Together with the Google Developer Group Vienna, I am hosting a study group for the Trusted Tester certification. You can watch the previous session recordings on YouTube and access the presentation and transcript.
The next session will be on Friday March 6, 4 PM CET, on GDG Vienna. We will cover how to test auto-playing and auto-updating content, as well as flashing content.
What is Section 508?
Section 508 is part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. that requires any ICT developed, procured, maintained, or used by the U.S. Federal government to be accessible to people with disabilities. It guarantees that federal employees and the public can use government‑provided software, websites, hardware, and documents.
The DHS Trusted Tester program is a manual‑testing methodology created by the Department of Homeland Security.
It follows the ICT Testing Baseline and produces repeatable, reliable conformance results, and gives you a concrete, audit‑ready way to prove that a product meets Section 508 – far more trustworthy than relying only on automated tools.
The study group is free and 100% online. We meet every other Friday for ~6 months to go over the testing topics and examples from the Trusted Tester course. To recieve a certification, you must enroll in and complete the DHS Trusted Tester course.
Session 1 covered:
Functional Performance Criteria
- Vision: No‑vision (screen reader), limited vision (magnification), no colour perception (color contrast)
- Hearing: No‑hearing (captions, transcripts), limited hearing (visual alerts)
- Speech: No‑speech
- Manipulation Limited: fine motor control (keyboard‑only navigation)
- Reach & Strength: Ability to press large targets, use assistive switches
- Language / Cognitive: Simple language, clear instructions, consistent navigation
These map directly to the POUR principles (Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust) that you’ll see throughout the course.
Electronic content beyond the web
One of the most eye‑opening moments for many participants was the realization that “electronic content” is a catch‑all term that includes PDFs, e‑books, emergency alerts, automated emails, survey forms, and even kiosk interfaces. The same accessibility principles that govern HTML also apply to these formats, albeit with different testing techniques.
For PDFs, for instance, you still need proper tagging, logical reading order, and descriptive alt text for images.
For e‑books, the focus shifts to structural markup that allows a screen reader to navigate chapters, tables of contents, and footnotes. The overarching message was clear: once you master the core concepts, you can transfer them to virtually any digital artifact.
Your Homework, should you choose to accept it
If you plan on taking the certification at the end of the study group, here is your homework until the next session: Complete the first 3 modules we covered in the DHS CX Directive.
- What is Section 508? – theory & history
- Standards for Web – POUR, WCAG, Functional Performance Criteria
- Testing Tools – ANDI, autoplay settings, and contrast checker
Explore the ANDI bookmarklet on a few of your own sites, and familiarize yourself with the contrast‑checker.
Also: Check how to enable your browser’s autoplay ahead of the next session because the topic will be “auto‑playing & Auto‑updating content”.
Should you encounter any broken links in the official course, let me know. I’ve saved copies of the older resources.
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