Section 508
Section 508 is the US federal law requiring electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by federal agencies to be accessible to people with disabilities. The Section 508 standards were updated in 2017 to align with WCAG 2.0 AA.
Detailed explanation
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. § 794d) applies to all federal agencies and any organization that procures or develops digital products for them. The 2017 Section 508 Refresh harmonized the technical standard with the European EN 301 549 standard and adopted WCAG 2.0 Level AA by reference.
Section 508 is enforced by the US Access Board and the Office of Management and Budget. While it does not directly apply to private-sector ecommerce stores, it is the de-facto baseline that federal contractors and resellers must meet — and it is what the DOJ's 2024 Title II web rule references for state and local government compliance.
How this applies to Shopify stores
A Shopify store selling to federal agencies, state procurement offices, or universities receiving federal funding is typically asked for a VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) documenting Section 508 conformance. AccessComply's scan output maps directly to Section 508 / WCAG 2.0 AA criteria so the VPAT is straightforward to fill in.
Primary source: section508.gov