Overall Performance Category Findings and Recommendations: Very Low Maturity Categories

Very Low Maturity - Very Low Conformance

Highlighted Category Statistics:

• Only 7 of 21 of reporting entities (33%) indicated that employees knowledgeable in accessibility are not at all included in the technology development lifecycle.

• Only 3 of 21 of reporting entities (15%) said their employees had any training whatsoever on guidance, templates and tools to create Section 508 conformant content.

• 11 of 21 reporting entities (52%) indicated that they had a public feedback mechanism for Section 508 concerns. The rest did not have one (6) or responded Unknown (4).

• 19 of the 21 reporting entities in this category (90%) said they did not have resources to test their videos for Section 508 conformance. The other two tested the requested 5 videos.

Overall Recommendations:

Reporting entities that fall into the Very Low Maturity - Very Low Conformance category need to improve in multiple areas across maturity and conformance. A more specific focus on training will likely have added benefits beyond simply improving their training maturity. Additionally, providing or linking to training and content creation resources for content, such as Training on Section508.gov or Create on Section508.gov, could pay dividends moving forward. Furthermore, GSA also recommends providing additional resources particularly to test digital content for conformance.

Very Low Maturity - Low Conformance

Highlighted Category Statistics:

• 1 of 4 of reporting entities (25%) in this category said their IT Accessibility policy was not complete or in draft form.
• No reporting entities in this category said they distribute communications around Section 508 requirements .
• All reporting entities in this category said they did not have any development or testing of professionals trained in Section 508 web testing.
• Two reporting entities that have intranet sites do not test for conformance and only half of the reporting entities test their internet pages .
• All reporting entities reported that they did not have resources to test documents and only one (25%) said they had the resources to test videos.

Overall Recommendations:

Reporting entities in the Very Low-Low should consider hiring or training individuals so they have sufficient Section 508 web testing capabilities. Additionally, as all reporting entities in this category selected the lowest choice for each criteria in the training section, GSA recommends a concerted effort to improve training capabilities and coverage. Furthermore, the overall conformance testing for those in this category was low, GSA also recommends allocating trained resources to test for conformance.

Very Low Maturity - Moderate Conformance

 

Very Low Maturity - High Conformance

Highlighted Category Statistics:

• One reporting entity said escalation of vendor noncompliance occurs sometimes on an ad hoc basis, otherwise both reporting entities in this bracket chose the lowest response for all other technology lifecycle questions.

• One reporting entity said they sometimes conduct comprehensive manual tests on web content for Section 508 conformance, and both reporting entities in this bracket chose the lowest response for all other testing maturity questions.

• Though testing maturity was low, 90-100% of their web pages and electronic documents tested were reported as fully conformant; therefore maturity was low, but testing was high.

Overall Recommendations:

Reporting entities within the Very Low Maturity - High Conformance category should consider investing in their testing program because these results may not be sustainable, and it would improve accessibility maturity in their technology lifecycle activities. Additionally, since all of the reporting entities in this category selected the lowest choice for each criteria in the training section, we recommend they make a concerted effort to improve training capabilities and coverage.

Very Low Maturity - Very High Conformance

 

Low Maturity - Very Low Conformance

Highlighted Category Statistics:

• 92% of reporting entities in this category sometimes include accessibility requirements in acquisitions, while only 2 of 25 reporting entities (8%) rarely or do not include accessibility requirements in acquisitions .

• Only 1 of 25 (4%) of reporting entities in this bracket said Section 508 requirements are rarely or never included as a technical evaluation factor in acquisitions, while 96% said these requirements are sometimes included .

• Only 1 out of 25 of reporting entities (4%) said they test intranet pages while over 50% do not monitor internet pages .

• Almost all reporting entities said they did not have resources to test the web pages, electronic documents, and videos requested in the conformance section of the Assessment.

• 7 of 25 of reporting entities (28%) said they did not have a website accessibility statement on their site .

Overall Recommendations:

Reporting entities in the Low-Very Low category performed relatively well with respect to the Acquisitions and Procurement and the Technology Lifecycle Activities maturity dimensions. Reporting entities can still improve in these areas but are best served focusing on training and human capital considerations in order to improve overall performance with maturity. Given their conformance responses, GSA recommends investing in qualified testing support to improve overall performance.

Reviewed/Updated: December 2023