3-12 All Functional Organizations

Functional organizations have the responsibility and legal liability for Section 508 compliance. This ensures all products, including those a contractor develops or supplies in accordance with contract requirements, comply with Section 508. Contracts should include requirements for contractors to comply and may include contractor responsibility for testing, but acceptance of a product or service as compliant is the legal responsibility of the Postal Service.

All functional organizations that require EIT do the following:

  1. Follow the requirements of the law and of this handbook (and Handbook AS–508–A, Section 508 Technical Reference Guide) when they use, develop, procure, or maintain EIT products and services.
  2. Respond to Section 508 inquiries and complaints from the public according to 39 CFR 255, Access of Persons with Disabilities, regarding EIT controlled by their functional organizations.
  3. Respond to Section 508 inquiries and complaints from employees, following established procedures.
  4. Provide information on the status of Section 508 EIT compliance as required.
  5. Create exception or undue burden documents for the approval of their respective vice president, when a solution is not completely Section 508 compliant (see section 4-3 of this handbook).