§1194.22(k) A text-only page, with equivalent information or functionality, shall be provided to make a web site comply with the provisions of this part, when compliance cannot be accomplished in any other way. The content of the text-only page shall be updated whenever the primary page changes.

Checkpoint
Is a required equivalent page in place?

Explanation
An equivalent page (often referred to as a text-only page) should only be necessary if an existing page cannot be made compliant.

Guidelines
A text-only page must make available the same exact content and equivalent functionality that is present on the primary page.

The creation of a Text Only page should not be seen as a quick-fix option. In very few cases (most notably with Java applets or with pre-MX Flash), a developer should be able to make their site compliant by simply following the constraints laid out in the previous Section 508 provisions.

Explanation
Failure for a webmaster or web team to update a text version of a site as frequently and as faithfully as the primary site is a major reason many users do not trust text-only sites. A text version page must be updated at the same time as the site's primary page.

Guidelines
If the primary page and its text equivalent page are updated separately (i.e. a webmaster or web developer edits both files manually), include the page's updated date right next to the link to the text version. An additional tip is to place this information in the upper-left corner of the web site, so that it will be the first thing read aloud by assistive technology.

If a site's information is being generated dynamically (i.e. information is drawn from a database), the same data can easily be made to populate both the primary site and the text version, thus guaranteeing update synchronization. An additional tip would be to explain this method to the user somewhere on the web site.