This is the Section 508 ICT Testing Baseline for Web, which determines conformance with the Revised Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. 794d).
Please read further for a detailed description of the ICT Testing Baseline project. The ICT Testing Baseline Working Group is preparing this Baseline for Web for release and developing test cases and other resources to support test process owners that want to demonstrate alignment.
The ICT Testing Baselines identify tests for Section 508 requirements that determine conformance with Revised Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. 794d). The ICT Testing Baseline reduces ambiguity, increases consistency of test results, and emphasizes full coverage of the Section 508 ICT Accessibility requirements, given the current state and compatibility of underlying technologies. Testing Baselines will be developed for technologies covered by Section 508 including Web, software, hardware, and others.
The Baseline is not a test process; it is a tool- and method-agnostic foundation for a test process. The ICT Testing Baseline identifies the Section 508 requirements that are applicable to the specified technology and WHAT needs to be tested to determine results. A test process, on the other hand, would describe HOW to test, using specific testing tools, methods, and steps to evaluate the Baseline requirement.
When a foundational document (Baseline) identifies WHAT to test, then all test processes that align to the Baseline will produce the same test results for all 508 requirements. Regardless of what tool is used in a Baseline-aligned test process, the results will be the same as another Baseline-aligned test process that uses a different tool. It is anticipated that Baseline-aligned test processes will use automated tools, semi-automated method, manual verification, and combinations to fully test Section 508 conformance. When Baseline-aligned test processes are identified, these processes must be documented so they can be shared for others to use.
In January of 2017, the U.S. Access-Board released the final rule to revise the Section 508 standards. The Revised Section 508 Standards reference the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level (A) and (AA) Success Criteria and conformance requirements as the “new” Section 508 standards for Web content. The ICT Testing Baseline for Web was originally developed as the foundation to update the DHS Trusted Tester test process. With the Trusted Tester process and training completed, the ICT Testing Baseline Working Group (ITBWG) decided to continue promoting the Baseline as a unified foundation for conformance test processes to improve testing across government. The Baseline for Web was written for those creating a comprehensive test process. However, Federal agencies that have a 508 test process can use the Baseline to determine how well their test process accurately tests for all Section 508 requirements. As part of the Federal Chief Information Officers Council, Accessibility Community of Practice (ACOP), the ITBWG is led by US federal government representatives from General Services Administration (GSA) Government-wide IT Accessibility Program and the US Access Board.
- The ITBWG will maintain the ICT Testing Baseline, which can be used to develop customized test processes for organization-specific use. The working group will incorporate as many procedures as are feasible (e.g., supported accessibility techniques). All Revised Section 508 Standards are included in the Baseline for covered technology.
- The ITBWG will identify testing processes that cover all requirements and can produce test results that align to the expected results for the Baseline test cases.
- The ITBWG will support federal agencies that wish to align their test processes to the Baseline.
- The ITBWG will update the Baseline document by committee. Agency representatives are encouraged to participate, suggest and review updates and modifications to the Baseline, and evaluate the impact of updates to the Baseline.
- The ITBWG will promote the use of the Baseline to encourage agencies to evaluate their test processes and improve Section 508 conformance testing accuracy.
You are welcome to monitor progress, create forks of the proposed Baseline tests and test cases, propose improvements (via issues and pull requests), and submit test cases to help validate test processes and tools. The working group will post the ICT Testing Baseline for Web to this repository in GitHub. We will review and share results as progress is made.
If you wish to contact the working group with suggestions, please email ictbaseline@gsa.gov and include in the subject "ICT Baseline Update."