This program helps clients achieve document accessibility and standards-compliance.
CommonLook’s PDF accessibility tools meet the needs of most organizations.
With the right operational changes, these tools can also enhance organizations'
own ability to create accessable PDF documents.
Document accessibility is only sustainable when it becomes the norm.
When integrated with internal processes, CommonLook's tools make it
easier to manage and monitor success over time.
Phase 1 - Assessment & Planning
The first step to a document accessibility compliance program begins
with determining a workflow appropriate to each organization’s goals.
It helps to answer these questions:
- How are documents tested for accessibility compliance?
- Are website documents tested for accessibility?
- What about internal documents, including HR documents
distributed to employees and new hires?
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Phase 2 - Remediate Existing Content
After Phase 1 organizations should have a plan and
a list of documents that need remediation.
Remediation should start with the files having highest priority,
most accessed files, or most recent files, and work backward with
other document to complete the project.
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CommonLook Remediation Service
If the list of discovered documents and the requirements for compliance
are too much for an orginasation's internal remediation capacity,
there is always the option to have the initial batch of documents remediated;
"Accessible PDF as a Service".
CommonLook PDF
For the manual remediation of volumes of PDFs,
CommonLook PDF is the tool to use.
CommonLook PDF creates compliance reports and takes
an organization step-by-step through the remediation process.
CommonLook Dynamic
For some documents created by electronic systems,
such as invoices, statements and similar content generated
from databases, automated solutions can be implemented.
Phase 3 - Integrate Accessibility into
Document Development and Testing Process
The primary component of Phase 3 is to promote the importance
of document accessibility within an organization, so no one is adding
additional content to the overall problem of non-compliance.
Accessibility needs to be part of the operation strategy and must be planned for
during the authoring phase when new documents and web content are created.
This internal accessibility initiative needs to address training for
everyone that creates content including designers, authors,
developers and testers on accessibility:
- Concepts
- Standards
- Document Creation
- Testing and Verification
- Creating internal processes and standards for content creation,
accessibility testing and distribution throughout an
organization’s digital assets
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CommonLook Office
CommonLook Office creates accessible PDF content
from within MS Word and PowerPoint.
CommonLook Office is designed to be used by everyone
and makes it simple to ensure PDF content is accessible.
CommonLook PDF
CommonLook PDF is typically installed on a smaller number of
desktops for users (usually "PDF / Accessibility Experts")
needing a powerful remediation tool.
Phase 4 - Training
The 4th phase of the program is training on a broad scale.
Document accessibility compliance training takes many forms.
- Company-wide overall training.
Increases awareness about accessibility requirements and
informs employees of policy and legal requirements
- Comprehensive training.
Ramp up internal capacity for in-house remediation and provide
comprehensive training on authoring and creating content.
- Train-the-Trainer programs.
Build internal knowledge within departments and teams
so that there are accessibility experts in each department.
- Quality Assurance (QA).
Develop a QA process that reviews content
before it is distributed or published.
Phase 5 - Assess and Monitor for Compliance
Document accessibility compliance is typically
not a one-time single project with a defined end-date.
Because content is continuously created, edited and replaced,
it is better to look at document accessibility compliance
as an ongoing process that never stops.
Monitoring for compliance is multifaceted and each organization
will do it differently. Some have regulations that demand publishing
compliance statements on their websites.
For other organizations, the frequency of running audits and
manual checks varies, but experts have recommendations as
best practices to prevent liability and face the more significant
challenge of a substantial remediation project.
The same tools we recommend in the first assessment phase are
what we recommend for monitoring and quality assurance (QA).
Though Clarity and PDF Validator have different functions,
they are often used in tandem to validate websites or individual content.
CommonLook Clarity reports indicates for instance which PDFs have been
remediated using CommonLook PDF or created with CommonLook Office,
and marks those as accessible and compliant.
If CommonLook's tools are implemented with the correct workflow,
when Clarity reports against a website or files,
the reports show the files are compliant.
If the wrong workflow is implemented, document authors should receive
training to resolve problems before they become a bigger issue.
Clarity generates detailed accessibility compliance reports and should
be setup to run monthly scans so issues can be identified and fixed.
Another best practice is to create a process for publishing web content
where people are assigned to do QA on documents for accessibility
in advance of publishing.
Get Started:
See more details in this white paper:
CommonLook Tools, Support, and Five-Phase Accessibility Program:
- Program Implementation Guide
Interesting?
Contact NewFormat for CommonLook Five-Phase Accessibility Program
