Barbara "Barb" Ann Martinez, Independant Website Developer

Barb -  Hispanic/Latino woman, 
wearing a dark shirt and sitting at a computer with a smile

"I'm just not sure which guidelines to follow...what's the difference between Section 508 and the WCAG guidelines?"


Barb is 32 years old, married with 2 children (aged 8 and 10) and works hard to balance her personal and professional life while working from home. She studied English in college and then got into computers during the internet "boom" times. She has managed to keep her company going during the recent recession, and wants to position her company for future growth as the economy recovers.

Barb is a jane-of-all trades when it comes to her work. Being an Independant Website developer means that everything is in her domain including: one-on-one client meetings, programming, project management, website design, etc. Barb has been able to keep her computer system up-to-date, adding new software when needed for clients, while having enough space to keep older versions as well. She is in multiple listserve-type groups and uses the contacts she's made through these groups as a support team when she has computer trouble. Barb is very creative and adventurous. She loves to try new things, and even makes her own greeting cards using her computer.

Barb recently had a client ask about Section 508 compliance, and in talking to other web developers about the subject she found out about WCAG. She's somewhat familiar with the general ideas of both, she's just not sure which could work best for her customers. She's not sure what the difference is between the two guidelines and she also is looking for information she can use to convince her customers of the added value of having an accessible website, as this could add to her company's services.