Accessibility legislation, regulations, standards and statistics

	Legislation and accessibility initiatives
	Accessibility of IT and information has become an area of increasing legislative importance. This section provides links to information on key legislation, regulations and standards.

United States

U. S. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires government purchasers to research accessible products and services. There are also individual state government regulations, as well as other federal regulations.

HP and U. S. Section 508

HP Accessibility has created a product database to provide detailed information on the accessibility features that support Section 508 requirements.

The information technology industry including HP in cooperating with the Government Services Administration (GSA) developed a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) as a common means for IT companies to describe how products either conform or do not conform to Section 508 standards. HP has developed a VPAT Accessibility Database to assist customers in performing market research and reviewing the accessibility features of our products.

» Search the VPAT Product accessibility database

HP and U. S. government procurement

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act specifies that requiring officials must identify which standards apply to the procurement, perform market research to determine the availability of accessible products and services, and document the results of their market research.

The U.S. Access Board is now updating the Section 508 standards. This effort will address new technologies and other areas where the standards need to be modified. HP is participating along with other IT companies, Federal Agencies, consumers, and representatives from other countries in the Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Council (TEITAC) to develop recommendations to the U.S. Access Board for changes to the Section 508 standards (expected to be updated in 2008-2009).

For assistance in meeting Section 508 requirements, Government purchasers can access the following resources:

U. S. State Accessibility Legislation, Regulations and Standards

Other U.S. legislation and initiatives

Worldwide

Japan & Asia-Pacific

United Kingdom

The Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 (DDA) was enacted to ensure that websites are accessible to blind and disabled users in the United Kingdom.

Nordic Countries