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) governs covered federal electronic and information technology. The 2017 Revised 508 Standards incorporate WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA success criteria for covered web and non-web content, subject to the standards' scope and exceptions.
Private vendors may encounter Section 508 requirements through federal procurement or contract terms, but selling to a public buyer does not let a glossary determine which obligations attach to a particular merchant or transaction. The separate DOJ Title II web rule applies to covered state and local governments and uses WCAG 2.1 Level AA, with its own scope and exceptions.
How this applies to Shopify stores
A Shopify merchant participating in public-sector or enterprise procurement may be asked for an Accessibility Conformance Report based on a current VPAT template. AccessComply's automated findings can inform part of an evaluation, but scope, manual testing, assistive-technology testing, and per-criterion conclusions remain necessary.
What merchants should check next
Treat this term as a practical audit prompt, not just a definition. Check the storefront pages where the concept shows up in real customer journeys: product discovery, add-to-cart, cart drawer, checkout handoff, account login, and support contact flows. If the issue affects code, verify the rendered HTML and computed browser output after the theme change. If it affects copy or media, keep the merchant-facing wording accurate and easy to maintain.
Primary source: section508.gov