Posted by Marian Vasilescu on May 9, 2019 in Business
The new legislation requires that all downloadable documents and forms published on existing public sector websites after 23 September 2018 must be made accessible by 23 September 2020. In addition, any such documents published on new public sector websites (those published after 23 September 2018) must be made accessible by 23 September 2019 (Article 12, paragraph 3). The new regulations build on rather than replace the existing relevant legislation, namely the Equality Act (2010) or the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) (DDA) in Northern Ireland. The European directive entered into force on December 22, 2016. It implies that all websites, integrated digital documents (PDF) from public bodies will have to be made accessible according to a relatively restrictive agenda. A monitoring and complaints mechanism is also in place.
The accessibility of PDF documents offers many advantages: A certified publication: publications made accessible in accordance with WCAG 2.0 / ISO 14289-1 standards are eligible for “e-accessibility” certification issued by Ipedis. An improved SEO: the use of XML tags to structure the document in the same way as a HTML page enables better indexing of content by search engines.
The need to read a document only once suggests that all four formats should be considered, and appropriate ones should be made available depending on where the information will be read. If someone needs to read an agenda during a meeting, for example, an audio tape is not ideal, unless the tape is distributed ahead of time. In this situation, braille or large print may be the best choices, or if the agenda is available beforehand, the person may prefer to download the electronic file into a portable reading device for review during the meeting. Like sighted people, blind individuals want to follow along with the text and fully participate. Understandably, handouts may continue to change until close to the time of the meeting, so time pressure may become a concern. But good planning and communicating in advance with blind or visually impaired attendees will result in a better experience for everyone.
To help you comply with these regulations, we have developed an innovative technology solution: e-Accessible-PDF, which renders PDF documents “accessible”, at an ultra-competitive cost. Whether you are in the non-profit sector or the private sector, this solution allows you to expand your audiences and make them more inclusive for people with disabilities.
As many as 10% of the population in Europe have some form of visual impairment. Besides those who suffer from blindness or partial sight, there are others who experience vision disorders resulting from sensory, cognitive or motor disabilities. Our mission is to breakdown digital access barriers by making information on the Internet accessible to all, including this large segment of the population. In this regard, international standards have been ratified according to the WCAG 2.0 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) standard. EU Legislation thereon has also been adopted and with the use of effective innovative technologies, it is possible to surf the Internet with specialized software using speech synthesizer or braille.
Some people with reduced mobility, are not able to use the mouse, they therefore navigate with adapted keyboards or use the “focus” mode to interact on a web page. In this case tagging of documents proves to be of a precious help. According to WHO, about 1.3 billion people in the world, have some form of visual impairment. In Europe, the statistics show that almost 10% are affected. These figures include people with blindness, low vision, cognitive and motor impairments. The majority of these individuals are over 50 years old. With the growing and ageing of the population, coupled with a greater prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s), the WHO estimates that the number of visually impaired is expected to double by 2050.
For many years we have developed and improved our accessibility and PDF tagging techniques and now have developed a proprietary solution to accelerate the production of Ultra Accessible PDFs. This allows us to produce on a fast turnaround and at competitive costs quality PDFs. We have customers around the world, public or private companies, and meet the international standards defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), such as ADA, Section 508, WCAG 2.0 AA, HHS and PDF / UA. We are able to produce various accessible documents such as PDF, documents from the Microsoft range (word, Excel, Power point) or Epubs. Read extra details at https://e-accessiblepdf.com/
Unfortunately, PDF, Word, Excel or PPT documents, which are widely integrated on websites, are rarely adapted to these tools. Our role is to render these documents accessible for processing by reading software so that they can be vocalized in the correct reading order. Braille displays exist for visually impaired or blind people, which come as a complement to the standard keyboard and screen reader. On these Braille terminals, the content displayed on the screen is transcribed to Braille, which therefore prevents the reading of the entire document by the screen reader only.
For screen readers to read a PDF document effectively, the document must have an underlying logical structure and reading order. This logical structure and reading order use behind-the-scenes elements called tags, which a PDF author adds to the document. Tags define the intended reading order of the content on each page. Screen readers rely on these tags to present text in a way that makes sense when someone is hearing the text read out loud. The tags allow a screen reader to interpret page elements such as headings, sidebars, tables, and multi-column text.
One of the most important steps you can take to simplify the process of creating accessible documents is to make certain, during each phase of composition, that those who are developing the document use word processing software properly. Assuring that this happens may be difficult when several individuals work collaboratively on a project, so designating someone to review a document for inconsistencies could be helpful. Clearly, these concerns about correctly word-processed texts only apply to the creation of large print, braille, and electronic documents.
What are the benefits of the Accessible PDFs we produce ?
– PDFs that meet the following standards PDF / UA, ADA, Section 508, WCAG 2.0 AA, HHS…
– Documents validated through user tests
– Accessible PDFs directly utilisable
– Quick production turnaround
– A fast and customized service
For your users :
– More user-friendly navigation
– The ability to convert text to voice
– Reading on different media (tablets, mobile, screen magnifiers)
– Replacing mouse actions with keyboard combinations
– The possibility of searching in images
– A help to navigation
People who are blind or visually impaired use various assistive technologies to enable them to access printed texts. Assistive technologies can make text accessible, but they cannot render graphics or graphical images in meaningful ways without textual information or representations that web page designers or document producers must provide. Assistive For french readers read more details on pdf balise.