As part of business continuity and communication plan strategies, it is more relevant than ever to make sure your digital solutions and communications are useful for everyone, especially those who are new to electronic messaging and those who utilize assistive technology. It is vital that your communications are easy to access and read on any device, whether it’s about testing for COVID-19, information regarding investments, accessing eLearning materials, or a restaurant take-out menu.
If you are an organization working to comply with government directives and supporting flexible working conditions, your strategy must include what you can do to “go electronic” with document options that are available to all. ADA compliant documents, properly tagged and remediate, ensure accessibility to everyone, including those using assistive technology. An ADA accessible approach secures the usefulness of what you are posting, and that everyone in your community can access the information equally.
Equality Through Accessibility
The purpose of the remediation process is to ensure compatibility with assistive technology. It is essential for everyone to follow the same standards, so all disabilities are addressed. Toppan Merrill’s ADA services comply with the federal guidelines outlined in W3C, techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1). This includes critical navigation features such as headers that assistive technology uses to navigate documents, as well as bookmarks, internal table of content links, hyperlinks to websites, and defining tabular information so that the user understands how a cell is related to the row and column of information. This will provide the navigation to understand what is being presented – especially with tabular details.
In times of ever-changing circumstances, it’s good public service to over-communicate with your customers, as they need to be able to understand what is happening in your business, even if it is business as usual. Be clear, simple, and genuine while continuing to follow your brand principles.
Once you know what you want to say consider your website navigation and search engine capability benefits your customers and can enhance your communications. Many companies have created a dedicated resource page on their website that contains a library of information and resource documents for their customers. The searchable capabilities in a remediated PDF include metadata content that includes the title, subject, and keywords. This can facilitate the search process by getting customers to the information they need – addressing usability for all – including with or without a disability.
Your delivery to the customer will close the loop for your communication. Will there be multiple family members online or the neighbors competing for bandwidth? An accessible PDF should be a manageable file size to keep the upload and download to a reasonable amount of time within their network and to the device of their choice – computer, phone, or tablet. Utilizing an ADA compliant PDF ensures a solid file construction and resizes the display to align with their device.
How We Can Help
Accessibility expertise needs to be a part of your strategy regardless if your objective is corporate governance, regulatory-driven, or just public service. Toppan Merrill can consult, guide, and work with your directive.
Toppan Merrill’s integrated process is continuous from the sign-offs of the PDF documents to the ADA/508 remediation process. We integrate both system and human-readable techniques into the metadata of PDFs to prevent, detect, and correct non-compliance.
Get out front and drive accessibility for everyone. Empower your customers with communications that reassure and strengthen everyone.
GO MAKE IT COUNT
Check out this blog to learn the differences between Section 508, 504 and 1557 when it comes to communications.
