ALCOAST 623/08 COMDTNOTE 5780 SUBJ: COAST GUARD PUBLIC AFFAIRS PIER SITE 508 COMPLIANCE A. COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC 222007Z DEC 08/ALCOAST 614/08. 1. TO FURTHER DEFINE PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAM STANDARDS AND PRACTICES AS DETAILED IN REF. B, THIS ALCOAST ESTABLISHES THE STANDARDIZATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF SECTION 508 COMPLIANCE FOR ALL COAST GUARD PUBLIC AFFAIRS PIER SITES. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE DISTRICT PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER TO ENSURE THEIR DISTRICTS PUBLIC AFFAIRS PIER SITES ARE 508 COMPLIANT (UNIT PAO FOR HEADQUARTERS UNITS THAT MANAGE PUBLIC AFFAIRS PIER SITES). NOT ONLY IS 508 COMPLIANCE THE LAW, IT ENSURES THOSE WHO USE COMPUTER ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES CAN ACCESS PUBLIC INFORMATION. AS PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATORS, WE MUST ENSURE OUR SERVICES INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE TO ALL CITIZENS. IN ADDITION, REPEATED 508 VIOLATIONS ON CG WEB SITES RESULT IN DHS ERROR REPORTS AND JEOPARDIZE OUR ABILITY TO USE THE PIER SYSTEM FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS WORK IN THE FUTURE. 2. THEREFORE EACH PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE IS NOW REQUIRED TO CHECK ITS PIER SITES DAILY FOR 508 COMPLIANCE USING THE TEST IN PARA 4. IN ADDITION, OFFICES MUST RUN A BI-WEEKLY COMPLIANCE CHECK USING ACCREPAIR. ACCREPAIR CAN BE OBTAINED THROUGH THE LOCAL HELP DESK. PRIOR TO RUNNING ACCREPAIR, PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICES SHALL CONTACT THE COMMANDANT (CG-635) POC IN PARA 6. DUE TO A REPEATED LACK OF PIER SITE 508 COMPLIANCE, A POSITIVE REPORTING PROCESS IS NOW REQUIRED. PAOS WILL NOTIFY THEIR AREA PAO THAT AN ACCREPAIR COMPLIANCE CHECK HAS BEEN CONDUCTED BY EMAIL ON THE FIRST AND FIFTEENTH OF EACH MONTH. AREA PAOS WILL CONSOLIDATE REPORTS AND FORWARD TO COMMANDANT (CG-09225). THIS REPORTING REQUIREMENT MAY BE REMOVED IN THE FUTURE IF AN ACCEPTABLE 508 COMPLIANCE RATE CAN BE MAINTAINED THROUGHOUT THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAM. 3. IN ADDITION, COMMANDANT (CG-09225) WILL CONDUCT RANDOM SITE COMPLIANCE CHECKS EACH WEEK AND PROVIDE FEEDBACK TO DISTRICTS VIA AREA PAOS OF SITES THAT ARE OUT OF COMPLIANCE. 4. THE REGULATIONS FOR 508 COMPLIANCE CAN BE FOUND AT HTTP://WWW.SECTION508.GOV. THE GUIDANCE FOR WEB-BASED INTRANET AND INTERNET INFORMATION AND APPLICATIONS IS LISTED BELOW; 1194.22 WEB-BASED INTRANTET AND INTERNET INFORMATION AND APPLICATIONS. A. A TEXT EQUIVALENT FOR EVERY NON-TEXT ELEMENT SHALL BE PROVIDED (E.G., VIA "ALT", "LONGDESC", OR IN ELEMENT CONTENT). B. EQUIVALENT ALTERNATIVES FOR ANY MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION SHALL BE SYNCHRONIZED WITH THE PRESENTATION. C. WEB PAGES SHALL BE DESIGNED SO THAT ALL INFORMATION CONVEYED WITH COLOR IS ALSO AVAILABLE WITHOUT COLOR, FOR EXAMPLE FROM CONTEXT OR MARKUP. D. DOCUMENTS SHALL BE ORGANIZED SO THEY ARE READABLE WITHOUT REQUIRING AN ASSOCIATED STYLE SHEET. E. REDUNDANT TEXT LINKS SHALL BE PROVIDED FOR EACH ACTIVE REGION OF A SERVER-SIDE IMAGE MAP. F. CLIENT-SIDE IMAGE MAPS SHALL BE PROVIDED INSTEAD OF SERVER-SIDE IMAGE MAPS EXCEPT WHERE THE REGIONS CANNOT BE DEFINED WITH AN AVAILABLE GEOMETRIC SHAPE. G. ROW AND COLUMN HEADERS SHALL BE IDENTIFIED FOR DATA TABLES. H. MARKUP SHALL BE USED TO ASSOCIATE DATA CELLS AND HEADER CELLS FOR DATA TABLES THAT HAVE TWO OR MORE LOGICAL LEVELS OF ROW OR COLUMN HEADERS. I. FRAMES SHALL BE TITLED WITH TEXT THAT FACILITATES FRAME IDENTIFICATION AND NAVIGATION. J. PAGES SHALL BE DESIGNED TO AVOID CAUSING THE SCREEN TO FLICKER WITH A FREQUENCY GREATER THAN 2 HZ AND LOWER THAN 55 HZ. K. A TEXT-ONLY PAGE, WITH EQUIVALENT INFORMATION OR FUNCTIONALITY, SHALL BE PROVIDED TO MAKE A WEB SITE COMPLY WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS PART, WHEN COMPLIANCE CANNOT BE ACCOMPLISHED IN ANY OTHER WAY. THE CONTENT OF THE TEXT-ONLY PAGE SHALL BE UPDATED WHENEVER THE PRIMARY PAGE CHANGES. L. WHEN PAGES UTILIZE SCRIPTING LANGUAGES TO DISPLAY CONTENT, OR TO CREATE INTERFACE ELEMENTS, THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE SCRIPT SHALL BE IDENTIFIED WITH FUNCTIONAL TEXT THAT CAN BE READ BY ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY. M. WHEN A WEB PAGE REQUIRES THAT AN APPLET, PLUG-IN OR OTHER APPLICATION BE PRESENT ON THE CLIENT SYSTEM TO INTERPRET PAGE CONTENT, THE PAGE MUST PROVIDE A LINK TO A PLUG-IN OR APPLET THAT COMPLIES WITH 1194.21(A) THROUGH (L). N. WHEN ELECTRONIC FORMS ARE DESIGNED TO BE COMPLETED ON-LINE, THE FORM SHALL ALLOW PEOPLE USING ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY TO ACCESS THE INFORMATION, FIELD ELEMENTS, AND FUNCTIONALITY REQUIRED FOR COMPLETION AND SUBMISSION OF THE FORM, INCLUDING ALL DIRECTIONS AND CUES. O. A METHOD SHALL BE PROVIDED THAT PERMITS USERS TO SKIP REPETITIVE NAVIGATION LINKS. P. WHEN A TIMED RESPONSE IS REQUIRED, THE USER SHALL BE ALERTED AND GIVEN SUFFICIENT TIME TO INDICATE MORE TIME IS REQUIRED. 5. THE PIER SYSTEM IS INHERENTLY 508 COMPLIANT AND PROMPTS USERS TO PROVIDE THE APPROPRIATE INFORMATION. THE MOST FREQUENT VIOLATION IS THE LACK OF TEXT EQUIVALENT FOR EVERY NON-TEXT ELEMENT SUCH AS PHOTOS AND GRAPHICS. A SIMPLE TEST IS TO PLACE THE COMPUTER POINTER OVER THE SITES IMAGES, A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE IMAGES SHOULD APPEAR. IF NOT, THEN THE IMAGE WAS NOT POSTED PROPERLY AND THE SITE IS NO LONGER 508 COMPLIANT. FOR DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO BECOME COMPLIANT GO TO HTTP://WWW.SECTION508.GOV/508AWARENESS/, ALSO A SECTION 508 AWARENESS CD IS AVAILABLE ONLINE. THIS CD CONTAINS GENERAL SECTION 508 INFORMATION FOR ALL EMPLOYEES, AS WELL AS A SELF-TEST AND COPIES OF THE STATUTE, ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS, AND RELEVANT SECTIONS OF THE FAR. 6. TO OBTAIN A REPORT ON YOUR SITES COMPLIANCE CONTACT THE USCG SECTION 508 WEB COORDINATOR KIM ELLISION, COMMANDANT (CG-635), 202- 475-3654, KIM.M.ELLISON(AT)USCG.MIL. 7. ADDITIONAL JOB AIDS AND PIER SECTION 508 COMPLIANCE TOOLS ARE BEING DEVELOPED BY CG-09225 AND SEVERAL DISTRICT OFFICES. CONTACT CWO ADAM WINE FOR MORE INFORMATION AT 202-372-4638 OR ADAM.M.WINE (AT)USCG.MIL 8. QUESTIONS ABOUT THE COAST GUARD PUBLIC AFFAIRS STANDARDIZATION PLAN SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO CDR RON LABREC, CHIEF, OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, (202) 372-4627 OR RONALD.A.LABREC(AT)USCG.MIL. 9. RELEASED BY RDML MARY E. LANDRY, DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENTAL AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS. 10. INTERNET RELEASE AUTHORIZED.