The United States is known for being a leader in the charitable sector and inspiring other countries to follow its lead. Our top charitable organizations help everyone from veterans and people suffering from serious diseases down to our beloved pets. Because of the sensitive nature of charity work, many organizations find themselves working directly with the people who are in need of their services and special accommodations. To give all citizens equal opportunities to access information, all government agencies and funded initiatives must be compliant with Section 508. Section 508 is a set of standards that makes websites accessible to those with all types of disabilities. Because many nonprofits and charities work alongside the government, their sites are required to meet these same standards.

Your Organization Can’t Afford to be Non-Compliant

Section 508 addresses various parts of a website. From the HTML and CSS coding behind the scenes to the images and text on each page, everything must be considered. Around 20% of Americans have a disability and utilize the accommodations that Section 508 provides while browsing the web. These individuals could be your donors, corporate clients looking to sponsor an event or those in need of your charity’s help. It would be a shame for them to have to go elsewhere or to look into a different charity due to website mishaps! Without the help of a compliant site, your charity could be missing out on valuable partnerships and donations.

Legality and Section 508

Section 508 does not apply to private companies; only government agencies, government contractors, and federally funded programs. If your organization interfaces in some capacity with a government agency or has a structured partnership, your site is legally required to be compliant. In the grand scheme of things, only a very small percentage of charity and nonprofit sites must legally comply with Section 508. Thankfully, the majority of charitable organizations see the immense value in offering access to every citizen within the country. With the availability of compliance checking tools and a plentiful market of skilled developers, becoming compliant is a lot more cost effective than one might think.

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Dyno Mapper has extensive experience with Section 508 and WCAG 2.0 standards. Your developers will be able to utilize our tools right away to pinpoint what areas of your site need to be addressed. With the ability to make quick fixes, your organization will spend less money on development both with this project and down the line. To get started, follow the link below. Have questions? Contact us and we’ll be happy to help with anything we can.

Section 508 refers to a portion of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that requires all government agencies and federally funded programs to make web compatibility accommodations for those with disabilities. Modern technology paired with a higher demand for education and the availability of special learning tools has made it more possible than ever before for those with a disability to receive an education. With a compliant Section 508 site, these students and parents can learn about your school in the same fashion that others do while making their college decisions.

College Is Hard Enough!

It’s no secret that students are expected to step their level of commitment to their education when they enter college. While it’s a major life change, the education that they receive at your university will shape their career and the rest of their lives. A website that’s in line with the Section 508 guidelines ensures that they aren’t struggling with the little things. Many of us aren’t in need of special accommodations for the web, and it can be easy to take this for granted. Something as simple as finding and filling out your school’s application online could be something out of reach for a person in need of assistance. With government and private companies offering incentives for student loans, parents are finding themselves more involved in the process, and could need accommodations as well.

Compliance Laws and Your University

Private sector companies and educational institutes are not required to follow suit with Section 508. Although, almost 20% of Americans have a disability and benefit from the aid that Section 508 provides. Because of this, many universities and general private sector companies take the initiative to make their site compatible. Your school works hard to craft programs and hire the best of the best within education. Students who don’t have the chance to take advantage of your curriculum are at a disadvantage and are forced to settle for an education that’s potentially subpar.

Nowadays, colleges are competing to get premier students enrolled to their schools. With so many schools to choose from, students can consider more than just their major. Social programs, campus grounds, and school connections are all thrown into the mix. Complying with Section 508 standards will help you to reach the full student market and rank better with search engines.

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We offer premier Section 508 testing services and are proud to assist schools, government agencies, and nonprofits with their compatibility concerns. Enjoy the easy to read reports and the ability to get right to work on fixing what matters for Section 508 compliance. Have a question about our services? We’re happy to help!

Everything Your Organization Needs to Know

There are dozens of agencies across the United States that focus on creating a better, easier life for those with disabilities. These organizations are both federally and privately managed and focus on improvements throughout the community, within communication and with technology aids. Similar initiatives are executed on a global level, and today’s topic of Section 508 and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) play into global efforts as well. Below you’ll find everything you need to know regarding compliance concerns for government agencies and federally funded programs.

Section 508 Explained

This technology compliance law originally came about as a revision to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. As technology advancements were made and the use of computers became more mainstream in the workplace and public eye, there was a clear need to expand fair use into this sector. Equal opportunity is the name of the game, and all Americans regardless of disabilities or impairments should have easy access to available resources. Official guidelines were put into place just two years later in 2000. 

It’s not surprising that many Americans and business owners haven’t heard of Section 508. This is most likely because it only applies to select divisions of our federal government. Agencies like the USDA, FAA, and the FBI are examples of ones that would need to make accommodations on their respective websites. Big name private sector brands like Google, Microsoft or Amazon, would not need to comply. Although, any private contractor that works with the federal government will be privy to following such laws. Some examples of contractors include Fannie Mae, a student loan servicer, and Amtrak, a railroad transportation company. So while there are millions of sites that fall outside of 508, there’s significance to the legislation as the government is a beast within itself with many private partners.

Modifications are expected to be made in all areas of a website. This includes the behind the scenes aspects, like HTML and CSS work as well as PDF files or pictures that are featured throughout the site. The legislation encompasses accommodations for all types of disabilities, and each one needs specific accommodations to be of use to all Americans. 

How Does Section 508 Compare to WCAG 2.0?

Any developer, programmer or designer who works with federal agencies or their respective partners will commonly use the term “Section 508” to discuss everything within the realm of changes needed to make something accessible. In actuality, the formal name is the Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards. WCAG refers to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Initially dubbed as WCAG 1.0, updated standards have been grouped under WCAG 2.0, which incorporates a series of changes over an eight-year period. 

There is a noteworthy difference between Section 508 which is a law while WCAG is just a set of guidelines that are considered to be the standard. Naturally so, Section 508 has tighter limits and requires special attention over traditional and simple accommodation processes. While WCAG 2.0 was introduced in 2008, Section 508 had not been treated to the same update in requirements. It goes without saying that technology has made leaps and bounds with what’s now possible and trying to incorporate everything WCAG 2.0 suggests into a sound Section 508 site takes a dedicated web developer. 

Embarrassing Delays on Policy Updates

Why such a time difference in updates, you may ask? Well, part of it can be attributed to the fact that all laws take a significant amount of time and revision before becoming official laws. All relevant departments must do their research, weigh in and general due diligence before enacting something that will shape the next steps of Americans and businesses across the country. Tragically, the process can take so long that over a year of research may no longer be relevant when it comes time to create the law. 

The technology industry as a whole is stuck in a cycle where waiting has become common practice, and agencies sit on the edge of their seat, waiting to see if they’ll need to bring websites up to date. As of our current research and publication of this article, updates have yet to be set in stone. It’s become comical and a topic to poke fun at around the office water cooler. Respect and tolerance for the policy creators have gone down the drain. There’s nothing quite like the elephant that has become Section 508.

It was a long six years before a first-round Section 508 refresh was proposed. While committees were formed and evidence was presented, nothing ever came of the hard work. 2010 brought promise when the US Access Board released guidelines, but community feedback showed that there were still significant steps that needed to occur before it could be a worthy update. Back to the drawing board they went. Fast forward to 2015, a proposed draft rule was released, and a refresh will be promised for 2016. 

In the meantime, startups and private sector companies have been chugging forward with technology updates and introducing a host of new tools for those with disabilities to take advantage of. Lives of those with disabilities have changed for the better, but that doesn’t mean that the US Government should get away scotch free with the headache that has become Section 508. Features and enhancements gave those without disabilities new ways to enjoy the web, but the same privileges were not awarded to those with disabilities. Forget privileges, even the same standards and rights to access information has come up short. Associations and groups have argued that the government is failing with its duties. 

Noncompliance Now, But Impending Refresh is Coming

As we ring in the new year of 2016, a much-needed update to Section 508 will make its appearance. Section 508 was cast to be a beacon that inspired the creators of private sector websites to follow suit and offer the same accessibility to special audiences. While it’s an honorable goal, it would be an understatement to say that it hasn’t gone as planned. That doesn’t necessarily mean it is a bad thing. Companies have seen the value in creating sites that appeal to every American within the country and have taken steps to create their own accessibility standards. It almost seems as if the US Government should be following the private leaders. 

To place the focus back on government sites, just how compliant are they now to the outdated Section 508 standards? The results are mixed. Various studies have shown that an eye opening 90% of mandatory compliance sites have some level of a technical violation. It’s hard to shame sites for this as the standards are considered to be historic. Because of this, the agency that’s responsible for policing sites has turned a blind eye to monitoring 

Section 508 has left a bunch of confused agencies, developers and lawmakers with their hands in the air and shoulders shrugged. Current noncompliance is not because of any given company’s malicious actions. Simply put, there are so many variables that play into a site being accessible by all. 

What if a user is on their smartphone? Will carefully thought out changes that had worked on a traditional desktop computer award this person the same access? Most likely not. Or, if a user is taking advantage of one of the many available accessibility devices created by the private sector, will it play nice with a site’s own accessibility efforts? Your guess is as good as ours. Agencies owe these audiences more than what they are currently being afforded. It’s only fair, and it truly is their duty. 

What it Means For Your Business

At the current moment in time, it would be best for your business to continue as it normally would. It isn’t worth beginning new projects when the impending refresh is just around the corner. The best web developers and firms that are pioneering current efforts would advise others to keep WCAG 2.0 in mind and to speak to the affected users. These individuals know what they need and would like to see in a website. Going straight to the source does wonders for both you and them.

As mentioned earlier, small business owners and private sector organizations will be relieved to learn that compliance is only mandatory for federal agencies and contractors that are working with the federal government. Although, having a site that complies with the standard regulations could put your business at an advantage to audiences who need its services.

At Dyno Mapper, we plan to keep a close eye on updates and will keep you informed as new information becomes available. It’s in all businesses best interest to be compliant within both Section 508 laws and the adopted standards of WCAG 2.0.  Government agencies, charity groups, nonprofits and educational institutes can benefit from our compatibility checking services. Using our service means eliminating second guesses and length evaluations, allowing you to go right to the problematic areas. To contact us, or for more information or to begin your trial, click here.

Website surfers are impatient. You cannot blame them because there are far too many websites to choose from the over a billion sites offering almost anything under the sun. This means that behind flashy website designs, you must not forget for a second to think about the user, who is actually the main reason you have the site in the first place. To help you deliver the best user experience, you should create a sitemap, among other factors. Of course you have to design a perfect user interface, ensuring that everything is placed at their rightful place and can be spotted pretty fast by users. In this regard, you can count on sitemaps to boost the user experience in a number of ways.

HTML Sitemaps Placed on the Homepage

After you have created a sitemap, you must be careful where you place it on the website. Typically, HTML sitemaps should be placed on the site’s homepage while the XML sitemaps belong to the site’s root directory. Finding information on large complex websites is not easy since one has to wade through hundreds, if not thousands of pages. This is time consuming, and as earlier mentioned, website users don’t have the patience to spare. In this regard, place the HTML sitemap on the site’s homepage as one of the main pages for easy access by the users. This way, users will easily find the sitemap page, go through the links and their descriptions and be directed to areas where they can find the information they are searching for.

URL Description

A simple Google search will bring forth millions of links. How do you then decide which one is best for you? Some people need the right information fast, and therefore have no time to tryout a number of links and compare their content. As you create a sitemap, don’t forget to include a brief, keyword-rich description that can be used by users to decide whether the information contained therein is useful or have them move to the next available link. As you include descriptions, it is also important to understand that it has to be as brief as possible. Desist from the temptation to include misleading information because you can lose traffic fast if users click links expecting certain information that turns out to be elusive.

Sitemaps Are Supported By Most Browsers

Just like typical web pages, sitemaps are compatible with all known browsers. As such, when you have a sitemap in your website, you can be assured that users will access the site and sitemap on any browser. This multi-support capability makes it possible for you to achieve great browser compatibility, making it easy to optimize the site for better online visibility. Additionally, you can then ensure that the sitemap and content in your website is accessible to all users and search engines irrespective of the search engine they use.

Sitemaps and SEO

You definitely want to rank higher in SERPs. There are so many search engines optimization techniques you can adopt, but what matters is that you get the best value for your money. Since sitemaps contain keyword-rich descriptions of the links, they have immense influence on the site’s SEO that you can tap on for better ranking in SERPs. If you truly have high quality content, then it means that users will easily find your site and have access to the site’s content, which will mostly be relevant to their needs. SEO is very important and companies are immensely investing to attain the highest possible ranking, you can achieve that by creating sitemaps right.

Timely Content Crawling and Indexing

Web surfers want the right information at the right time, without any delays. It is therefore imperative that you ensure that the content on the site is properly crawled and indexed right in time. If you have a blog or a news-related page, then users are assured of the latest information at a click of a button. You can use a sitemap generator with the capability to automatically update the sitemap whenever new content is published. As a result, users don’t have to find outdated information on the site when they were expecting the most recent items on the site.

Sitemaps Ease The Management Of Large And Complex Sites

Maintaining and managing large and complex websites is very demanding. However, with a sitemap, you get to understand your site better and improve on the site’s functionality. Understand which pages have the highest number of visitors and learn how to improve the others. If you have a large site, you definitely still want users to access all the pages fast because all the content is important and came at a cost. Create a site and simplify their search for this information because all they will need is to understand the kind of information they are interested in to finding from the sitemap.

Categorization Of Content

Sitemaps enable you to place your website’s content in categories. If you have many web pages, you can create multiple sitemaps, with each dedicated to specific category of content. Doing this alone will tremendously boost the user experience because your visitors will go direct to specific categories instead of having them move from one category to another or an ocean of content pages. Note that sitemaps also enable you to serve multilingual users.

The backbone of any website design is to ensure that users enjoy a memorable experience on the site. Other than the site’s design, you can achieve this crucial objective when you create a sitemap right, which can easily be done with the aid of a sitemap generator like DYNO Mapper. 

Creating a sitemap of any kind is no longer an option that some webmasters can choose to ignore, but a necessity that no website owner can afford to miss. They serve a myriad of purposes and lots of benefits to the site, ranging from ensuring that the site’s content is crawled and indexed by the search engines to guaranteeing better site navigation by users. Creating a sitemap is hassle-free because you can now use a sitemap generator, with some requiring one to just copy and paste the site’s URL. There is one very important benefit for creating, submitting and updating sitemaps; its significance in project planning.

Projects related to websites can be demanding, requiring lots of technical competence and professional knowledge to get it done right from the beginning. Activities such as migrating the site to a different platform, website redesign and content management are time-consuming and costly. You therefore have to get everything right from the beginning because there is no room for mistakes. These projects demands for comprehensive understanding of the website, ensuring that whatever items you deem important will either be improved on or migrated in their original form, while the poor quality items can be deleted.

Understand the Website Structure

Different websites are designed uniquely with varied structures. Understanding a site’s structure is very important, especially during website redesign. Unless the current structure has failed in enabling the business to realize its core objective, you might want to retain it in the new project. When you create a sitemap, you get to understand the site’s structure irrespective of the number of pages the site has and size. With this in mind, it will be much easy to identify any areas that might be left out during the site’s design.

Significance of Metadata

When you create a sitemap using a sitemap generator, you access lots of information on the tool’s dashboard and webmaster tools that you can use to help improve your website. Metadata such as page descriptions, titles and keywords are very important in not only SEO but also guiding users in finding the right information on the site when they visit. Search engines present SERPs based on the keywords used during the queries by the users. This means that understanding these keywords will go a long way in ensuring that your new site design is packed with the most appropriate keywords for better performance in the search engines. There are currently more than a billion websites in the world, all competing for the search engines’ attention. The more effective you optimize your content for the search engines, the better your rank. Target your content for the right audiences, get higher traffic and increase your conversion rate.

Fix Errors

Website redesigns can involve a lot of programming codes that have to be done right. Search engines, especially Google present a lot of information to help webmasters improve on their sites. There are some common errors such as 401 and 301 redirects that will point you to broken links on the site. Common errors such as broken links may have a massive influence on your overall search engines rankings because they disrupt the Googlebots’ crawling process. If they are not fixed in time, the search engines may just assume that the site is neglected and therefore will not crawl it anymore. In fact, you risk having it delisted from the search engines. It is therefore paramount that you ensure that your site’s links are complete and lead to their targeted links.

Understand the Competition

The only constant thing in business is competition. Your website project planning is destined for failure without proper competitive analysis. You have to understand the market to improve on your products and services. Now, when you use a sitemap generator, there is no restriction from creating one for the competitors. In as much as you will not submit this to the Google Webmaster tools, it will enable you to understand the site’s size, major sources of traffic, best keywords, website structure, among others. Armed with all this information, you can then invest in improving your own site, borrowing what your competitors have that you have yet to consider and ensuring that you present your site the best way possible to the customers and prospects.

Website’s Performance

How is your site likely to perform upon project completion? Where are you likely to draw the most traffic from? When is the last time you updated some pages and how frequent is that done? Can you improve on that or are you okay with the status quo? These are some of the questions that you are likely to find very straight answers when you create a sitemap. You sure will find lots of relevant information that will go a long way in ensuring that you boost your site’s performance when completed. DYNO Mapper sitemaps can show sources of traffic, keywords used to direct website users to the site, how often the site is updated and more. You can share this information with other departments or individuals to ensure that your project is completed on schedule and to your expectations.

Content Inventory

Website users are mostly interested in the information shared online, be it about a product, service, a joke or a wild rumor doing the rounds. Sitemap generators like DYNO Mapper are packed with additional features such as content inventory that you can use to understand the site’s content. You can then use the information to improve on the site’s content to attract more traffic and higher returns on your investment.

The Bottomline

HTML and XML sitemaps are very important for a website’s sustainability and overall success. Ensuring that a site’s pages are properly crawled and indexed is just one of the reasons why you should create a sitemap, but there are many other benefits. Website related projects can be demanding, but you can ease the pressure if you have a better understanding of your website. What is the easiest way to create a sitemap? Use a sitemap generator like DYNO Mapper and simplify your work today.