Massachusetts State Accessibility Law

Get up to date on Massachusetts state accessibility law, including caption law and requirements!

As a part of our ongoing review of state accessibility laws, let’s look at Massachusetts state accessibility law and requirements.  You can also review accessibility law and requirements for  New York, California, Illinois,  Texas and many others.

Commonwealth Accessibility Adaptations

Many states dictate that because federal funding depends on adherence to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, state entities should follow the federal regulations. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts looked at Section 508, the Americans with Disabilities Act and WCAG 1.0 to determine how to create a web accessibility standard unique to their state needs.

You can find the full Act published on Massachusetts webpage here.

Online Video Captions

According to Section 3.2 of the Web Accessibility Standards, readable text of all pertinent information must be provided for multimedia presentations. The captions must be controlled by the user and describe visual and auditory information. A transcription has to be included for all auditory text in multimedia presentations that can be downloaded for users who are hearing impaired.

All state agencies are also required to audit content to make sure all uploaded videos adhere to the state’s standards. You can find a list of tools for auditing here.

Massachusetts considers the Web Accessibility Standards to be minimum requirements and encourages state agencies to create higher standards for their websites.

As with many states, Massachusetts considers accessibility an essential requirement for all online communication with the public. They adapt requirements to the unique needs of the state and look to individual agencies to build on the minimum standards.

Do you need to caption video to stay in compliance with Massachusetts state accessibility law? Try complimentary video captioning to test it out. If you are looking for updates on Massachusetts state accessibility law, sign up for our newsletter.

Accessibility links:

• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Highlights and Overview
• The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
• IDEA overview and history
• Guidance from the U.S. Department of Education
• Section 508 Compliance Overview
• Summary of 508 Compliance PDF
• Section 508 Guide for E-learning and Multimedia Technology
• GSA Tutorials, Guidance and Checklists for multimedia
• Alliance for Technology Access 
• Equal Access: Design of Distance Education Learning Program
• ADA, Title III Regulations