508 Document Remediation Process – Basics and Benefits

According to the World Health Organization, over 1 billion people, which is about 15% of the global population, experience some form of disability. Now think of the World Wide Web as a huge public library, which is open to every member of the community and anyone can walk in easily and freely. Some visitors might use stairs while others may require alternative means of entering the premises like an access ramp.

Here, the availability of access ramps implies that more people can enter the library. So, the more accessible the library is, the more likely people would return, share their experiences, and bring along others. Similarly, digital accessibility acts as the access ramp to the Internet.

Customer experience matters more than ever in today’s business world and people expect that compliance processes to focus on improving their experiences. And, this is where web accessibility compliances come into action. How? Because they are intrinsically aimed at meeting the users’ needs.

Role of 508 Accessibility Compliance

Section 508 accessibility compliance focuses on ensuring that everyone has equal access to information and communication technology. This implies providing a streamlined and more intuitive experience for every web user, including the disabled populace. Engaging in 508 compliance services can help you achieve this target effectively.

Though digital accessibility is essential for the disabled population, it is useful to everyone. Take, for example, everyone and not just people with disabilities who use accessibility features available in physical environments like automatic door openers, ramps, handrails, lower curbs, etc. Likewise, more people—with or without disabilities actively use or would at least prefer the option to use accessibility features while browsing the web.

When referring to digital accessibility, it means that websites, documents, etc., are accessible to a person using assistive technologies. Accessible websites and documents are readable by assistive technology such as connected Braille or screen reader displays. Apart from this, ‘accessible’ also means—understandable by everyone, including those with brain injuries or cognitive disorders, and usable on a variety of platforms and technology.

The Remediation Process

As the name suggests, remediation is the process of adding tags and labels to the digital elements of a website and/or document so that they can be read using assistive technology. These tags symbolize the order in which they are meant to be read. Many companies use PDF file format as it remains the same visually, no matter what platform you use to open it. For visual users, this format is stable and consistent across a myriad of platforms and a variety of devices.

Ideally, all documents could be created accessible and stay that way if saved as PDFs, but this is not the case. Documents created in Google Docs, MS Word, or other authoring tools might become inaccessible when saved in PDF format—as not all existing tags are preserved during the conversion process. Some elements still need remediation to remain accessible, thus creating a need for professional document remediation services.

Take a look at some of the elements of a document that must be tagged to ensure its accessibility Is not limited to a certain segment:

●Headings

Like a navigation tool, headings help organize a document. It informs the reader of what the document contains, just like newspaper headings, and hints about what type of content follows. These are essential in dividing content into easily understandable sections for an assistive technology user. Without proper headings, a person cannot find specific information in the document without reading every single line of text it contains.

●Images

All videos and images must have alternate text to be understood by assistive technology. Without insertion of appropriate alt text, any image would simply be read as ‘graphic’ or ‘image.’ Here, the purpose of using this image (whatever information was meant to be conveyed) is unavailable to an AT user. The purely decorative images do not require any alt text and can be tagged as an ‘artifact.’ Assistive technology will ignore these artifacts, which might include boxes, text shadows, background images, or repetitive logos.

Alt text must be short and describe the image of the content. Charts, flow charts, graphs, and infographics should be clearly and completely described. One of the best ways to do this is to incorporate the data table from which the graph or chart is derived.

●Links

Links within documents must be tagged as links. Some sort of explanation is necessary to inform AT users where the link is going if the text of the document isn’t indicative of where the link leads. Otherwise, they might not realize they are leaving the website/document, or where they would end up, becoming the digital equivalent of jumping off a cliff. Not only for AT users, but this kind of information is useful for everyone as most people prefer to know where a link is leading. Plus, most people would prefer seeing a link attached to descriptive text rather than a string of HTML code.

●Lists

Tagging lists as ‘lists’ are mandatory. If there is no clear indication that the text is part of a list, the content will appear as a bunch of words with no context or a wall of unrelated text. Properly tagged lists enable assistive technology to inform the user that items are ‘item 1 of 12’ so that they know the items are part of a list. In the case of a nested list or an outline, the case becomes quite complex. An appropriate example is a table of contents.

●Tables

Parsing tables can be difficult for assistive software users as each cell refers to both—a row and a column header for content. Here, additional information is needed to help clearly understand the data. Row and column headers must be identified to help with easy navigation.

●Reading Order

Reading order is just what it says, i.e., the order in which the elements are to be read. Think of a newspaper, let’s say, with headings, columns of text, and boxed items like ads or references to other articles. An AT software won’t understand how to read down the first column without an identified reading order, starting again at the top of the second. It will not understand that an advertisement in a box next to the article being read is separate and should be read after or before, not in the middle of the article.

Benefit Your Bottomline

The benefits of the 508 document remediation process go beyond accessibility. It helps in improving the SEO of online documents and increasing the ranks of websites organically. Besides, how can businesses not tap into the 1-billion-strong market of people with disabilities that have $1.2 trillion in annual disposable income? (Source: Forrester) The figures are surely too big to be overlooked if you still haven’t invested in digital accessibility.