Does Section 508 apply to my company?

Directly, almost certainly not — it binds federal agencies rather than private businesses. Indirectly it can matter, because an agency that must buy conforming technology will ask you to describe how your product conforms; check your own position rather than relying on a vendor page, as we are not lawyers and this is not legal advice.

If we build to WCAG 2.2 AA, are we covered for Section 508?

For the web clauses you are generally ahead of it, because the versions are additive: WCAG 2.0 A+AA is 38 criteria and 2.2 A+AA is 55. One trap: WCAG 2.2 removed 4.1.1 Parsing as obsolete, but a Section 508 reference points at WCAG 2.0, which still contains it, so a 508 conformance report may still have a row for it. Section 508 also covers hardware, documents and support materials that WCAG does not reach at all.

Accessibility · Regulation

Section 508 binds federal agencies. It reaches you through procurement.

The Revised 508 Standards incorporate WCAG 2.0 at Level A and AA and bind federal agencies, not private vendors — but an agency that must buy conforming technology will ask you how your product conforms.

Start free What a VPAT and an ACR are

Not legal advice · scan a public URL free

When the updated Section 508 requirements took effect: 18 January 2018
The Access Board final rule the requirements followed: 18 January 2017
Incorporated by reference into the Revised 508 Standards: WCAG 2.0 A and AA
Success criteria in WCAG 2.0 at A and AA, against 55 in WCAG 2.2: 38

Read on Section508.gov and the U.S. Access Board's ICT standards page, 11 September 2026. The Board cites the standard as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, W3C Recommendation, December 11, 2008. As read on that date, no update to WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 was announced.

Three facts that resolve most Section 508 confusion

Taken from Section508.gov and the U.S. Access Board's own ICT pages, read on 11 September 2026.

Item	What the sources say
It applies to federal agencies	When they develop, procure, maintain or use electronic and information technology. Procure is the word that makes it a supplier question.
It incorporates WCAG 2.0 A and AA	Cited by the Access Board as the W3C Recommendation of 11 December 2008, applied to electronic content, software interfaces and support documentation.
It covers more than websites	Documents, support materials, hardware and non-web software — mostly out of reach of any web scanner.

What testing honestly contributes

Three things worth having before anybody writes a remark, and one thing we will not do.

Item	What it is	Status
Evidence of diligence, with dates on it	Scan history is kept 90 days, and scheduled runs keep it continuous rather than a snapshot.	Provided
The machine-checkable subset, cleared	23 of 55 criteria at WCAG 2.2 AA on the engine we run — removes the findings a reviewer spots in thirty seconds, ranked by which fix clears the most.	Provided
A named list of what was not checked	Criteria no rule reaches are reported as not checked rather than passed — your remaining scope, already enumerated.	Named, never claimed
Not a conformance claim	We do not certify, complete or sign conformance reports, and we do not sell an overlay. The claim stays yours.	Not offered

What this does not do

It is not legal advice.: We build testing tools. Whether Section 508 reaches your contracts is a question for a qualified adviser, not a scanner vendor.
We do not produce or sign a VPAT.: No conformance report, no certification, no audit letter. An Accessibility Conformance Report is a vendor self-assessment that nobody certifies, and it is something we deliberately do not sell.
A scanner covers the web clauses only.: Documents, support materials, hardware and non-web software are all in scope for the standard and out of scope for a web scan.
A clean scan is not conformance.: Automated rules reach a minority of the criteria. The rest are reported as not checked and stay unknown until a person looks.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Section508.gov states that federal agencies must make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities, and that it applies to all federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain or use that technology. Procurement is one of those verbs, which is how a rule aimed at agencies ends up in a supplier's inbox.

Clear the automated findings before you write a single remark

Run a scan against the product a buyer will actually open, fix what a rule can see, and start the report from a list of what is genuinely still unknown.