What Do You Mean, Accessibility In Mind?

“Accessibility In Mind”  means thinking about accessibility EARLY in the production process. We work with our clients to create procedures that reduce the time and cost of remediation. Using best practices can save 25-50% on post-production needs, so we like to be involved as early as possible, reviewing drafts, so we can help you understand the remediation process and how a few basic steps can make it go smoothly and quickly.

All AIM-remediated PDFs are guaranteed compliant with Section 508, and with the new “ICT Refresh”, following the specifications of PDF/UA-1 (ISO Standard 14289),  as specifically referenced in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Standards and Guidelines (updated Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, January 18,2018

The AIM Difference:

#1: Accessibility In Mind is a dedicated Section 508 and PDF/UA compliance service.

We are not a design/print house that does remediation on the side- remediating PDF documents, making them accessible and compliant, is our ONLY service.  Find the home page of our competitors if you want to know what their main business is, then come back to AIM for your Section 508 work!

#2: We are not a middle-man, taking a commission and passing the work on to contractors.

When you work with AIM you are dealing DIRECTLY with Section 508 expert remediators, and paying less– often 30-50% less– than through other vendors. Deal direct, SAVE TIME AND MONEY!

Do You Feel Section 508 Refreshed? The New ICT Rules Are in Effect

*******SUPERSEDED....INCORRECT INFORMATION**********

In January 2017, the U.S. Access Board issued the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Standards and Guidelines, updating its existing Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, (“508 Standards”), and the Telecommunications Act Accessibility Guidelines under Section 255 of the Communications Act of 1934 (“255 Guidelines”). These Standards are now in effect as of January 18, 2018.
How does this affect the requirements for PDF compliance with Section 508?
The new rules are a lot to digest, as the encompass accessibility regulations for a huge range of electronic information technology.  Most of it does not pertain to our services at Accessibility In Mind (AIM), let's see what the actual rule says about PDFs:

The requirements for one specific type of electronic documents—those stored in PDF—are established by referencing the applicable ISO standard. PDF/UA-1 provides a technical, interoperable standard for the authoring, remediation, and validation of PDF content.

The new ruling provides much more specific requirements than the original rules, as it references the detailed guidelines of PDF/UA-1. PDF/UA-1 provides a technical, interoperable standard for the authoring, remediation, and validation of PDF content to ensure accessibility for people with disabilities who use AT such as screen readers, screen magnifiers, and joysticks to navigate and read electronic content.

This is a major leap forward, as the 20-year old Section 508 regulations didn't know what a PDF was, let alone what made a PDF accessible. Various agencies created their versions of their interpretations, most notably HHS (last update here is 2013) with no consensus reached. This left clients and remediators with the responsibility to actually create and publish accessible documents, and the ability to claim compliance with little fear of reprisal.

The International Standard for Accessible PDF Technology (PDF/UA-1) finally provides a roadmap for remediating, testing, and ensuring accessible PDFs that are compliant with the "refreshed" rules.

Accessibility is our goal here at AIM, and we are "refreshed" and ready! All documents remediated by Accessibility In Mind are compliant with PDF/UA-1

A Long Road For the Disabled: Accessible Information and Ancient Regulation, a Brief History of Section 508 and the "Refresh"

Technology evolves at lightning speed- regulations for accessibility, not so much.

Section 508 became effective in 2000- how can 17 year-old regulations apply to today's enormous, ubiquitous electronic information flow? Smart phones, tablets, "always on" connectivity weren't part of life in 2000, and regulations written in the 20th century, essentially "pre-internet", can't be expected to be relevant. Add to that the proliferation of new devices to deliver information; the iPhone came out in 2007, the iPad in 2010-- were certainly not being considered when Section 508 was born. Those of us with "access" consume massive amounts of information electronically, a quantum leap in a few short years. But accessibility is far from universal. Are we getting anycloser to implementing sensible rules to ensure that technology today and in the future is accessible to all?

The original standards requiring electronic and information technology to be "accessible", the 1998 Section 508 amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, has an unarguably fair premise:  Universal access to the internet and electronic documents, with a mandate to "eliminate barriers in information technology, to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities, and to encourage development of technologies that will help achieve these goals."

It was "mandated" that the rules be regularly reviewed and updated, but guess what? There may have been some reviews, but no updates SINCE 1998. Different government agencies have interpreted the rules and created their own checklists, most notably the HHS checklist which has had no substantial changes since it was originally published in 2007. "Every man for himself" seems to be the guiding principle.

The Access Board has been meeting sporadically over the years, and finally agreed and published an update. Federal agencies will be required to comply with the revised Section 508 standards beginning on January 18, 2018 (unless budget cuts and de-regulation takes over...).

Here's a brief timeline of how we finally got here:

February 3, 1998 –Original Telecommunications Act Accessibility Guidelines
December 21, 2000 –Original Section 508 Standards
July 6, 2006 –Members named to Advisory Committee (TEITAC)
April 3, 2008 –TEITAC presents final report
March 22, 2010 –Draft proposed rule (ANPRM) to update the Section 508 standards and Telecommunications Act guidelines
December 8, 2011 –Revised draft proposed rule (2nd ANPRM)
February 27, 2015 –Proposed rule (NPRM) published in Federal Register
January 18, 2017 –Final rule published in FR

"Only" 7 years passed from the first drafts of an update to publication in the Federal Register, but 18 years will have passed between the original standards and this much-needed update. Whew....makes me tired to think about it.

Head over to Section508.gov for their toolkit for the refresh, and let's get accessible and compliant!!! One tiny step in the right direction, I guess we should be cheering.