What's your standard? Accessibility In Mind has you covered for Section 508, PDF/UA, WCAG 2.0, HHS

Ensuring Indemnity With Documentation

Accessibility In Mind offers extensive accessibility reporting supporting all recognized standards, guaranteeing compliance. Whatever your specific requirements may be, AIM can remediate your documents to comply.

• Section 508: Section 508 was originally added as an amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 in 1986. It requires  Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. The regulations are broad in nature and are interpreted differently by different agencies. AIM can provide Section 508 specific reports certifying compliance.
• PDF/UA: PDF/UA (“Universal Accessibility”) specification, or ISO 14289, was published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in August, 2014. PDF/UA requires Tagged PDF (ISO 32000-1, 14.8), and adds a variety of qualitative requirements, especially regarding semantic correctness of the tags employed. It is the first fully accessible standard ISO has ever published. AIM can provide PDF/UA specific reports certifying compliance.
• WCAG 2.0: The current version,  was published in December 2008 and became an ISO standard, ISO/IEC 40500:2012 in October 2012.It consists of 14 guidelines which are general principles of accessible design, primarily for websites, but applicable to PDF accessibility. AIM can provide WCAG specific reports certifying compliance.
• HHS: The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) maintains a checklist defining their interpretation of Section 508, providing specific guidance on compliant PDF structure. AIM can provide HHS-specific reports certifying compliance.

Every remediated document is delivered with time-stamped Adobe Acrobat Pro 11 full accessibility reports, and NetCentric CommonLook reports are available for all accessibility standards. These reports prove due diligence in compliance with the most stringent requirements, and ensure indemnity from any legal challenges to document compliance.

Accessibility In Mind gives you one less thing to worry about- contact us for more information.

Is there any such thing as "Certification" for section 508 compliance?

Yes, Virginia, there is.

 AIM, formerly Electronic Document Compliance Services, is pleased to announce the availability of certificates of compliance for Section 508, PDF/UA, HHS, and WCAG 2.0. AIM can evaluate and certify compliance of any PDF, providing time-stamped accessibility reports, your insurance against any and all claims of non-compliance, guaranteed.

Contact us for a no-obligation evaluation of your documents.

EDCS To Become Accessibility In Mind

Electronic Document Compliance Services, a recognized leader in Section 508 and PDF/UA remediation services, has announced their new company name, Accessibility In Mind. 

From the company's press release:

Our mission remains constant, accessibility for all, and our singular service is document conversion and remediation- a one-stop solution to your compliance needs. Accessibility In Mind's federally certified compliance specialists complete all remediation, following industry best practices and using the latest technology, with comprehensive standards support of WCAG 2.0, PDF/UA, HHS as well as Section 508.

Health Insurance Document Specialists

We are experienced in remediation for all types of health insurance provider documents- ANOC, EOC, SOB, etc., with rapid turnaround. Complete documentation of remediation performed and compliance test reports are part of every deliverable.

Contact Accessibility In Mind and see how we can take care of your compliance needs.

Aiming to exceed your expectations: http://accessibilityinmind.com/

The "Refresh":US Access Board Proposes Updated ICT Accessibility Requirements

The US access Board has released for public comment a proposed rule updating accessibility requirements for information and communication technology (ICT) in the federal sector covered by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. The rule also would jointly update guidelines for telecommunications equipment subject to Section 255 of the Communications Act.

The updated proposal is "...responsive to fundamental changes, innovations, and trends in the industry, such as the widespread convergence of technologies..." according to the summary, and should help all in the industry interpret Section 508 with fresh guidance.

The proposed rule includes significant changes that would:

•  incorporate the WCAG 2.0 and apply associated success criteria to websites as well as to offline electronic documents and software; 
• require real-time text functionality (text that is transmitted character by character as it is being typed) for products providing real-time, two-way voice communication; 
• specify the types of non-public facing electronic content covered; 
• and further detail the required compatibility of covered technologies, including operating systems, software development toolkits, and software applications with assistive technology.

Specific to PDF, the proposed rules address "accessible PDF files (ISO 14289-1, Document management applications — Electronic document file format enhancement for accessibility — Part 1: Use of ISO 32000-1 (PDF/UA-1))

More information is here, and an overview of the refresh can be read here.

PDF/UA: Defining Accessible PDFs

PDF/UA is needed because while the PDF specification creates accessibility mechanisms it fails to set clear rules for actually creating (or delivering) reliably accessible PDF content.

 "UA" stands for Universal Accessibility; PDF/UA designation certifies that documents are compliant with ISO Standard 14289, the new international standard for Accessible PDFs. There are approximately 25 million individuals in the US, 1 million individuals in Canada and over 30 million individuals in the EU that have difficulty reading bills, statements and other customer communications. A document that has been produced in the PDF/UA format using best practices will guide customers’ assistive technology to present that document in the most accessible way possible.

In a Nutshell:

A PDF/UA document is a PDF file that contains specific content in it's infrastructure to make its content as accessible as possible to users that require assistance to access the content, primarily using "screen readers" that allow a sight-impaired user to navigate a document as it is read aloud. The main points:

• Content is tagged. The tags used describe what the content is, for example a heading, and the order of that content within the document – this guides the screen reader and facilitates navigation through the document.
• Graphical elements have a text description so that a user can know what that element is.
• Tables have tags for their column headings and row headings so that the user can know what the values within the table represent.
• Fonts must be embedded
• The language of the document is specified

These are just the basics. A protocol has been developed, the Matterhorn Protocol, that defines 136 attributes a PDF/UA document will contain. Like all PDFs, it is a document that will print and be viewed electronically uniformly across all platforms. It also contains metadata within the tags that may make such PDFs more suitable for archive and retrieval purposes and can be produced in such a way that it also conforms to the PDF/A standard for long term preservation of electronic documents. 

The importance of PDF/UA documents is that they conform to the definitive standard for Accessible PDFs that the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) has published based on efforts of a global consortium of technology experts spanning almost a decade. This is a concise, prescriptive guide to using the tagging and other content storage and organization technology in PDFs to document the hierarchy and structure specific to the contents for each document type. With these tags, a PDF/UA document enables your customers’ assistive technology to present the contents in a logical order that enables comprehension, making the content both accessible and usable

A bit of history:

Back in 2000, Adobe added the capability to add “tags” within PDF files. To use an uncommon word for a moment, tags add “semantic” meaning to content within a PDF and tells us what that content is. For example, a tag might tell us that content is an image or a table. Another example is to have a heading tag applied to content within the PDF, identifying headings and their relative importance (“Heading 1” is more important than “Heading 2”). This introduction of tags is important because it started to lay the groundwork for making PDFs accessible. In 2008, Adobe’s Reference 1.7 version of PDF became a Standard (ISO 32000-1:2008). Adobe handed the ongoing management and enhancement of PDF to subject-matter expert committees around the world through the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). PDF/UA and regulatory compliance.

There are many regulations that specify what your organization’s obligations are with regard to meeting the needs of people with disabilities. An obvious example is handicapped parking spaces. In the United States these are often called ADA parking, where ADA stands for ‘Americans with Disabilities Act.’ Other examples include ramps for wheelchairs, push buttons that automatically open a door, etc. All of these are required by law.

PDF/UA documents meet or exceed the regulations set down in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act PDF/UA is one of many ways your organization can provide accessible electronic documents to your customers and help you meet regulatory obligations, while providing the best possible experience.

Added benefits of PDF/UA:

• A PDF/UA file can also be a PDF/A file, offering a single approach to address both your long-term archiving requirements as well as accessible PDF requirements.
• A PDF/UA file, due to its content tagging, makes the user experience on mobile devices much better due to text reflow as an alternative to zooming in on content in order to read it
• A PDF/UA file can make content re-use easier due to the fact that the content is tagged. For example, copy & paste or extracting to HTML is more easily achieved.
• A PDF/UA file can provide better search results. If your archive or search tool can utilize PDF tags, the ability to find what you are looking for can be based on the complete set of actual PDF document content.

Please contact us for more information on making your documents compliant with Section 508 and PDF/UA.

 Matterhorn Protocol: http://www.pdfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/MatterhornProtocol_1-02.pdf provides 136 criteria for PDF/UA compliance, of which 47 require human judgment.

Estimating Costs for Section 508 Compliance Remediation

Here's a nice overview showing some real-world examples of what it takes to make documents accessible and compliant with Section 508:

Child Abuse Prevention Resource Guide for 2013 is over 80 pages (see https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/guide2013/guide.pdf). From design of this document to PDF conversion, this report required about 20 hours of work to ensure compliance. 

Child Maltreatment 2011 and 2012 reports (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/research-data-technology/statistics-research/child-maltreatment) are examples of ~250-page reports that required about 40–50 hours to fix Section 508 compliance issues and address any resulting formatting issues in the PDF.

Child Welfare Outcomes reports (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/research-data-technology/statistics-research/cwo) are over 400 pages, with many data tables, and may take well over 80 hours and $6–8K to make Section 508 compliant.

Overall remediation budget for about 200–225 PDFs of various sizes and complexity, most in the 2–20 page range with perhaps a quarter in the 21–200 page range, is about $250K. If most of the documents are at the high end of these page ranges, the cost (assuming a loaded rate of $80/hour) would be upwards of $300K.

These are just examples- the variation is as broad as is the variation in documents. Consult with a knowledgeable 508 remediator to find out what it takes to make your documents accessible and compliant. 

http://508compliantdocumentconversion.com/

Section 508 PDF Remediation: Get Jiggy with 1194.22

Question: You are working on an RFP for a governmental agency, and the requirements include delivering a Section 508 compliant PDF document. What does this mean, and how can you get this job done?

Answer: Here is a sample 508 RFP requirements/specifications from a government contract offering, the boilerplate, so to speak:

All electronic and information technology (EIT) procured through this solicitation must meet the applicable accessibility standards at 36 CFR 1194, unless an agency exception to this requirement exists. 36 CFR 1194 implements Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. 

In accordance with the above, in addition to the work requirements specified in the Statement of Work, contractors/vendors must ensure that all EIT that they provide either: (1) meets the technical provisions of the Section 508 Access Board Standards applicable to a given procurement (see below); or (2) uses designs or technologies as alternatives to those prescribed in the specified technical provisions, provided they result in substantially equivalent or greater access to and use of a product for people with disabilities. 

The following standard, from Subpart B of the regulations, will be applicable to PDFs delivered via this contract:

 1194.22 Web-based intranet and internet information and applications. 

(Note:The standards do not require the installation of specific accessibility-related software or the attachment of an assistive technology device, but merely require that the EIT be compatible with such software and devices so that it can be made accessible if so required by the agency in the future.)

Question: How can I make sure my documents meet 1194.22?

Answer: Contact and deal directly with a reputable, knowledgeable Section 508 remediator.  Ask questions, make sure they know what they are doing, that they are not just a pass-through. You may want to learn about the process, or maybe not (some clients just want us to make this particular headache go away... <8^) - we at EDCS are glad to tell you as much or as little as you care to know, as the end result is the same: we remediate your document and deliver a Section 508 compliant PDF that meets all 13 requirements of 1194.22, and the documentation to prove your due diligence.

Under Subpart B: Technical Standards, we see the applicable requirements for PDF compliance, §1194.22.  This is NOT our interpretation of compliance, this is the language in the regulation.  Ten of these sixteen standards apply to PDF format. Meet these ten requirements - as all EDCS-certified documents do - and rest assured that your documents are in complete compliance.

Here's the regs, we've struck-through the ones that aren't applicable to PDF:

1194.22 Web-based intranet and internet information and applications.

(a) A text equivalent for every non-text element shall be provided (e.g., via “alt”, “longdesc”, or in element content).

(b) Equivalent alternatives for any multimedia presentation shall be synchronized with the presentation.

(c) Web pages shall be designed so that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from context or markup.

(d) Documents shall be organized so they are readable without requiring an associated style sheet.

(e) Redundant text links shall be provided for each active region of a server-side image map.

(f) Client-side image maps shall be provided instead of server-side image maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available geometric shape.

(g) Row and column headers shall be identified for data tables.

(h) Markup shall be used to associate data cells and header cells for data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers.

(i) Frames shall be titled with text that facilitates frame identification and navigation.

(j) Pages shall be designed to avoid causing the screen to flicker with a frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.

(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.

(l) When pages utilize scripting languages to display content, or to create interface elements, the information provided by the script shall be identified with functional text that can be read by assistive technology.

(m) When a web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other application be present on the client system to interpret page content, the page must provide a link to a plug-in or applet that complies with §1194.21(a) through (l).

(n) When electronic forms are designed to be completed on-line, the form shall allow people using assistive technology to access the information, field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission of the form, including all directions and cues.

(o) A method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive navigation links.

(p) When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted and given sufficient time to indicate more time is required.