Two governing principles apply to web accessibility compliance:

• WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), developed by the web's governing standards body the World Wide Web Consortium
• Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act, enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology, to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities, and to encourage development of technologies that will help achieve these goals.

By complying with both of these principles, Humboldt State University ensures that all of its online information can be browsed by everyone, including people who use assistive technologies such as screen readers, text readers and voice-activated devices.

The campus web office scans official departmental Humboldt State University websites monthly with Compliance Sheriff software (formerly known as AccMonitor) to ensure that all such sites are in compliance with accessibility policies.If a site fails the scan, a report (including what needs to be fixed) is sent to the site owner, the web office, and the divisional web representative. If the reasons for failure are not resolved within six weeks, the noncompliant site may be shut down until the required changes have been made.