Creating 508

Compliant Reports
to Ensure
Accessibility for All –
Part II
Cecilia Leger and Andrea
Schanbacher
January 19, 2021
Housekeeping
• Technology​
• Logistics​
‒ Remain muted during presentation
‒ Please put any questions you may have during the presentation into
the chat box​
‒ Questions will be answered at the end of the presentation​
Welcome
Poll
• Did you attend the first session on Accessibility (in December)?
• Do you often create PDFs to share information with stakeholders
electronically (e.g., posting on your website)?
• What PDF creation software do you have access to, if any:
‒ Adobe Pro,
‒ CommonLook
‒ Other
‒ None
‒ Not sure
• If you don’t have PDF creation software, how do you currently create PDFs?
‒ Online tool, Print to PDF, Save as PDF, Other
Webinar Objectives
Webinar participants will be able to: ​
• Describe how Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the most
current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) relate to one another
to comprise the law and standards of accessibility compliance.
• State how compliance with accessibility criteria is determined.
• Identify the seven core components for creating accessible documents in
any format.
• Access and use built-in, paper-based, and online tools to check if
documents meet accessibility
What is 508 Compliance?
• Federal Law
• Standards
 Equal Access is a Basic Right
Technology can make it possible for everyone to access information IF
documents are formatted correctly and with the appropriate assistive
technology supports.
Disabilities Assistive Technology/ Accessibility Document Creation
Features
Low vision, blind, color blind, Screen readers, Braille displays Alternative text descriptions,
etc. proper color contrast
Deaf, hearing impaired Closed/open captions, transcripts

Mobility: Muscular dystrophy, Adapted joysticks and keyboards, Keyboard only maneuverability
arthritis, RSI, etc. speech to text controls
Learning disability, dyslexia, Digital content layout, information
ADHD, etc. organization
Digital Accessibility – Definition and Short
History
Processes and tools to ensure that websites, apps, documents, and
technologies are designed and developed so that people, regardless of
ability, can access them without barriers.

• Rehabilitation Act of 1973

• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) – 1990
• Section 508 of Rehabilitation Act – 1998
‒ Revised in 2017
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) - 2008
What is Section 508?
• “…require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information
technology (EIT) accessible to people with disabilities.”
• includes all consumer technology - websites, electronic documents,
emails, computer software, gaming systems, apps, and PDF versions
of traditionally printed assets.
‒ amended in 2017 to include the
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
 Section 508 & WCAG
Section 508 WCAG
What is it? Federal law that requires federal agencies A set of guidelines for creating accessible
(and organizations that receive federal funds) websites, including electronic documents.
must ensure technology and electronic
documents are accessible to people with
disabilities.

How is it used? Provides assurance that anyone working for Serves as a reference and set of criteria for
or interacting with the federal government developers and document authors to design
(or other organization funded by the federal with accessibility in mind.
government) can do so without issue.

Who can change it? Congress Word Wide Web Consortium (aka W3C)
Accessibility is a Continuum
WCAG includes three compliance
tiers:
• Level A: A site that some users
can access.
• Level AA: A site that almost all
users can access.
• Level AAA: A site that all users
can access.
How to Achieve Compliance?
• Become familiar with the standards
‒ Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0)
‒ Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1)

• Understand the basic principles of accessibility (POUR)

‒ Perceivable
‒ Operable
‒ Understandable
‒ Robust

• Learn to put the basic principles into practice

Let’s take a closer look!
Supports for meeting 508 compliance
• Resources and tools to ensure compliance
‒ OSEP templates for SSIP and APR/SPP Part B and Part C reports
‒ Built-in or online accessibility checkers to check for compliance
‒ Accessibility guides and checklists for MS Office documents and PDFs
to ensure these documents are authored correctly.
Supports for meeting 508 compliance
• Resources and tools to ensure compliance
‒ Submit OSEP reports using the template for SSIP reports and online
the SPP/APR system
o Note: a template for gathering data for the
APR/SPP Part B and Part C reports is available.
‒ Built-in or online accessibility checkers to check for compliance
‒ Accessibility guides and checklists for MS Office documents and PDFs
to ensure these documents are authored correctly.
‒ OSEP 508 Compliance Guidance and Tips
Authoring and Testing Guides and
Checklists
Trusted Accessibility Sources
• Section508.gov
• WebAIM
• W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
Let’s Check!
• What’s the difference between Section 508 and WCAG?
• How is 508 compliance determined?
Core Components of Accessibility
1. Document Properties
2. Headings and Styles
3. Properly Formatted Tables
4. Alt-Text
5. Hyperlinks and Screen Tips
6. Color Contrast
7. Testing for Accessibility
thesis

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Document Properties
• Title, Author, Key Search Words, and Subject Matter of the document.
‒ In Word, Excel, PowerPoint:
o File > Info > Properties > Advanced Properties
• Language
‒ In Word, Excel, PowerPoint;
o File > Info > Properties > Advanced Properties > Custom tab
• Formatting considerations for Excel:
‒ Save documents in .xlsx format
‒ Give all sheets unique and descriptive names
‒ Delete any blank sheets
Let’s take a look!
Excel Workbook to demo:
Document properties, table design tab, review tab, accessibility checker
pane, and how to add several lines of text within the same cell
Headings and Styles
• Headings provide context and a way to navigate quickly for users of
assistive technologies like screen readers.
• Headings can be used to automatically generate a Table of Contents or
bookmarks in a document.
• Styles modify the formatting of all occurrences in a document, so you can
quickly change the format of all Headings of a particular level
Styles in Excel
Create and Format Tables

• Use built-in feature to create the

table
• Name the table
• Identify header rows
Header Rows
Additional Table Considerations
• Do not merge or split cells
• Avoid blank cells, rows, and columns
‒ If blank areas are necessary consider appropriate filler text, such as
“Not applicable” or “Intentionally blank”
Alt-Text
• Images, Charts, and Graphics need to have alternative text
• Alternative text is read by screen readers allowing the content and
function of these images, charts, or graphics to be accessible to those with
visual or certain cognitive disabilities.
Insert Alt-Text (Excel Chart)
• Give purpose and function of the
chart or graph with any major
trends or data points.
Good example:
Line graph showing percent of
teachers trained to complete COS with
fidelity has risen steadily each year for
the past five years (2015 – 2020).
• Helpful resource:
Social Security Administration Guide:
Alternate Text for Images
Insert Alt-Text (Excel Table)
• Right click on table
• Select Table
• Select Alternative Text
• Enter Title and Description
Document Formatting: Hyperlinks
Screen readers can create a directory of all the links on a page.
Tips and best practices:
• Use meaningful text as your link text
• Don’t underline or use blue text for non-linking text
• Add tool or screen tips
 Color Contrast
• Proper color contrast helps all readers
• Text and interactive elements should
have a color contrast tool ratio of at
least 4.5:1.
• Testing tools:
• Paciello Colour Contrast Anaylser
• Tanaguru Contrast-Finder
• Web AIM Color Contrast Checker

Image Source:
How color impacts conversion rates and UX
Microsoft’s Accessibility Checker

Checker Reports Checker Looks for…

• Checker identifies • Alt text
‒ Errors • Table column headers
‒ Warnings • Images or objects are in-line with
text
‒ Tips
• Document access is not restricted
• Note: Checker will not find every
• Table has a simple structure
error
• Sufficient color contrast
Let’s take a look!
Video Resource: How to use the Office 365 Accessibility Checker (by
Microsoft)
PDF Documents and Accessibility
• What are Portable document format (PDF) files?
• How can PDF files be made accessible?
• Remediating PDF files
Portable Document Format Files
Created by Adobe in 1990s to achieve two things:
• Allow people to open the file on any hardware or operating system (using
a PDF reader)
• The layout of the document looks the same no matter where it is opened
Characteristics of Accessible PDFs
• Document structure tags and proper reading order
• Selectable text (text is not an image)
• Interactive labeled form fields with accessible error messages and no
timing
PDF Accessibility Processes
There are two sides to PDF accessibility, each with its own approach and
skills
• Creating an accessible PDF
• Remediating an inaccessible PDF
Create Accessible PDFs
1. Start with accessible original document in Word, Excel, or PPT
2. Create PDF by converting accessible original MS Office documents using:
‒ Adobe Acrobat Pro DC
‒ CommonLook PDF
‒ Save as PDF
3. Run accessibility check in the PDF software
4. Fix any identified accessibility issues

Note: OSEP also requires accessibility report if submitting PDF as

attachment with SSIP or APR/SPP reports
Create PDFs by Saving as PDF
Create PDFs by Saving as PDF (Mac)
Many ways to create PDFs
• Print to PDF
• Free PDF editors
• Free online PDF conversion
• Free or professional license Adobe PDF software
• Other licensed software that creates PDF

…. But not all ways result in accessible PDFs!

 Not all PDFs are created equal

Print to PDF Online PDF Converter Save as PDF

Manual PDF Accessibility Check
• Logical Reading Order
• Color Contrast
Remediating an existing PDF
1. Determine if PDF needs remediation
‒ Run the accessibility checker tool in the PDF software

2. Correct accessibility issues

‒ Correct accessibility issues in original document and convert to PDF
again
‒ If you don’t have original document, convert to Word and edit there
PDF Tags
• >50% of PDF accessibility comes from tagging
• Tags mark up the content in a document so that screen readers know how
to interpret and relay content to users
• Examples:
‒ headings <H1>, <H2>, etc.
‒ paragraphs <P>
‒ tables <Table>
‒ images <FIGURE>
‒ bullet points (or lists) <LI>
• Automatically added to PDF, but must be checked
Let’s take a look!
Activity with Excel report converted to PDF
• Show how to convert
• Show how to run accessibility checker
• Show how to generate accessibility report
• Show tags and bookmarks
OSEP requirements for PDFs
• PDF Requirements Checklist
• Commonly referenced WCAG 2.0 PDF techniques
OSEP Requirements
• Submitting APR/SPP & SSIP Reports
• Stakeholder reports disseminated digitally
Submitting APR/SPP & SSIP Reports
• Use the recommended templates and do not submit attachments
• If attachments are needed, 508 compliance verification is required:
• For Word documents, take a screenshot of the accessibility check
results, paste it into the end of the Word document, and add the
alternative text of “508 compliance results.”
• For PDF documents, take a screenshot of the accessibility check
results and either append to the PDF or upload as a separate file. If it
is uploaded as a separate file, name the file using this convention: 508
(name of file it references)
Other reports and presentations
• OSEP requires 508 compliance (i.e., Level AA WCAG)
• Use accessibility checker, paper-based checklists, and various tools to
determine compliance
Useful Tools & Resources
• Color Contrast Analyzer
• Screen reader for accessibility testing
• Online accessibility checker for PDF
• Additional training
Color Contrast Analyzer

What It Is How It Works

• Free tool from The Paciello Group
has become the standard for
checking color contrast
• Installs locally on your machine
• Checks the color contrast in any
program
• Download the color contrast tool
Screen reader – NVDA free download

What it is How to download and install

• One of the world’s most used
screen readers
• Use to test your document to
ensure a screen reader
compatibility
• Download NVDA screen reader for
free
Additional Training: Steps to Remediate
PDF
Remediate directly in Adobe Pro DC or CommonLook
1. Proper and Meaningful Title
2. Define Document Language
3. PDF Tags
4. Alternate Text for Images
5. Heading Structure
6. Bookmarks
7. Format Embedded Links
8. List Structure
9. Table Structure
10. Tab and Reading Order
11. Forms
12. Color Contrast
13. Use Simulators to Verify Your Document
 Thank you
Visit us at http://dasycenter.org/

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The contents of this presentation were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education,
#H373Z190002. The contents and resources do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of
Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officers: Meredith Miceli
and Amy Bae.