Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 requires that US Federal agencies and covered entities make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities.
Therefore, the special needs of users with disabilities and requirements of assistive technology devices have been taken into consideration in the design and development of the Department of Medicine’s Website by adhering to the following recommendations published by the World Wide Web Consortium:
- Tex description of images or graphic representations used within the document’s body.
- Separation of content and presentation using valid external style sheet that controls the visual aspect of the website without adding unnecessary and redundant programming. Due to this separation, the site’s information is accessible even in the absence of the style sheet.
- Use of clear language, appropriate for intended audience.
- Use of structure defining programming elements.
- Creation of a site map, accessible from every page in the website.