II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4766 

To strengthen requirements for the use of accessible information and 

communications technology by Federal departments and agencies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 24, 2024 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. FETTERMAN, Mr. WYDEN, and Ms. 

DUCKWORTH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To strengthen requirements for the use of accessible information and communications technology by Federal departments and agencies. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Section 508 Refresh 

5 Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ACCESS BOARD.—The term ‘‘Access Board’’ 

9 means the Architectural and Transportation BarVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 21, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4766.IS S4766

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1 riers Compliance Board established under section 

2 502(a)(1) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

3 U.S.C. 792(a)(1)). 

4 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis5 trator’’ means the Administrator of the General 

6 Services Administration. 

7 (3) DISABILITY.—The term ‘‘disability’’ has the 

8 meaning given that term in section 3 of the Ameri9 cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

10 12102). 

11 (4) FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OR AGENCY.—The 

12 term ‘‘Federal department or agency’’ has the mean13 ing given the term agency in section 3502 of title 

14 44, United States Code, except that such term shall 

15 also include agency components. 

16 (5) INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

17 TECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘‘information and commu18 nications technology’’ means all information tech19 nology and all other equipment, systems, tech20 nologies, or processes, for which the principal func21 tion is the creation, manipulation, storage, display, 

22 receipt, or transmission of electronic data and infor23 mation, as well as any associated content, such as 

24 computers and peripheral equipment, information ki25 osks and transaction machines, telecommunications 


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1 equipment, customer premises equipment, multi2 function office machines, software, applications, 

3 websites, videos, and electronic documents. 

4 (6) SECTION 508.—The term ‘‘section 508’’ 

5 means section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 

6 (29 U.S.C. 794d). 

7 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO DEFINITIONS AND TERMS USED 

8 IN SECTION 508 OF THE REHABILITATION 

9 ACT OF 1973. 

10 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 508 of the Rehabilita11 tion Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘electronic and information 

13 technology’’ and inserting ‘‘information and commu14 nications technology’’ each place the term appears; 

15 (2) in subsection (a)— 

16 (A) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1), 

17 by striking ELECTRONIC AND INFORMATION

18 TECHNOLOGY in the subparagraph heading and 

19 inserting ‘‘INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

20 TECHNOLOGY’’; 

21 (B) by striking subparagraph (A) of para22 graph (2) and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(A) The Architectural and Transportation 

24 Barriers Compliance Board (referred to in this 

25 section as the ‘Access Board’) shall maintain 


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1 published technical and functional performance 

2 criteria necessary to implement the require3 ments set forth in paragraph (1).’’; and 

4 (C) in paragraph (3)— 

5 (i) by striking ‘‘Not later than 6 

6 months after the Access Board publishes 

7 the standards required under paragraph 

8 (2), the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 

9 Council shall revise the Federal Acquisition 

10 Regulation and each Federal department 

11 or agency shall revise the Federal procure12 ment policies and directives under the con13 trol of the department or agency to incor14 porate those standards.’’; and 

15 (ii) by striking ‘‘Council’’ and insert16 ing ‘‘Federal Acquisition Regulatory Coun17 cil’’; and 

18 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL DEPARTMENT AND AGENCY.— 

21 The term ‘Federal department and agency’ has the 

22 meaning given the term ‘agency’ in section 3502 of 

23 title 44, United States Code. 

24 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

25 TECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘information and commuVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 21, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4766.IS S4766

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1 nications technology’ means all information tech2 nology and all other equipment, systems, tech3 nologies, or processes, for which the principal func4 tion is the creation, manipulation, storage, display, 

5 receipt, or transmission of electronic data and infor6 mation, as well as any associated content, such as— 

7 ‘‘(A) computers and peripheral equipment; 

8 ‘‘(B) information kiosks and transaction 

9 machines; 

10 ‘‘(C) telecommunications equipment; 

11 ‘‘(D) customer premises equipment; 

12 ‘‘(E) multifunction office machines; 

13 ‘‘(F) software; 

14 ‘‘(G) applications; 

15 ‘‘(H) websites; 

16 ‘‘(I) videos; and 

17 ‘‘(J) electronic documents.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

19 (1) The item relating to section 508 in the table 

20 of contents of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

21 U.S.C. 701 et seq.) is amended by striking ‘‘Elec22 tronic and information technology’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘Information and communications technology’’. 

24 (2) Section 204 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

25 1973 (29 U.S.C. 764) is amended— 


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1 (A) in subsection (b)(2)(C)(i), by striking 

2 ‘‘electronic and information technology’’ and in3 serting ‘‘information and communications tech4 nology’’. 

5 (B) in subsection (b)(2)(D), by striking 

6 ‘‘electronic and information technology’’ and in7 serting ‘‘information and communications tech8 nology’’. 

9 (3) Section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

10 1973 (29 U.S.C. 792) is amended— 

11 (A) in subsection (b)(3)(D), by striking 

12 ‘‘electronic and information technology’’ and in13 serting ‘‘information and communications tech14 nology’’. 

15 (B) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘elec16 tronic and information technology’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘information and communications tech18 nology’’. 

19 SEC. 4. INVOLVEMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES. 

20 (a) AMENDMENT TO THE REHABILITATION ACT OF

21 1973.—Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

22 U.S.C. 794d) is amended by inserting after subsection (g) 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(h) INVOLVEMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABIL25 ITIES.—In carrying out this section, Federal departments 


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1 and agencies shall routinely involve people with disabil2 ities. That involvement shall take the form of soliciting 

3 feedback and participation from Federal employees and 

4 members of the public with disabilities in each of the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(1) The development of mechanisms or proc7 esses to enforce this section within a department or 

8 agency. 

9 ‘‘(2) The acquisition or development of informa10 tion and communications technology in a manner 

11 that incorporates accessibility for people with dis12 abilities from the beginning to the end of the acqui13 sition or development process. 

14 ‘‘(3) Testing information and communications 

15 technology for compliance with this section. 

16 ‘‘(4) Remediating information and communica17 tions technology that is not in compliance with this 

18 section. 

19 ‘‘(5) The complaints process under this section, 

20 including the effectiveness and timeliness of the 

21 complaints process under this section.’’. 

22 (b) GUIDANCE FOR DEPARTMENTS AND AGEN23 CIES.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

24 of this Act, the Access Board, in consultation with the Ad25 ministrator, the Director of the Office of Management and 


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1 Budget, and the Director of the Office of Federal Contract 

2 Compliance Programs shall establish guidelines for de3 partments and agencies to routinely involve people with 

4 disabilities in accordance with subsection (h) of section 

5 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d), 

6 as amended by subsection (a). 

7 SEC. 5. AUTHORITY OF THE ACCESS BOARD TO ENSURE 

8 COMPLIANCE WITH SECTION 508. 

9 Section 502(b)(1) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 

10 (29 U.S.C. 792(b)(1)) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘ensure compliance with the 

12 standards prescribed pursuant to the Act’’ and in13 serting ‘‘ensure compliance with—’’ 

14 ‘‘(A) the standards prescribed pursuant to 

15 the Act’’; 

16 (2) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at 

17 the end of subparagraph (A); and 

18 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(B) the standards prescribed pursuant to 

20 section 508;’’. 

21 SEC. 6. UNIFORM COMPLAINT PROCESS; INCORPORATION 

22 OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN ENFORCE23 MENT. 

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCESS BOARD COMPLAINT

25 PROCESS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with the au2 thority of the Access Board under section 502(b)(1) 

3 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as amended by 

4 section 5), not later than 1 year after the date of 

5 enactment of this Act, the Access Board, in con6 sultation with the Administrator and the Director of 

7 the Office of Management and Budget, shall estab8 lish a uniform complaint process for any individual 

9 to file a complaint with the Access Board alleging 

10 that a Federal department or agency fails to comply 

11 with subsection (a)(2) of section 508 of that Act and 

12 for actions to resolve such complaints. 

13 (2) TIMEFRAME.—The Access Board shall pro14 mulgate regulations to establish the timeframe by 

15 which complaints shall be processed or adjudicated 

16 under such uniform complaint process. 

17 (3) TRANSITION OF COMPLAINTS PROCESS.— 

18 The Access Board shall establish procedures to en19 sure the smooth transition of the complaints process 

20 under section 508 before the date of the uniform 

21 complaint process described in paragraph (1) (re22 ferred to in this paragraph as the ‘‘previous com23 plaints process’’) and the uniform complaints proc24 ess established under paragraph (1) (referred to in 

25 this paragraph as the ‘‘new complaints process’’), 


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1 which shall include ensuring that section 508 com2 plaints that were initiated before the new complaints 

3 process either— 

4 (A) be adjudicated under the previous com5 plaints process not later than 6 months after 

6 the new complaints process is established; or 

7 (B) if such complaints are not adjudicated 

8 in accordance with subparagraph (A), such 

9 complaints shall be transferred to the Access 

10 Board for consideration under the new com11 plaints process. 

12 (b) ENFORCEMENT REGARDING INFORMATION AND

13 COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY.—Section 508(f) of the 

14 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d(f)) is amend15 ed to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(f) ENFORCEMENT.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that 

18 the process described in section 6(a) of the Section 

19 508 Refresh Act of 2024 has been established, any 

20 individual may file a complaint with the Access 

21 Board alleging that a Federal department or agency 

22 fails to comply with standards described in sub23 section (a)(2), in accordance with the authority of 

24 the Access Board under section 502(b)(1). 


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1 ‘‘(2) CIVIL ACTIONS.—The remedies, proce2 dures, and rights set forth in sections 505(a)(2) and 

3 505(b) shall be the remedies, procedures, and rights 

4 available to any individual with a disability filing a 

5 complaint under paragraph (1).’’. 

6 (c) FEEDBACK.—In developing the complaint process 

7 and carrying out the activities under subsection (f) of sec8 tion 508 of such Act, as amended by subsection (b), the 

9 Access Board shall solicit and incorporate feedback from 

10 people with disabilities, including— 

11 (1) members of the public with disabilities; 

12 (2) Federal employees with disabilities; and 

13 (3) people with disabilities who have previously 

14 filed complaints under such section. 

15 SEC. 7. PROCUREMENT PROCESS FOR INFORMATION AND 

16 COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF TESTING AND REPORTING

18 PROCESS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

20 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis21 trator, in collaboration with the Director of the Of22 fice of Management and Budget, the Director of the 

23 Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, 

24 and the Access Board, shall establish a uniform 

25 process for testing and reporting any information 


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1 and communications technology acquired by a Fed2 eral department or agency for compliance with the 

3 requirements of section 508. 

4 (2) ELEMENTS.—The uniform process estab5 lished under paragraph (1) shall include the fol6 lowing: 

7 (A) A requirement that any contract be8 tween a Federal department or agency and a 

9 vendor of information and communications 

10 technology adopts standard accessibility lan11 guage, appropriate for the type of information 

12 and communications technology being acquired, 

13 that shall be determined by the Administrator, 

14 in consultation with the Director of the Office 

15 of Management and Budget, the Director of the 

16 Office of Federal Contract Compliance Pro17 grams, and the Access Board. 

18 (B) A requirement that the Federal de19 partment or agency test any information and 

20 communications technology for compliance with 

21 the requirements of section 508 prior to the ac22 quisition of such technology, including timelines 

23 for such testing. 

24 (C) A requirement that the Federal de25 partment or agency shall not acquire or deploy 


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1 information and communications technology 

2 that is not compliant with section 508. 

3 (D) In the case of an information and 

4 communications technology that fails to meet 

5 the requirements of section 508, the following 

6 accountability measures: 

7 (i) Not later than 30 days after dis8 covering the noncompliance, the Federal 

9 department or agency shall notify the ven10 dor of the noncompliance and the basis for 

11 the noncompliance. 

12 (ii) Following notification, the vendor 

13 shall be subject to a mandatory civil pen14 alty, the value of which shall be— 

15 (I) established by the Adminis16 trator, in consultation with the Direc17 tor of the Office of Management and 

18 Budget, the Director of the Office of 

19 Federal Compliance Programs, and 

20 the Access Board; and 

21 (II) not less than 3 percent of 

22 the value of the contract. 

23 (iii) The vendor shall, at the expense 

24 of the vendor, have 6 months from the 

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1 nology to bring it into compliance with the 

2 requirements of section 508. 

3 (iv) If the vendor fails to bring the 

4 technology into compliance by the deadline 

5 established under clause (iii) and the re6 quirements of section 508 were included in 

7 the contract for the information and com8 munications technology— 

9 (I) the Federal department or 

10 agency shall— 

11 (aa) terminate the contract 

12 for cause; and 

13 (bb) seek reimbursement for 

14 the full value of the contract (in 

15 addition to the mandatory civil 

16 penalty assessed under subpara17 graph (D)(ii). 

18 (3) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

20 shall provide to Federal departments and agen21 cies technical assistance for compliance with the 

22 uniform process for testing and reporting estab23 lished under paragraph (1). 

24 (B) WEBSITE.—The technical assistance 

25 required under subparagraph (A) shall include 


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1 the maintenance of a website that is accessible 

2 to the heads of Federal departments and agen3 cies and that contains information and tools for 

4 compliance with the uniform process established 

5 under paragraph (1). 

6 (b) GOOD SAMARITAN BONUS PROGRAM.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis9 trator, in collaboration with the Director of the Of10 fice of Management and Budget, the Director of the 

11 Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, 

12 and the Access Board, shall establish a process for 

13 providing to each vendor that identifies one or more 

14 requirement of section 508 that is missing from the 

15 contract between the vendor and the Federal depart16 ment or agency for information and communications 

17 technology a bonus of not more than 3 percent of 

18 the value of the contract. 

19 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—A vendor is eligible for the 

20 bonus under paragraph (1) if— 

21 (A) the vendor properly notified the Fed22 eral department or agency about the missing re23 quirement and provides documentation of such 

24 notification; 


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1 (B) the vendor provides documentation 

2 showing that— 

3 (i) the missing requirement was added 

4 to the contract for the information and 

5 communications technology; or 

6 (ii) the Federal department or agency 

7 declined to add the requirement; and 

8 (C) the vendor delivered to the Federal de9 partment or agency information and commu10 nications technology that complies with every 

11 requirement of section 508. 

12 (3) DEPARTMENT OR AGENCY REQUIRE13 MENTS.—In the case of a Federal department or 

14 agency that declines to add a requirement, as de15 scribed in paragraph (2)(B)(ii), that Federal depart16 ment or agency shall report the decision to decline, 

17 and the justification for doing so, to the Adminis18 trator and the Access Board. 

19 (c) STREAMLINING VERIFICATION OF INFORMATION

20 AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY PROVIDED TO DE21 PARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.— 

22 (1) CONFORMITY ASSESSMENTS.—Not later 

23 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 

24 Act, the Director of the Office of Management and 

25 Budget, in coordination with the Administrator, 


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1 shall establish a program to enable vendors of infor2 mation and communications technology to review an 

3 assessment of whether their products and services 

4 conform to the standards promulgated pursuant to 

5 section 508(a)(2) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 

6 (29 U.S.C. 794d(a)(2)) and verify the assessment or 

7 state that the assessment cannot be verified. 

8 (2) LIST ON PUBLIC WEBSITE.—The Adminis9 trator shall ensure that the products and services of 

10 vendors of information and communications tech11 nology that meet the criteria of the program are cat12 egorized and listed on a centralized public website. 

13 (3) PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT.—In developing 

14 the program required under paragraph (1), the Di15 rector of the Office of Management and Budget and 

16 the Administrator shall consult regularly with Fed17 eral departments and agencies, as well as represent18 atives from the accessibility community and the in19 formation and communications technology industry. 

20 (4) GUIDANCE.—The Director of the Office of 

21 Management and Budget, in consultation with the 

22 Administrator, may issue guidance to Federal de23 partments and agencies, as necessary, to implement 

24 this subsection. 


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1 (d) FEDRAMP AUTHORIZATION AND SECTION

2 508.—Beginning on the date that is 1 year after the date 

3 of enactment of this Act, the Federal Risk and Authoriza4 tion Management Program shall only authorize products 

5 and services that are verified pursuant to subsection (c) 

6 to be fully compliant with section 508. 

7 SEC. 8. AGENCY ACCOUNTABILITY. 

8 (a) GUIDELINES RELATING TO COMPLIANCE OFFI9 CERS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

10 of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the 

11 Access Board, the Director of the Office of Management 

12 and Budget, and the Office of Federal Contract Compli13 ance Programs shall establish guidelines relating to the 

14 programs for compliance with section 508 and compliance 

15 officers of departments and agencies, including— 

16 (1) the role of such programs and authority of 

17 compliance officers in departments and agencies; 

18 (2) the relationship of compliance officers with 

19 department and agency information technology offi20 cers; and 

21 (3) the relationship of compliance officers with 

22 department and agency acquisition officers, includ23 ing the authority of compliance officers to intervene 

24 in the acquisition process if the information and 

25 communications technology a department or agency 


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1 is seeking to procure is not compliant with section 

2 508. 

3 (b) CONTINUOUS ACCESSIBILITY TESTING FOR IN4 FORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY.— 

5 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF TESTING AND EVALUA6 TION REQUIREMENTS.—The Administrator, in con7 sultation with the Director of the Office of Manage8 ment and Budget and the Access Board, shall estab9 lish standardized continuous accessibility testing and 

10 evaluation requirements with respect to department 

11 and agency information and communications tech12 nology that is acquired, developed, maintained, or 

13 used by a department or agency, including informa14 tion and communications technology acquired, devel15 oped, maintained, or used before the date of enact16 ment of this Act. Such standardized continuous ac17 cessibility testing and evaluation requirements shall 

18 include regression testing. 

19 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The General 

20 Services Administration shall provide technical as21 sistance to departments and agencies with contin22 uous testing and evaluation required pursuant to 

23 paragraph (1), including through the establishment 

24 of an online hub that includes tools and guidance re25 lating to such testing and evaluation. 


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1 (c) NONCOMPLIANT INFORMATION AND COMMUNICA2 TIONS TECHNOLOGY.—In the case of information and 

3 communications technology acquired, developed, main4 tained, or used before the date of enactment of this Act 

5 that is found to not be compliant with section 508, as 

6 amended by this Act, the applicable department or agency 

7 shall remediate or remove that information and commu8 nications technology not later than 90 days after the de9 termination of noncompliance. 

10 (d) FEDERAL AGENCY ACCESSIBILITY COMPLI11 ANCE.—Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

12 U.S.C. 794d), as amended by sections 3 and 4, is further 

13 amended by inserting after subsection (h), as added by 

14 section 4, the following: 

15 ‘‘(i) COMPLIANCE OFFICER.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

17 ‘‘(A) APPOINTMENT.—Not later than 90 

18 days after the date that the Administrator es19 tablishes guidelines pursuant to section 8 of the 

20 Section 508 Refresh Act of 2024, the head of 

21 each Federal department or agency to which 

22 this section applies shall, consistent with such 

23 guidelines, appoint a compliance officer who 

24 shall have knowledge and experience with 

25 website accessibility, the requirements of this 


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1 section, and the Web Content Accessibility 

2 Guidelines that are current as of the date of the 

3 appointment. 

4 ‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each compli5 ance officer appointed under subparagraph (A) 

6 shall— 

7 ‘‘(i) be responsible for ensuring the 

8 Federal department or agency is meeting 

9 the requirements of this section; 

10 ‘‘(ii) be responsible for remaining up11 to-date on changes to web content accessi12 bility requirements and other requirements 

13 concerning the accessibility of information 

14 and communications technology; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) report directly to the head of the 

16 Federal department or agency. 

17 ‘‘(2) SIGNED CERTIFICATION.—Beginning not 

18 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the 

19 Section 508 Refresh Act of 2024, and annually 

20 thereafter, the head of each Federal department or 

21 agency to which this section applies shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) post on the home page of the depart23 ment or agency’s website a signed certification 

24 that the department or agency is in compliance 

25 with the requirements under this section; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) submit to Congress, and post on the 

2 home page of the department or agency’s 

3 website, a plan with a timeline to ensure the de4 partment or agency’s compliance with the re5 quirements under this section. 

6 ‘‘(3) LARGER DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.— 

7 With respect to a Federal department or agency to 

8 which this section applies that has multiple units 

9 within such department or agency headed by Assist10 ant Secretaries or Directors, the head of each such 

11 unit shall appoint a compliance officer who shall be 

12 responsible for ensuring the unit is meeting the re13 quirements of this section. 

14 ‘‘(4) FLEXIBILITY FOR SMALLER DEPART15 MENTS AND AGENCIES.—The head of a Federal de16 partment or agency to which this section applies 

17 that has fewer than 20 full-time employees may ap18 point one of such full-time employees as the compli19 ance officer for the department or agency, if the ma20 jority of the employee’s work duties are related to 

21 work as the compliance officer.’’. 

22 (e) GUIDELINES RELATING TO PERFORMANCE AP23 PRAISALS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

25 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of 


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1 the Office of Personnel Management, in consultation 

2 with the Director of the Office of Management and 

3 Budget, the Administrator, and the Access Board, 

4 shall issue guidelines for including compliance with 

5 section 508 as a critical element in performance ap6 praisals for all members of the Senior Executive 

7 Service. 

8 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The guidelines issued 

9 under paragraph (1) shall determine the factors to 

10 be included in the appraisal described in paragraph 

11 (1). 

12 (f) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES ON EQUAL AC13 CESS.— 

14 (1) COMMITTEE ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later 

15 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 

16 each department or agency shall establish a Federal 

17 Advisory Committee on Equal Access if— 

18 (A) the department or agency fails to ap19 point a compliance officer under section 508(i) 

20 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

21 794d), as added by this Act, or allows the posi22 tion of compliance officer to go unfilled for 

23 more than 6 months; 

24 (B) the department or agency fails to pub25 lish on the website of the department or agency 


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1 a signed certification of compliance with the re2 quirements of section 508, or, if unable to pub3 lish a signed certification of compliance, a plan 

4 to ensure compliance by the department or 

5 agency within a specified timeframe; 

6 (C) the department or agency fails to pub7 lish a signed certification of compliance or up8 date documentation, pursuant to a plan pub9 lished under subparagraph (B) within the speci10 fied timeframe provided under that plan; or 

11 (D) the Administrator, in consultation with 

12 the Access Board, determines that the depart13 ment or agency— 

14 (i) is habitually non-compliant with 

15 section 508; 

16 (ii) has failed to provide appropriate, 

17 continuous testing for information and 

18 communications technology compliance 

19 under the requirements of this Act; or 

20 (iii) has failed to appropriately evalu21 ate employees, including senior executives, 

22 for compliance with section 508, pursuant 

23 to the guidelines issued under subsection 

24 (d); or 


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1 (iv) has made inadequate progress to2 ward carrying out the compliance plan de3 scribed in section 508(i)(2)(B) of the Re4 habilitation Act of 1973 (as added by this 

5 Act). 

6 (2) COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP.—The Adminis7 trator, in consultation with the Access Board, shall 

8 determine the size of each Federal Advisory Com9 mittee on Equal Access and membership criteria, 

10 which shall include a requirement that a majority of 

11 the members be individuals with a disability, and 

12 represent a variety of disabilities. 

13 (3) MEETINGS; TERMINATION.—The Adminis14 trator, in consultation with the Access Board, shall 

15 determine the frequency of meetings and termination 

16 date of each Federal Advisory Committee on Equal 

17 Access. 

18 (4) REPORTS REQUIRED.—Each Federal Advi19 sory Committee on Equal Access of a department or 

20 agency shall submit to the Administrator, Access 

21 Board, and the Inspector General an annual report 

22 relating to— 

23 (A) compliance of the department or agen24 cy with section 508; 


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1 (B) compliance of the department or agen2 cy with other Federal accessibility laws, 

3 prioritized by area of greatest need, as deter4 mined by the Federal Advisory Committee on 

5 Equal Access; and 

6 (C) recommendations of the Federal Advi7 sory Committee on Equal Access for improving 

8 the department or agency’s compliance with 

9 section 508 and any other Federal accessibility 

10 laws the Federal Advisory Committee on Equal 

11 Access examines. 

12 SEC. 9. REPORTS. 

13 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (d) of section 

15 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is amended to 

16 read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(d) IN GENERAL.— 

18 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL COMPLIANCE REPORTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

20 after the date of enactment of this Act, and an21 nually thereafter, the Administrator, in con22 sultation with the Director of the Office of 

23 Management and Budget and the Access 

24 Board, shall prepare and submit to the Com25 mittees on Health, Education, Labor, and PenVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 21, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4766.IS S4766

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1 sions, Aging, Appropriations, and Homeland 

2 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen3 ate and the Committees on Energy and Com4 merce, Appropriations, and Oversight and Re5 form of the House of Representatives a report 

6 that shall include— 

7 ‘‘(i) a comprehensive assessment (in8 cluding information identifying the metrics 

9 and data used) of compliance by each de10 partment or agency, and by the Federal 

11 Government generally, with the require12 ments of this section; 

13 ‘‘(ii) a detailed description of the ac14 tions, activities, and other efforts made by 

15 the Administrator over the year preceding 

16 submission to support such compliance at 

17 agencies and any planned efforts in the 

18 coming year to improve compliance at 

19 agencies; 

20 ‘‘(iii) a list of recommendations that 

21 agencies or Congress may take to help sup22 port that compliance; and 

23 ‘‘(iv) a list of each instance in which 

24 a Federal department or agency declined 

25 to include a requirement of this section 


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1 that is missing from a contract between a 

2 vendor and the Federal department or 

3 agency, as reported under section 7(b)(3) 

4 of the Section 508 Refresh Act of 2024. 

5 ‘‘(B) REPORT AVAILABILITY.—The Admin6 istrator shall ensure that the reports required 

7 under this paragraph are made available on a 

8 public website and are maintained as an open 

9 Government data asset (as that term is defined 

10 in section 3502 of title 44, United States 

11 Code). 

12 ‘‘(2) UNRESOLVED COMPLAINTS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later 

14 than 1 year after the date on which the uniform 

15 complaint process described in subsection (f), as 

16 amended by section 6 of the Section 508 Re17 fresh Act of 2024, is implemented, the Access 

18 Board, in consultation with the Administrator, 

19 shall prepare and submit an annual report in 

20 accordance with subparagraph (B), that shall 

21 include, at a minimum, information on— 

22 ‘‘(i) the number of unresolved com23 plaints that— 

24 ‘‘(I) allege that a Federal depart25 ment or agency fails to comply with 


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1 section 508, by department and agen2 cy; and 

3 ‘‘(II)(aa) have been filed since 

4 the last annual report that are not re5 solved at the time the report is sub6 mitted; and 

7 ‘‘(bb) have been filed before the 

8 previous report and remain unresolved 

9 at the time the report is submitted; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(ii) for the purpose of comparing de12 partments and agencies, the number of 

13 complaints described in clause (i), by de14 partment and agency, that have not been 

15 resolved within the timeline established as 

16 part of such uniform complaint process. 

17 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—The information described 

18 in subparagraph (A) may be submitted as part 

19 of the report described in paragraph (1). If 

20 such information is not submitted as part of 

21 that report, such information shall be submitted 

22 to Congress, made available on a public website, 

23 and maintained as an open Government data 

24 asset (as that term is defined in section 3502 

25 of title 44, United States Code).’’. 


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1 (2) REPEAL.—Subsection (b) of section 752 of 

2 the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (29 

3 U.S.C. 794d–1(b)) is repealed. 

4 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON EXCEPTIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, 

7 in coordination with the Director of the Office of 

8 Management and Budget, shall submit to the Spe9 cial Committee on Aging of the Senate, the Com10 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

11 of the Senate, and the Committee on Energy and 

12 Commerce of the House of Representatives, and 

13 make available on a public website and maintain as 

14 an open Government data asset (as that term is de15 fined in section 3502 of title 44, United States 

16 Code), a report on the following exceptions claimed 

17 by departments and agencies with respect to the re18 quirements of section 508 under appendix A of sec19 tion 1194 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations: 

20 (A) E202.2 Legacy ICT. 

21 (B) E202.6 Undue Burden or Funda22 mental Alteration. 

23 (C) E202.7 Best Meets. 

24 (2) REPORT CONTENTS.—The report described 

25 in paragraph (1) shall include, at minimum— 


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1 (A) a list of each exception in effect as of 

2 the date of the report, organized by department 

3 and agency, including the date the exemption 

4 was claimed and the date the exemption ex5 pires; 

6 (B) the total number of exceptions claimed 

7 by each department and agency; 

8 (C) plans of the department or agency for 

9 the replacement of exempt information and 

10 communications technology with information 

11 and communications technology that is compli12 ant with section 508, or a justification for not 

13 planning to replace exempt information and 

14 communications technology; and 

15 (D) a description of barriers identified to 

16 tracking, evaluating, or reporting on exemptions 

17 in effect. 

18 (c) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Five years after the date of 

20 enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

21 prepare and submit a report to the appropriate con22 gressional committees regarding section 508. Such 

23 report shall include an evaluation of each of the fol24 lowing: 


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1 (A) The extent that certain departments 

2 and agencies, as selected by the Comptroller 

3 General, are addressing compliance with section 

4 508 requirements, including the requirements 

5 established under this Act and the amendments 

6 made by this Act. 

7 (B) Barriers to implementing this Act and 

8 the amendments made by this Act. 

9 (C) The extent that accessibility standards 

10 for information and communications technology 

11 used by Federal departments and agencies align 

12 with best practices, and the reasons for any 

13 variance. 

14 (D) Whether changes in technology since 

15 the date of enactment of this Act have created 

16 new issues regarding compliance with section 

17 508 at departments and agencies selected by 

18 the Comptroller General. 

19 (E) Recommendations for the executive 

20 branch and Congress, as appropriate, for updat21 ing section 508 and for improving compliance 

22 with section 508. 

23 (2) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON24 GRESS.—For purposes of the subsection, the appro25 priate committees of Congress are the following: 


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1 (A) The Special Committee on Aging of 

2 the Senate. 

3 (B) The Committee on Health, Education, 

4 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. 

5 (C) The Committee on Energy and Com6 merce of the House of Representatives. 

7 (d) COOPERATION.—Subsection (e) of section 508 of 

8 the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d(e)) is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘(including the Access Board, 

11 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 

12 and the General Services Administration)’’ and in13 serting ‘‘(including the Access Board and the Equal 

14 Employment Opportunity Commission)’’; and 

15 (2) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ and insert16 ing ‘‘Administrator of General Services and the Di17 rector of the Office of Management and Budget’’ 

18 each place the term appears. 

19 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

21 this Act $4,500,000 for the period of fiscal years 2025 

22 through 2029. 

Æ 


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