What is Accessibility (Section 508/WCAG)?
You are building a company that values its people. You spend weeks curating the perfect onboarding documentation or training module to ensure every new hire feels welcome and equipped to succeed. Then you discover that one of your most promising new team members cannot use the material because they have a visual impairment and the software you chose does not support screen readers.
This is a specific type of pain for a manager. It is the realization that despite good intentions, an oversight in infrastructure has excluded a valuable contributor. It creates a barrier to performance that has nothing to do with skill and everything to do with design. This is why understanding accessibility is not just a technical requirement for developers. It is a core competency for business owners who want to build resilient, inclusive organizations.
What is Accessibility in L&D?
In the context of Learning and Development (L&D) and digital products, accessibility refers to the design of content and environments that can be used effectively by people with disabilities. It ensures that barriers are removed so that individuals with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive impairments can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the information.
Two primary terms often appear in this conversation: Section 508 and WCAG.
- Section 508: This refers to a specific section of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a United States federal law. It mandates that all electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by the federal government be accessible to people with disabilities. While it applies directly to federal agencies, it has become a benchmark for private companies seeking to minimize legal risk and adhere to best practices.
- WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines): These are the technical standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). They provide the specific criteria for making web content accessible. Section 508 actually incorporates WCAG standards as the metric for compliance.
The Difference Between Section 508 and WCAG
It is common for managers to hear these terms used interchangeably, but there is a functional difference that affects how you make decisions.
Think of Section 508 as the legal mandate and WCAG as the instruction manual. Section 508 tells you that you must be accessible if you are working with federal entities or want to adhere to federal standards. WCAG tells you how to actually achieve that accessibility technically.
- Level A: The bare minimum accessibility requirements.
- Level AA: The industry standard for most business and legal requirements. This addresses the most common barriers for disabled users.
- Level AAA: The highest and most strict level of accessibility.
For most business owners, aiming for WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the safest strategic target to ensure your internal tools and customer-facing assets are inclusive.
Practical Scenarios for Managers
When you are evaluating software vendors, training platforms, or internal communication tools, accessibility often gets hidden in the fine print. However, the implications of ignoring it are practical and immediate.
Consider the following scenarios where these standards impact your business operations:
- Screen Readers: A blind employee uses software that reads text aloud. If your training images lack “alt text” (descriptive text embedded in the image code), the screen reader will simply say “image,” and the employee misses the context.
- Keyboard Navigation: An employee with motor disabilities may not use a mouse. They rely on the Tab key to move through forms. If a system requires drag-and-drop interactions without a keyboard alternative, that employee cannot complete the task.
- Closed Captions: You create a video update for the company. Without captions, a deaf or hard-of-hearing employee is excluded from the message. This also affects employees in shared workspaces who cannot play audio.
Leading with Inquiry
As a business owner, you do not need to know how to code a website to ensure accessibility. You simply need to know which questions to ask. When you are building your tech stack or creating content, you are the gatekeeper of quality.
We must ask ourselves if we are designing for a theoretical “average” user who rarely exists, or if we are building systems robust enough to handle the reality of human diversity. By prioritizing Section 508 and WCAG compliance, you are verifying that your business is built on a foundation that supports every member of the team you worked so hard to assemble.
