Accessible content

Second best is still best In an earlier post, we discussed the idea of “second best accessibility”. In short, digital accessibility advice and advocacy should take into account an organization’s current abilities and constraints. Of course, full digital accessibility should always be a north star goal. And some organizations do have the ability to make […]

In the digital accessibility world, there is a standard line of advice that goes something like this: You need to design and build with accessibility in mind. If you do things right the first time, you shouldn’t need to invest in remediation or rebuilding later. And by the way, it doesn’t have to be that […]

Digital accessibility is addressed in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act to be exact. It requires all federal agencies and departments to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities, including both employees and members of the public. This includes websites, PDFs, and digital kiosks. The requirements also apply to federal government digital procurement as well as some bodies that receive federal funding.

PDFs are commonly used for sharing information and documents, but they have limitations and drawbacks that make them less than ideal for use on the web, especially when compared to good old HTML.

So you’ve just learned about accessibility. Now what? The good news is that it’s never too late and there are steps you can take to make an immediate impact. But what should you do first?