Understanding and Applying
Section 508 Standards

Using Style Sheets:

(d) Documents shall be organized so they are readable without requiring an associated style sheet.

Style sheets can enable users to define specific viewing preferences to accommodate their disability. For instance, users with low vision may create their own style sheet so that, regardless of what web pages they visit, all text is displayed in an extra large font with white characters on a
black background. If designers set up their pages to override user-defined style sheets, people with disabilities may not be able to use those pages. For good access, therefore, it is critical that designers ensure that their web pages do not interfere with user-defined style sheets.

Style sheets can also help designers insure a consistent look across the site by establishing site-wide fonts, colors, and positioning.

In general, the "safest" and most useful form of style sheets are "external" style sheets, in which the style rules are set up in a separate file. An example of an external style sheet is:

<link rel=stylesheet type="text / css" href="/wac/styles/Styles.css">

There are many online tutorials to help you learn to build and manage your own style sheet. We recommend Mulder's Stylesheet's Tutorial from WebMonkey.