Free Section 508 Compliance Checker
Enter any URL to scan for the WCAG violations that determine Section 508 conformance. The Revised 508 Standards incorporate WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA by reference, and CompliaScan tests against WCAG 2.2 Level AA, so you see the automated 508 baseline and more in seconds.
What Is Section 508?
Section 508 is part of the Rehabilitation Act, the federal law that requires information and communication technology (ICT) developed, procured, maintained, or used by federal agencies to be accessible to people with disabilities. That covers websites, software, electronic documents, and hardware such as kiosks and office equipment.
The current requirements come from the Revised 508 Standards, published by the U.S. Access Board in January 2017 with a compliance date of January 18, 2018. The revision made one change that matters most for websites: instead of maintaining a separate federal checklist, the Revised Standards incorporate WCAG 2.0 Level A and Level AA success criteria by reference. They apply those criteria to web content, and also to non-web electronic documents and software.
New to Section 508 and want the plain-English version first? Our blog post Section 508 Compliance Explained untangles how 508, the ADA, and WCAG relate and busts the common myths.
Why a WCAG scan is the automated 508 baseline
Because the Revised 508 Standards adopt WCAG 2.0 AA as their technical requirement for web content, testing a page against WCAG is how you test it for 508 conformance. CompliaScan scans against WCAG 2.2 Level A and AA, which includes every WCAG 2.0 AA criterion still in force plus the additions from 2.1 and 2.2 (2.2 retired the obsolete parsing criterion 4.1.1). Passing the newer standard covers the older one in practice. Keep in mind that automated scanning covers the machine-testable subset of WCAG, roughly 30 to 40 percent of criteria. The rest, such as whether alt text is meaningful or a workflow is usable with a screen reader, requires manual review.
Who Must Comply with Section 508?
Section 508 directly binds the federal government, but its reach extends well beyond agency walls through procurement and state-level adoption.
Federal agencies
Every federal agency must ensure the ICT it develops, procures, maintains, or uses conforms to the Revised 508 Standards. That includes public-facing websites, internal tools employees use, electronic documents, and multimedia. Individuals can file complaints against agencies through each agency's Section 508 complaint process.
Vendors and contractors selling to the federal government
If you sell software, web services, digital content, or hardware to a federal agency, 508 conformance becomes your problem too. Accessibility requirements flow into federal contracts through the Federal Acquisition Regulation, and buyers routinely require an Accessibility Conformance Report (VPAT/ACR) documenting how your product meets the standards. A product that cannot demonstrate conformance can lose a bid to one that can.
State agencies under 508-equivalent state rules
Many states have adopted their own accessibility rules for state government IT that mirror or reference Section 508, so the standards matter even if you never sell to Washington. Maryland is a notable example: state law requires that information technology procured or used by Maryland state agencies support nonvisual access, and vendors bidding on state IT contracts are expected to meet those requirements. If you do business with Maryland agencies, see our Maryland accessibility requirements page for the state-level picture.
Section 508 vs ADA vs WCAG
These three names come up together constantly, and they are often confused. Two are laws, one is a technical standard, and WCAG is the thread that connects them.
| Category | Section 508 | ADA | WCAG |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A federal law (part of the Rehabilitation Act) requiring accessible ICT in the federal government | A civil rights law prohibiting disability discrimination by businesses and state and local governments | A technical standard published by the W3C, the checklist of what makes content accessible |
| Who it applies to | Federal agencies, plus vendors and contractors selling ICT to the federal government | Private businesses open to the public (Title III) and state and local governments (Title II) | Anyone. Not a law itself, but the standard laws point to |
| Technical standard | WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA, incorporated by reference in the Revised 508 Standards | No formal standard for Title III; the DOJ Title II rule adopts WCAG 2.1 AA; courts reference WCAG | Itself. Current version is WCAG 2.2 (October 2023) |
| How it is enforced | Agency complaint processes, procurement requirements, and civil actions against agencies | Private lawsuits, DOJ enforcement, and demand letters | Not enforced directly; enforced through the laws that reference it |
The practical takeaway: meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA and you have covered the technical bar for Section 508 (WCAG 2.0 AA), the DOJ's ADA Title II rule (WCAG 2.1 AA), and the benchmark courts use in ADA Title III cases. One standard, tested once, satisfies the machine-testable requirements of all three frameworks.
Selling to the government? You need an ACR
A VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) is the industry template for documenting how a product conforms to the Revised 508 Standards. The completed document is called an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR), and federal buyers request one during procurement to compare the accessibility of competing products. Many state agencies and large enterprises now ask for one as well.
An ACR is a disclosure, not a certification. It should honestly state, criterion by criterion, whether your product supports, partially supports, or does not support each requirement. Scanning your product first tells you what to write. When a buyer asks for one, the practical ladder looks like this:
- Run the free scan above to find and fix the WCAG issues that would otherwise surface in your report.
- Draft the document manually with our free VPAT starter template if you want full control over every criterion.
- Or generate a scan-derived ACR with CompliaScan and let monitoring keep it current as your site changes. See a live example: our own ACR, generated from a real scan of this site.
Related Resources
Section 508 Compliance Guide
The complete guide to Section 508: history, the Revised Standards, who must comply, VPATs, and how to test.
VPAT Starter Generator
Turn a scan into a draft VPAT/ACR starting point that documents your Section 508 conformance work.
WCAG Checker
Scan your site against WCAG 2.2 Level A and AA success criteria, the technical standard behind Section 508.
ADA Compliance Checker
Check your website against the WCAG criteria courts reference in ADA enforcement actions.
Maryland Accessibility Requirements
How Maryland state law, including nonvisual access requirements for state IT, applies to your website.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a 508 compliance checker?
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Do I need a VPAT for Section 508?
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Can an automated checker prove my site is 508 compliant?
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See where your site stands against the WCAG criteria the Revised 508 Standards require. Free single-page scan with a score, severity breakdown, and fix suggestions. No signup required.