Today digital accessibility is not just a buzzword but a necessity. The internet has become a vital part of our lives and documents in the form of PDF, Word, PowerPoint are used for communication and sharing information. 247 Accessible Documents remediates PDF, Word, PowerPoint documents in line with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), PDF/UA Standards and HHS Guidelines. PDF/UA is specifically for PDF documents and forms whereas WCAG and HHS guidelines are applicable for PDF, Word, and PowerPoint presentations too. You can choose 1 of the following 3 options available to make your documents accessible:
- WCAG 2.0 Level AA and PDF/ UA
- WCAG 2.1 Level AA and PDF/ UA
- HHS Guidelines
Let’s first understand in brief about the different options.
WCAG Guidelines
WCAG guidelines are based on 4 principles which can be applied to different technologies and are not restricted to the web. In fact, there are techniques for HTML, CSS, JavaScript, ARIA and even PDF too. PDF techniques for WCAG outlines how accessibility can be implemented in a PDF document. These documents also describe how each technique applies to WCAG success criteria at different conformance levels.
PDF techniques are available for WCAG 2.0 and even success criteria introduced in WCAG 2.1 can be applied to PDF documents. When it comes to accessible documents, WCAG can be applied to not only PDF but Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel too.
PDF / UA
PDF/UA - Universally Accessible PDF is an ISO 14289 standard which aims at making the PDF documents accessible for people with disabilities. PDF/UA defines technical requirements for creating universally accessible PDF documents. The PDF association’s PDF/UA technical working group developed the Matterhorn Protocol which comprises of 31 checkpoints with 136 failure conditions.
HHS Guidelines
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Government of United States has laid out accessibility requirements whereby all the ICT procured by the department needs to conform to these guidelines. The HHS guidelines are applicable to websites, software, hardware products and even digital documents like PDF, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. To aid in evaluation of ICT being procured, HHS has released Accessibility checklist for websites, web applications and software, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel as well as Adobe PDF.
Now let’s understand what is covered in each of these compliance levels in brief.
1. WCAG 2.0 Level AA and PDF/UA
Some of the things that are covered in this compliance option include:
- Document structure is defined using headings, lists and table styles and tags.
- Descriptive titles are specified for different types of documents.
- Alternate text is specified for informative images and decorative images are defined as artifacts or decorative.
- Logical reading and tabbing order are specified for documents.
- Document properties and security settings are specified keeping accessibility requirements in mind.
- Descriptive labels are added for form controls.
- Descriptive text is specified for hyperlinks to make sure they are meaningful when read out of context.
In the case of PDF/UA additionally:
- Tags are defined in a valid manner.
- Non-standard tags are mapped appropriately via role mapping.
2. WCAG 2.1 Level AA and PDF/UA
All the points mentioned in WCAG 2.0 Level AA and PDF/UA above are covered here as well as couple of additional points are covered:
- Tag order is matched with the content order to make sure that PDF document reflows correctly.
- Description for links and label for interactive form controls are specified keeping in mind that visual labels and accessible names match in the documents.
3. HHS Guidelines
All the points mentioned in WCAG 2.0 Level AA and PDF/UA above are covered here as well as below mentioned points are covered:
- Bookmarks are added for large PDF documents.
- Appropriate text is added for empty table headers.
- Filename is specified as per the HHS requirements.
Based on the above, you can decide which compliance level you would like your documents to be remediated for. If you are not sure or would like to discuss it with us, our team will be happy to speak with you! Please write to us at support@247accessibledocuments.com.
