I’ve been discussing section 508 compliance and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) on a project.  As an illustration of the importance of adhering to basic standards, I used this video on Vimeo that gives an idea of the experience a vision-impaired user has when viewing the Twitter web site with a screen reader.  It’s pretty powerful!

The Screenreader Experience Part One from NAPCS on Vimeo.

The basic takeaway from this is that a site built for a client that is likely to have an audience using assistive technology (read as: any client) should probably have at least some element of consideration for these standards in its implementation plan.  Section 508 only applies to government agency web site, but at some point we must consider that adhering to these standards is simply the right thing to do.

For more information, head over to the W3C and check out their page on the Web Accessibility Initiative:  or read up on their case for accessibility.  WebAIM also has a very useful site on the components of Section 508 and WCAG.  Any of these pages are great resources for understanding what’s involved with these standards.