Fearful documents
Accessibility on websites often ends at the technical and design phase. Developers test code to confirm that screen readers and other assistive technologies can seamlessly navigate the website. Designers follow established standards regarding color contrast and font sizes, etc. Web editors may even have tools to flag web page headings, links, and images to ensure all content is compliant with accessibility before publishing. Then the pristine digital environment is invaded by the beast: PDF (and its companions Word and Excel).
All documents on a website must be compliant with accessibility, but it’s a daunting task that appears too scary to approach. PDFs lie in the dark void of “remediation.” Once you learn a few simple steps, however, fixing a PDF is less scary and becomes routine.
Creating a compliant Word document from scratch can stop people in their tracks. How can I make it obey the accessibility rules? It’s manageable if you know what to do from the start and use the right tools.
DIY Remediation
Many organizations farm out the remediation job to vendors, which is quite expensive and time-consuming. For standard text documents, accessibility is more practical to do yourself. Adobe and Microsoft have built-in tools to automatically format the document and instructions on how to make adjustments. Simply turn on the accessibility checker and follow the steps. I created a basic Accessibility Guide for PDF, Word, and Excel documents.
Start by Not Doing
The best option for posting accessibility-compliant documents is to not post a document at all. Most PDFs are not necessary, a legacy from a bygone era. Before uploading a PDF or other document, first consider:
- Would this document be easier for people to find, view, and perform an action as a web page?
- Is there a business case or legal reason to post as a PDF?
- Is it more work to remediate a document than to build a web page?
In general, documents do not belong on a website. They should be converted into an informational web page or web form, excerpted and referenced, or promoted to order the publication.
I worked with a number of large organizations that evaluated their massive inventory of digital documents to meet accessibility standards. The volume was frightening, but after a rational assessment, the vast majority were deemed unnecessary. Only a small percentage of documents remained that needed remediation.
Caveats: A large report may be easier to read as a PDF; a complex Excel spreadsheet table may work best as a download; and certain government and legal notices in Word may require to be uploaded as is.
Why Accessibility Matters
The reason a website should be fully usable by all people is self-evident—and transcends the purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In the increasingly mobile and virtual landscape, people interact with digital information in different ways, on different devices, and for different purposes. The internet jungle is not one-size-fits all, and everyone has unique perceptual and intuitive points of reference. Accessibility allows you to choose your preferred compass to navigate in the wilds.