It is another ordinary day at the survey research center, and a Web survey designer is drinking coffee while reading over a request for a proposal to conduct a Web survey.  The request states that because the sponsor is a U.S. Government agency, the Web survey must be accessible and must conform to Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Conformance with Section 508 is an unfamiliar requirement, so the Web survey designer investigates by typing “Section 508” in the Google search window.  The first ten of 13.8 million results appear.  The results page offers some links which reference the standard and others that provide checklists.  The designer needs to understand this requirement before the survey research center can bid on the task, let alone conduct the survey if their bid is accepted.