Hello. We are the CMS Section 508 Program Team.
We have put together a series of videos
that provide useful information and instruction
on making CMS Information Technology
products and service accessible to all who seek them.
Section 508 is important to everyone at CMS,
and it’s a federal law.
The title of this video is
“Important Section 508 Facts for Developing Software at CMS,”
an instructional video for all Software Application Developers.
If you are acquiring or developing software applications for CMS,
here are important facts to know about the CMS Section 508 testing and approval process:
All information technology procured or developed under contract
must meet applicable Section 508 standards.
All applications will undergo Section 508 review and testing
to determine if standards are met or if remediation is required.
CMS requires adherence to the latest Section 508 standards,
which can be found at the United States Access Board website
at www.access-board.gov
Completion of the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (or VPAT)
is required and should reflect the most up-to-date version of the document,
available at the ITIC website at www.ITIC.org.
For software that is acquired for use by CMS, here is what you should know:
After completing your procurement VPAT,
the form should then be sent to your component’s Clearance Officer for review.
Please remember… Address all applicable Section 508 standards
All sections of the VPAT should be filled in completely,
including conformance levels for evaluation criteria,
as well as the Remarks and Explanations section.
Make sure your attachments include the VPAT
and any pertinent 508 compliance explanatory text.
Review your submission to determine and confirm
which version of the VPAT is being used.
Make sure you are using the current edition of the VPAT,
and note that CMS only allows these two VPAT versions of the four available:
508 – The Revised Section 508 Standards
and the WCAG – the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
If the software is being developed specifically for use at CMS,
here is what you need to know:
Section 508 should be a part of all phases of development,
but especially the design phase.
For Applications developed and built on non-compliant Commercial Off-The-Shelf products,
the user-base application must meet Section 508 compliance standards,
even if the underlying tool or platform used to create it is not compliant.
And since the application is being developed specifically for CMS,
exceptions to Section 508 compliance are not available.
Agile-developed applications should include Section 508 in all aspects of the process,
especially in the user story development phase.
This means that users with disabilities need to be included
as part of story boards and user case development.
Testing is an important part of the approval process,
and since testing is conducted on a first come, first serve basis,
it is important to provide all requested information in a timely manner.
If you are a developer, CMS recommends that you perform your own accessibility testing
as part of your user Acceptance Testing Activities
before our team conducts its formal testing.
If remediation is needed, that activity should begin
as soon as a test summary report is received by the business owner.
Remediation plans must be submitted within 30 days from the date of testing.
Please read and review all correspondence received as part of your Section 508 testing activities. 61 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:46,000 Let’s summarize the Section 508 facts for Developing Software at CMS.
All information technology procured or developed under contract must meet applicable Section 508 standards.
All applications will undergo Section 508 review and testing
to determine if standards are met or if remediation is required.
Completion of the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (or VPAT) is required,.
and it should be completed in full.
Your component’s Clearance Officer will review and rate your VPAT.
Section 508 should be a part of all phases of development,
but especially the design phase.
Exceptions to Section 508 compliance may be requested for non-compliant Commercial Off-the-Shelf Products.
Exceptions are not available for software developed specifically for CMS.
For more information or answers to any questions, here is a list of CMS Section 508 Resources:
For the CMS.gov website, go to:
www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems
/CMS-Information-Technology/Section508/index.html
You may also email us at CMS_Section508@cms.hhs.gov
Or continue to view other videos in this Section 508 videocast series.