Golden IT projects fully support Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. 794d) which requires that when Federal agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic information technology, Federal employees with disabilities have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use by Federal employees who do not have disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency. Section 508 also requires that individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public seeking information or services from a Federal agency, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency. 

Golden IT ensures compliance to Section 508 through the following means: 

1) Design and develop from the very beginning using frameworks, technologies, tools, and practices that have built-in accessibility compliance. 

2) Test early and often for accessibility before code delivery using Trusted Testers and trained Quality Assurance professionals. 

3) Provide Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT™) for our products where needed to document compliance - and to document proposed compliance as we create new products - to our customers. A VPAT™ is a document that explains how all information and communication technology (ICT) products conform to the Revised 508 Standards for IT accessibility. 

4) Align design, development, and testing to Government Product Accessibility Template (GPAT) when provided to us for the maintenance and modernization of government programs.

5) Incorporate - and tailor to specific customer's needs - playbooks and guidance from Section 508, WC3, U.S. Web Digital Standards, Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) and Material Design for mobile platforms, and international, commercial and military standards. 

Golden IT completes a VPAT™ to identify what areas of compliance are applicable and how we will achieve this compliance. The report details the success criteria (level A or AA), the conformance level (Web, Electronic Docs, Software, Authoring Tool), and remarks and explanations on how we successfully meet compliance across the criteria. All Section 508 compliance checks are formally conducted by a Trusted Tester (TT). Golden IT maintains certified TT internal resources and practices to ensure compliance. 

Golden IT conforms to U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) standards (https://designsystem.digital.gov/) to create consistent/uniform and compliant designs to ensure Section 508 compliance. Any new code developed on behalf of Golden IT will be compliant to all applicable requirements. 

We test for compliance to these requirements through our formal design and development process: 

1) Incorporate WCAG 2.1 and Section 508 requirements into design guidance for development 

2) Develop using libraries and components that either have built-in compliance (e.g. USWDS) or are modern, consistent, and able to be assessed for compliance 

         3) Quality assurance testing with automated and semi-automated testing using scripts and compliance tools (e.g. WAVE, ANDI) 

4) Conducting Section 508 analysis using a Trusted Tester. The results of compliance to this requirement will be delivered to the customer. 

For existing work owned by the government, we work with our government clients in completing a Government Product Accessibility Template (GPAT) to tell us how they are compliant or wish to become to be. If a GPAT is not provided, we will do a compliance check when we start the work and then another one at the end for the new work we’ve done.