified and thoroughly tested for effectiveness.

• Document everything: Keep a detailed log of scans, issues found, remediation steps, and completion dates. This documentation is essential for internal audits and can serve as proof in case of complaints or legal challenges. 

• Monitor continuously: Set up regular automated scans and periodic expert reviews to catch new issues as content is added or changed. Ongoing monitoring helps maintain compliance and helps you catch small issues before they impact your users. 

By fixing, documenting, and monitoring your digital content, you not only meet Section 508 requirements but also provide a better experience for all users while protecting your organization from potential legal or contractual risks.

A web browser with a number of green checkmarks indicating resolved accessibility issues

Achieve and Maintain Section 508 Compliance with AudioEye

So, how do you check for Section 508 compliance on your website? It starts with a clear, repeatable process: run a comprehensive automated scan to uncover common accessibility issues, then follow up with expert testing to detect more complex barriers, such as keyboard navigation gaps or multimedia accessibility problems. With a hybrid workflow, accessibility becomes an ongoing and manageable part of your digital strategy.

This is where AudioEye comes in. Our Web Accessibility Scanner quickly identifies WCAG violations, while our Expert Audits uncover subtle or complex accessibility issues that automated tools might miss. With AudioEye, you not only ensure compliance with Section 508 but also improve usability for all users and lower your legal risk. 

Ready to get started? Run a free accessibility scan with AudioEye today and take the first step toward a fully accessible, Section 508-compliant website.