New OMB Guidance: A Leap Forward in Accessibility

On December 21, new guidance came out from OMB. Agencies must provide accessibility reporting, allocate resources, and develop frameworks, building upon previous legislation. The guidance promotes an accessibility culture, with designated program leads and also encourages the use of accessible technologies:

"Agencies should regularly and routinely scan Federal web content using automated testing tools to help ensure conformance with the Section 508 standards set by the Access Board, including, as applicable, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).[30] Agencies should leverage automated testing tools in combination with targeted manual testing because automated testing tools cannot fully assess conformance to accessibility standards.[31]"

Agencies should perform manual conformance validation testing, such as the Trusted Tester Conformance Test Process for the Web, in addition to automated testing.[32] In situations where limited resources prevent agencies from doing routine manual testing, agencies should employ sampling strategies or prioritize manual testing for priority efforts."