Section 508 is a portion of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which sets the accessible information standards for government agencies in the United States. A subset of Section 508 relates to specifically web-based intranet and internet information. Here is a summary of the requirements:
- (a) Must have text alternatives for non-text elements
- (b) Multimedia must have synchronized alternates (i.e, captions)
- (c) Information conveyed with color must also be available without color
- (d) Content must be readable without stylesheet
- (e,f) Clauses (2) related to outdated image
<map>elements - (g) Data tables must have row and column headers
- (h) Irregular or complex data tables must have markup to associate table headers and rows
- (i)
<frame>elements (outdated) must have titles, extends to<iframe>elements as well - (j) Avoid rapid and/or slow animations above 2Hz and below 55Hz to accomodate users with photosensitive or motion triggered disorders.
- (k) Must have up-to-date text-only equivalent of all web pages
- (l) Script created content/UI must have functional screen readable text
- (m) Links to required plug-ins and applets are required
- (n) Must have accessible form elements
- (o) Skip navigation links for repetitive navigations
- (p) For timed responses, users shall be alerted AND given sufficient time to indicate more time is requires (e.g., bank session timeouts)
It's important to note that Section 508, as it relates to web development, is a bit of an outdated document. It is recommended that authors aim for WCAG 2.0 compliance as the U.S. government is expected to adopt the standard in the near future.
(e,f) Regarding image maps, I'd just have a line mentioning these aren't commonly used as there are better methods these days, but if you decide to include them, follow the 508 rules.
(h) You misspelled "headers". you have "hearders".
(i) Does "Frame titles" apply to iframes? I think it does and therefore should be titled (this helps with JS too I think? I've never tried).
(j) I'd recommend leaving the flicker, but actually focus it more like: Heres the standard, but "many people using the web have issues where visual cues will trigger pain, disorientation or worse. Avoid flashing, flickering and rapid animation whenever possible. If required to have animation, provide the user a method to turn it off."