Accessibility
Making your site available to the widest possible audience
USDA is committed to providing access to web pages and content for the largest possible group of individuals, including people with disabilities. The best way to make your content accessible is to create it with accessibility in mind. Designing accessible experiences means taking into account the needs of people not only with blindness or low-vision, but for people with other sensory, cognitive, or physical disabilities.
Goals
- Create products that are accessible to the public, including people with disabilities
- Make content on public-facing USDA websites and documents compliant with Web Content
- Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level A and Level AA Success Criteria
- Know how and when to ask for help with accessibility evaluations from USDA Section 508 Coordinators
Understand USDA Guidance and Learn More!
Contact Your Section 508 Coordinator
Making Websites Accessible
Making Documents Accessible
Know Which Internal Communications Must Be Accessible
Responsive Design
Follow Federal Guidance and Mandates
- 21st Century IDEA Act
The 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA) lists requirements (including some outlined here separately) that new and redesigned websites must:
Sec. 3(a)
Comply with Section 508 accessibility requirements
Have consistent appearance
Not overlap with or duplicate legacy websites
Have a site search feature
Use industry-standard secure connection (https)
Be designed around user needs based on qualitative and quantitative data
Have an option for a more customized digital experience
Be fully functional on common mobile devices
Section 3(b)(2)(A)
Report to Congress their agency’s most-viewed or most-utilized websites and services
Sec. 3(e)
Comply with U.S. Website Standards (the U.S. Web Design System)
- Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 [Accessibility]
Agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public access to information comparable to the access available to others. In 2017, the Access Board updated the 508 Standards and Guidelines with several major changes to provide clarity and keep up with advances in technology and standards. Significantly, the revised standards incorporate the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, which require websites to meet Level A and Level AA success criteria.
- Connected Government Act [Mobile-Friendly Design]
The Connected Government Act requires that all new and redesigned agency websites be mobile-friendly.
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This page was last updated July 31, 2019.
Tell Us What You Think
The USDA Digital Strategy is being produced iteratively and relies on feedback from you to tell us what content you need to see, as well as what is and isn’t working. To send feedback, email us at feedback@usda.gov.
