Rehabilitation Act (Section 504 + Section 508)
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits disability-based discrimination by federal agencies (Section 501), federal contractors (Section 503), recipients of federal funding (Section 504), and federal electronic and information technology (Section 508).
Detailed explanation
Section 504 covers any organization receiving federal funding — universities, hospitals, transit agencies, K-12 schools using federal grants. A Shopify store selling to a federally-funded buyer (or operated by such an entity) is in Section 504 scope for that customer-facing surface.
Section 508 (codified at 29 U.S.C. § 794d) is the most-cited section for ecommerce. It mandates accessibility for federal-agency electronic and information technology and was updated in 2017 to align with WCAG 2.0 Level AA. Section 508 conformance is the de-facto baseline that federal contractors and resellers must meet.
How this applies to Shopify stores
B2B Shopify stores selling to federal agencies, state procurement offices receiving federal funds, or universities receiving federal grants are typically asked for a VPAT documenting Section 508 + Section 504 conformance.
Primary source: section508.gov