Text of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998
The following text is excerpted from the U.S. Rehabilitation Act Amendments
of 1998.
Judy Brewer
Last updated September 21, 1998
TITLE IV--REHABILITATION ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1998
SEC. 508. ELECTRONIC AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.
(a) REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES-
(1) ACCESSIBILITY-
(A) DEVELOPMENT, PROCUREMENT, MAINTENANCE, OR USE OF
ELECTRONIC AND
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY- When developing,
procuring, maintaining,
or using electronic and information
technology,
each Federal department or agency, including the
United States
Postal Service, shall ensure, unless an undue
burden would
be imposed on the department or agency, that
the electronic
and information technology allows, regardless
of the type
of medium of the technology--
`(i) individuals with disabilities who are Federal
employees to have access to and use of information and
data that is comparable to the access to and use of the
information and data by Federal employees who are not
individuals with disabilities; and
`(ii) individuals with disabilities who are members of
the public seeking information or services from a
Federal department or agency to have access to and use
of information and data that is comparable to the
access to and use of the information and data by such
members of the public who are not individuals with
disabilities.
(B) ALTERNATIVE MEANS EFFORTS- When development,
procurement,
maintenance, or use of electronic and
information
technology that meets the standards published by
the Access Board
under paragraph (2) would impose an undue
burden, the
Federal department or agency shall provide
individuals
with disabilities covered by paragraph (1) with
the information
and data involved by an alternative means of
access that
allows the individual to use the information and
data.
(2) ELECTRONIC AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS-
(A) IN GENERAL-
Not later than 18 months after the date of
enactment of
the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998, the
Architectural
and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board
(referred to
in this section as the `Access Board'), after
consultation
with the Secretary of Education, the
Administrator
of General Services, the Secretary of
Commerce, the
Chairman of the Federal Communications
Commission,
the Secretary of Defense, and the head of any
other Federal
department or agency that the Access Board
determines to
be appropriate, including consultation on
relevant research
findings, and after consultation with the
electronic and
information technology industry and
appropriate
public or nonprofit agencies or organizations,
including organizations
representing individuals with
disabilities,
shall issue and publish standards setting
forth--
`(i) for purposes of this section, a definition of
electronic and information technology that is
consistent with the definition of information
technology specified in section 5002(3) of the
Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 (40 U.S.C. 1401(3)); and
`(ii) the technical and functional performance
criteria
necessary to implement the requirements set
forth in
paragraph (1).
`(B) REVIEW
AND AMENDMENT- The Access Board shall
periodically
review and, as appropriate, amend the standards
required under
subparagraph (A) to reflect technological
advances or
changes in electronic and information
technology.
(3) INCORPORATION OF STANDARDS-
Not later than 6 months after
the Access Board publishes the standards required
under paragraph
(2), the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council
shall revise the
Federal Acquisition Regulation and each Federal
department or
agency shall revise the Federal procurement
policies and
directives under the control of the department
or agency to
incorporate those standards. Not later than
6 months after the
Access Board revises any standards required
under paragraph (2),
the Council shall revise the Federal Acquisition
Regulation and
each appropriate Federal department or agency
shall revise the
procurement policies and directives, as necessary,
to incorporate
the revisions.
(4) ACQUISITION PLANNING-
In the event that a Federal
department or agency determines that compliance
with the
standards issued by the Access Board under
paragraph (2) relating
to procurement imposes an undue burden, the
documentation by the
department or agency supporting the procurement
shall explain why
compliance creates an undue burden.
`(5) EXEMPTION FOR NATIONAL SECURITY SYSTEMS-
This section shall
not apply to national security systems, as
that term is defined
in section 5142 of the Clinger-Cohen Act of
1996 (40 U.S.C.
1452).
`(6) CONSTRUCTION-
`(A) EQUIPMENT-
In a case in which the Federal Government
provides access
to the public to information or data through
electronic and
information technology, nothing in this
section shall
be construed to require a Federal department
or agency--
`(i) to make equipment owned by the Federal Government
available for access and use by individuals with
disabilities covered by paragraph (1) at a location
other than that where the electronic and information
technology is provided to the public; or
`(ii) to purchase equipment for access and use by
individuals with disabilities covered by paragraph (1)
at a location other than that where the electronic and
information technology is provided to the public.
`(B) SOFTWARE
AND PERIPHERAL DEVICES- Except as required to
comply with
standards issued by the Access Board under
paragraph (2),
nothing in paragraph (1) requires the
installation
of specific accessibility-related software or
the attachment
of a specific accessibility-related
peripheral device
at a workstation of a Federal employee who
is not an individual
with a disability.
(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE-
The Administrator of General Services and
the Access Board shall provide technical assistance to individuals
and
Federal departments and agencies concerning the requirements of this
section.
(c) AGENCY EVALUATIONS-
Not later than 6 months after the date of
enactment of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998, the head of
each Federal department or agency shall evaluate the extent to which
the electronic and information technology of the department or agency
is accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities described
in subsection (a)(1), compared to the access to and use of the
technology by individuals described in such subsection who are not
individuals with disabilities, and submit a report containing the
evaluation to the Attorney General.
(d) REPORTS-
(1) INTERIM REPORT- Not later than 18 months after
the date of
enactment of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments
of 1998, the
Attorney General shall prepare and submit
to the President a
report containing information on and recommendations
regarding
the extent to which the electronic and information
technology of
the Federal Government is accessible to and
usable by individuals
with disabilities described in subsection
(a)(1).
(2) BIENNIAL REPORTS- Not later than 3 years
after the date of
enactment of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments
of 1998, and every
2 years thereafter, the Attorney General shall
prepare and submit
to the President and Congress a report containing
information on
and recommendations regarding the state of
Federal department and
agency compliance with the requirements of
this section,
including actions regarding individual complaints
under
subsection (f).
(e) COOPERATION-
Each head of a Federal department or agency
(including the Access Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, and the General Services Administration) shall provide
to
the Attorney General such information as the Attorney General
determines is necessary to conduct the evaluations under subsection
(c) and prepare the reports under subsection (d).
(f) ENFORCEMENT-
`(1) GENERAL-
`(A) COMPLAINTS-
Effective 2 years after the date of
enactment of
the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998, any
individual with
a disability may file a complaint alleging
that a Federal
department or agency fails to comply with
subsection (a)(1)
in providing electronic and information
technology.
`(B) APPLICATION-
This subsection shall apply only to
electronic and
information technology that is procured by a
Federal department
or agency not less than 2 years after the
date of enactment
of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of
1998.
`(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLAINTS- Complaints
filed under paragraph
(1) shall be filed with the Federal department
or agency alleged
to be in noncompliance. The Federal department
or agency
receiving the complaint shall apply the complaint
procedures
established to implement section 504 for resolving
allegations of
discrimination in a federally conducted program
or activity.
`(3) CIVIL ACTIONS- The remedies, procedures,
and rights set
forth in sections 505(a)(2) and 505(b) shall
be the remedies,
procedures, and rights available to any individual
with a
disability filing a complaint under paragraph
(1).
(g) APPLICATION TO OTHER FEDERAL LAWS-
This section shall not be
construed to limit any right, remedy, or procedure otherwise available
under any provision of Federal law (including sections 501 through
505) that provides greater or equal protection for the rights of
individuals with disabilities than this section.'.