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MUSC Web sites being improved to assist people with disabilities by 508 Compliance Committee You might not notice anything different about the Web sites at MUSC, but changes are under way to enhance the way people with disabilities access information on our Web sites.    Although federal laws require institutions receiving federal funds to ensure their Web sites are accessible to people with disabilities, Mary Mauldin, Ed.D., director of the Center for Academic and Research Computing said, “Don't think of this as just a law to be obeyed; this is also the right thing to do in order to ensure all of our students, patients, employees, and visitors can access the information they need.”   One of the most frequently quoted laws related to Web site accessibility is Section 508 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, and it is referred to in Web design circles as “508 compliant.”   This act along with the World Wide Web Consortium created specific guidelines that ensure Web sites are accessible. For example, some people with visual disabilities use screen readers. These adaptive devices translate text to speech, so 508 guidelines specify that Web sites must label non-text elements, such as graphics, in order for these machines to translate the elements into meaningful information. This guideline can be accomplished by adding text descriptions of graphics enclosed in tags not visible on the Web page but readable by the scanning device.   A newly formed 508 Compliance Committee chaired by Fran Lee, DBA, was charged by Frank Clark, Ph.D., CIO, to ensure webmasters have the knowledge, skills, and tools to implement the guidelines specified by the federal government.    The task is large but not impossible, especially if approached in stages. The committee's first job is to identify the 600 most frequently accessed web pages.   The owners of these pages will be asked if they want the committee to provide assistance as needed in order to bring their pages into compliance.   Training, tools, and a Web site are under development in order to provide support to all MUSC webmasters. Classes will be scheduled in the near future, but as John Dell, director of Financial and Administrative Systems for the Office of the CIO notes, “508 compliance currently applies to any of our updated or newly published web pages and webmasters should already be working on solutions.”   Among the top 10 visited pages at MUSC are those relating to Medical Center, Human Resources, Student Information, Information Services, Pharmacy, Nursing, UMA, College of Health Professions, and Pediatric Surgery.   The 508 Compliance Committee produced a Web site with information and links to news, tools, and resources. The site can be found at http://www.musc.edu/508.  Members of the 508 Compliance Committee Dr. Frances Lee, chair , John Dell, Sherman Paggi, Dusti Annan, Kristi Adams, James Webb, Ben Gilbertson, Dr. Mary Mauldin, Dr. Katherine Chessman, Patricia Smith, Dan Furlong, Amy Burdette and Christine Williamson Friday, March 3, 2006 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island papers at 849-1778, ext. 201.