Section 508: What an ICT Buy Actually Requires

Sep 25

6 min read

Compliance reviewed by Onur Oncer, SDVOSB Materials compliance lead.

Section 508 obligates a supplier to deliver information and communication technology (ICT) that conforms to the Revised 508 Standards, and to document that conformance in a report a contracting officer can read before award. SDVOSB Materials Technology & Supply LLC treats that report as a contract deliverable, not a marketing sheet.

Section 508 Is an Acquisition Rule Before It Is a Design Rule

Most people meet Section 508 as a web design topic. Contracting officers meet it in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). FAR Subpart 39.2 implements Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the U.S. Access Board's ICT accessibility standards at 36 CFR 1194.1. Under FAR 39.203(a), unless an exception at 39.204 or an exemption at 39.205 applies, acquisitions for ICT supplies and services shall meet those standards. Our federal IT infrastructure procurement guide covers the rest of the technology scope; this post stays on accessibility.

The duty in FAR 39.201(c) sits on the agency, not the vendor, and it reaches a supplier the only way agency duties ever do: through the solicitation. So the bidder's question is not whether the product is accessible. It is what this solicitation makes you hand over, and whether you can hand it over on time.

Four Categories the Standards Actually Cover

The Revised 508 Standards scope ICT into four categories, and a requirement naming only one has a hole in it. Each item below reads in the same order: category, scoping provision, what conformance means there.

Electronic content. E205. Under E205.4, content conforms to the Level A and Level AA success criteria in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, incorporated by reference. Public-facing content is in scope, and so is internal content in the listed categories of official agency communication.
Hardware. E206. Hardware that transmits information or has a user interface conforms to Chapter 4: closed functionality, operable parts, display screens, standard connections, biometrics, privacy.
Software. E207. Under E207.2, user interface components and the content of platforms and applications conform to WCAG 2.0 Level A and Level AA, with exceptions for assistive technology and non-web software.
Support documentation and services. E208, technical requirements in Chapter 6. Documentation explains the accessibility features required by Chapters 4 and 5, and electronic support documentation conforms to WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA under 602.3.

Chapter 3 backstops all four: under E204.1, a function Chapters 4 and 5 do not address conforms instead to the Functional Performance Criteria at 302.

A Claim, a Report and Conformance Are Three Different Things

A conformance claim is a sentence in a proposal. A conformance report is a document. Actual conformance is what happens when someone runs a screen reader against the product. Buyers collapse the three constantly, and that is where disputes start.

The document the federal market asks for is an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR), produced using the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT). Section508.gov describes the Accessibility Conformance Report as a document explaining how ICT products meet the Revised 508 Standards, and says ACRs help federal contracting officials assess ICT during market research and proposal evaluation.

Here is the uncomfortable part. An ACR is written by the vendor about the vendor's own product. It is evidence, not proof. A report claiming full support on every provision without a word of explanation deserves three questions: when was it produced, against which release, and who tested it.

What a Contracting Officer Can Require Before Award

FAR 39.203(b) is the clearest lever. On an indefinite-quantity contract, the contract must identify which supplies and services the contractor indicates as compliant and show where full details of compliance can be found, for example the vendor's or another exact website location. Not "we comply." A pointer to the document.

FAR 39.203(c) carries that to the order: when a task or delivery order is issued, the requiring and ordering activities ensure compliance and document any exception or exemption. A question answered once at the base contract does not stay answered for five years of orders.

Exceptions and Exemptions Are Different Doors

The two words get used interchangeably and the FAR keeps them apart. The exceptions at FAR 39.204 are three, each needing written confirmation from the requiring activity in the contract file.

National security systems. ICT operated as part of a national security system as defined by 40 U.S.C. 11103(a).
Incidental contract items. ICT a contractor acquires incidental to a contract, for in-house use performing the work.
Maintenance or monitoring spaces. Operable parts and status indicators in spaces frequented only by service personnel.

The exemptions at FAR 39.205 are different animals: undue burden, fundamental alteration, and nonavailability of conforming commercial products. Undue burden is defined at 39.202 as significant difficulty or expense. Each needs a written determination in the contract file, and the agency still provides access by an alternative means.

Legacy equipment is its own line. Under FAR 39.203(e), a component procured, maintained or used on or before January 18, 2018 that complies with an earlier Section 508 standard and has not been altered since is left alone; alter it after that date and 39.203(f) pulls the altered portion back. Refresh projects hit this constantly, because "we are only replacing the head end" is an alteration.

What This Looks Like on an Audiovisual Refresh

A conference room package is not one product. A display, a control processor, a touch panel, a codec, scheduling software and a set of manuals put all four categories inside one line item, with reports from several manufacturers for the integrator to assemble. Cabling has no user interface, so accessibility lands on the equipment it feeds; what does attach to the pathway sits in our comparison of federal versus commercial structured cabling specifications. It runs on a different axis from cybersecurity too, where NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC subcontractor readiness asks for separate evidence. Naming Section 508 in the scope of work costs sourcing time. Finding it at submittal costs a substitution.

How We Handle It on a Bid

SDVOSB Materials Technology & Supply LLC does not hold its own General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule; GSA orders are fulfilled through GSA-registered partner vendors. We hold The Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS) cooperative contract, number 230701. On any ICT or audiovisual scope we collect conformance reports from the manufacturer at quote time, not at submittal.

The company is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) certified under the Small Business Administration's program, a certified HUBZone small business, and a certified Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), verifiable on the SBA Small Business Search profile. Past technology work includes Johns Hopkins University, Stanford Medical, National Defense University and the U.S. Army National Guard. The Technology Infrastructure and Support division carries the capability list, and our voice, data, video and audiovisual infrastructure services are scoped together for the reason above.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Section 508 apply to a hardware purchase with no software in it?

Yes, where the hardware transmits information or has a user interface. E206 scopes hardware to Chapter 4: operable parts, display screens, standard connections, closed functionality. A device with physical controls and a screen is in scope even if nobody installs an application on it.

Is a VPAT the same thing as an Accessibility Conformance Report?

Not quite. The Voluntary Product Accessibility Template is the template. The Accessibility Conformance Report is the document a vendor produces with it. Section508.gov recommends generating one for any ICT marketed to the federal government, and making it easy to find on the product page.

What happens when nothing on the market fully conforms?

FAR 39.205(a)(3) treats that as a nonavailability exemption. The agency procures what best meets the standards consistent with its needs, and the requiring activity writes a determination describing the market research and listing the requirements that cannot be met.

Does Section 508 reach state agencies and public universities?

Section 508 is a federal statute and reaches federal agencies and the acquisitions they make. Many states and public universities carry their own accessibility requirements, and some write the Revised 508 Standards into solicitations by reference. Read the solicitation rather than assuming either way.

Who owns accessibility of the manuals, the manufacturer or the integrator?

Both, and the split belongs in the specification. The manufacturer produces the documentation and the conformance statement for its own product. The integrator delivers a complete set matching what was installed, including electronic support documentation meeting WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA under 602.3.

Scoping an ICT or Audiovisual Package?

Need accessibility requirements written into an information technology or audiovisual scope of work before it goes out? Reach the Technology Infrastructure and Support division through our technology division contact page or call (917) 216-9400. We scope it, source it, and hand back the conformance documentation with the equipment.

UEI K39HBMPLN4B3 | CAGE 7YX60 | EIN 82-2895228. Registered active on SAM.gov.