The European Directive 2016/2012 of 26 October 2016 requires that all documents and forms, downloadable and published on existing public sector websites after 23 September 2018, be made “accessible” at latest by 23 September 2020. In addition, any document of this type published on new public sector websites (those published after 23 September 2018) must be accessible no later than 23 September 2019 (Article 12 (3)). Among the 3 keys of SEO (accessibility, keyword optimization, clear navigation) accessibility plays a vital role because it transforms your content into indexable formats that Google will better reference. The more your content is numerous and relevant, the better your Search Engine Optimization will be.
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.
Numerous PDF documents circulate on the websites. As it stands, these documents are not available for all persons with visual impairments. Braille tracks or voice synthesizer, which these persons use to surf the Internet cannot interpret the particular coding of the PDF format. PDF accessibility is a digital treatment aimed precisely at tagging the document hence making it readable.
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 more info on 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.
The specificity of PDF is to preserve the layout of a document – fonts, images, graphic objects, etc. – as defined by its author, regardless of the software, operating system and computer used. Thus, the simplest pages (of text), just like complex pages (design combining text, graphic forms, photos, legends, tables, graphics, etc.) are converted into several “blocks” of images. ” These, even if they are text, are not formatted to be interpreted by the speech synthesis systems or the braille tracks, which are utilized by the visually impaired users.
Following the conventional techniques for formatting documents with a word processor is important because doing so facilitates the production of these alternate formats. Software used to translate text into braille, for example, is designed to find and utilize standard word processing codes and to apply them to generate text formatted in the ways that are common practice for the production of braille. When generating large print, often a text must be reformatted, and this task is easier when proper coding in the word processor makes the page numbering, margins, line spacing, tabs, etc. consistent.
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
Those who read large print may be able to read a document with the aid of prescription lenses, but others may use handheld magnifiers for reading. Some of those who read large print use a closed circuit television (CCTV) at home or in an office. A CCTV is equipped with a camera that enlarges the print and projects it onto a television-like screen. Those who read large print may also have software to enlarge the print displayed on the computer’s monitor. For french readers see more info at https://e-accessiblepdf.com/index.php/un-balisage-numerique-permet-laccessibilite-des-pdf-e-accessiblepdf/.