Hi Carrie! Congrats on your book, btw! Very important difference. Accessibility is as you suggest a more general term, with multiple meanings. In the USA, Section 508 of the Rehab Act sets legal #a11y @W3C #WCAG etc., compliance for all Federal .gov sites (Excluding the NSA)...
Carrie Hane (she/her) @carriehd
6 Jul 2020
US government folks: “508” vs “accessibility” Do they mean the same thing? Is there any shift to talking about accessibility more generally instead of “508 compliance”? Should there be? As someone new to the govt space, I’m interested in nuances. Because words matter.

Jul 8, 2020 · 9:08 AM UTC

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US State, County, City and so on may or may not follow 508 if no federal funding is involved. However, many were early adopters. "Accessibility" in Web really means anyone, anywhere, any condition, any economic faction etc. should all have entry. #A11y is the #WebDev hashtag.
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This is USA, Carrie. Other nations vary. I see #a11y is part of all #UX - design, engineering. It is of, not separate from, sane, open Web practices and #QA. See @w3c for specs, section508.gov for law, @NAGW for State .gov @LFLegal for ADA and @knowbility for knowledge!
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Replying to @mholzschlag @w3c
Even though they are exempted from the law most of the intelligence agencies put at least some effort into 508 compliance.
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Yes, absolutely true, and moreso since 2017 or so. :)
Replying to @mholzschlag @w3c
Excluding the NSA? This is the first I've heard of that. Did you just leak something? :,-)
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