Section 508 SEO

Section 508 Compliance, SEO & Legal Issues

It's long been known by SEO industry insiders that making a website compliant with Section 508 of the American Disabilities Act is often a good thing for search engine rankings.

That's because some of the things that enable a blind person, for example, to access a website also make it easier for Google or Yahoo to access a website.

It's also a requirement for your website if you want to sell to U.S. federal agencies, or if you receive federal funding. Although this law has been sporadically enforced we are seeing increasing compliance requirements.

Additionally, failing to comply with the American Disabilities Act can expose a website to lawsuits, as was the case with a September 2006 Section 508 lawsuit against Target.

One of the key requirements of Section 508 are that certain tags be employed so that a blind person who is using screen-reading software, which converts visual information on a computer screen into audio information, can function properly. Other key requirements are that the website be navigable without a mouse, i.e., all functions of the site should work with just a keyboard, and that clear and intuitive site navigation be employed.

It's unclear where the lawsuit with Target will go - it will no doubt bring up many points to consider. For example, the popular use of "CAPTCHA" ( those funny-looking characters that a user must to decode to prove the user is a human and not a spam-robot). CAPTCHA is a necessary, but non-508-compliant, feature of many websites. The use of JavaScript is another potentially non-compliant technology. It will be interesting to see how the courts resolve the Target case.

As a best-practices SEO firm, Targetem has long employed many Section 508 compliance attributes in its work for clients. Not only is it a good thing for search engines, it's good for users.

Sept 9 2006

Copyright 2006 Targetem.com All Rights Reserved

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