Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act requires all state and federal agencies to provide accessible Web pages for people with disabilities. To comply with federal, state and World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) guidelines, the university Web leadership adopted the following standards for use on all UTHSC-H Web pages.

1. Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (audio tracks, images, etc.).

2. Caption and synchronize multimedia presentations (such as video with audio) on Web pages.

3. Design Web pages so that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, either from context or tags. Distinct contrasts between the foreground and background elements are preferable.

4. Organize documents so they are readable without a style sheet.

5. Use client-side image maps instead of server-side image maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available geometric shape.

6. Provide redundant text links for each active region of a server-side image map.

7. Identify row and column headers for data tables. Do not have header rows or columns for tables used strictly for layout purposes.

8. Use markup (HTML tags) to associate data cells and header cells for data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers.

9. Use frames titles to indicate frame content and navigation.

10. Do not design a page that causes the screen to flicker with a frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz thus reducing the risk of optically induced seizures.

11. Use functional text that can be read by assistive technology to identify the script information on those pages that use scripting languages to display content, or create interface elements.

12. Provide a link to an appropriately accessible applet, plug-in, or other application when a Web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other application be present on the client system to interpret page content.

13. Allow people using assistive technology to access and complete electronic forms by providing information, field elements, and functionality including all directions and cues.

14. Provide a method for users to skip repetitive navigation links.

15. Alert the user via a prompt when a timed response is required and then provide the user sufficient time to indicate to the system that more time is required. (i.e., do not design Web pages with scripts that cause the Web page to disappear or "expire" if a response is not received within a specified amount of time.).

16. When compliance cannot be accomplished in any other way, provide a text-only page, with equivalent information or functionality, to make a Web site comply with the provisions of these standards. Update the content of the text-only page whenever the primary page changes.