Compliance & Regulatory Reporting Services

ADA Compliance

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 1990 was passed to ensure the full inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of American society. As part of the ADA, the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) state that all electronic and information technology, i.e. designing websites, software, hardware, video and multimedia, and telecommunications, must be accessible to people with disabilities.

With the increase in digital accessibility, the ADA Enforcement Agency encourages organizations to use the compliance guidelines as a guide on how to become accessible.

 

Section 508 Compliance Services

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act or ADA requires Federal agencies to make Electronic and Information Technology (E&IT) accessible to users with disabilities, including:

  • Visual impairment, color blindness
  • Hearing impairment
  • Speech impairment

The law includes standards for software applications, operating systems (OS), web-based applications, and multimedia. These standards apply to files made available in the Portable Document Format (PDF).

 

PDF Accessibility/ADA & WCAG Compliance

The Portable Document Format or the PDF is one of the most widely used formats in the print media, publishing, and education domains. However, it is important to ensure that these PDFs are accessible to people with disabilities.

In compliance with Section 508, WCAG 2.0, and WCAG 2.1, or ADA, Aptara ensures PDF documents are accessible to people who use screen readers and that they meet the necessary standards and requirements. This means that the documents which are in PDF format are properly tagged and well structured.

Our team of accessibility experts have been in the practice for over 7 years now and work with the WCAG 2.0/WCAG 2.1 and PDF Techniques, and PDF U/A standard through various lines of business like Financial Services, Health Care, and Education Services.

 

Large Prints

It is expected that, as the population ages, the group of older individuals who are blind or have low vision will grow and the need for large print will only increase. Large print format documents, when produced properly, follow a set of guidelines that improve readability beyond standard design and formatting such as the following:

  • Larger point size for characters
  • Sans-serif fonts
  • Increased spacing
  • Improved contrast

 

 MS Word Accessibility

The key to providing an accessible Microsoft Word document is to ensure that the content is formatted correctly and that the accessibility options are implemented. With assistive technology or a screen reader, a user might be able to read a normal MS Word document. But ensuring that we meet the accessibility techniques for Microsoft Word warrants that the document is easily usable and accessible to people with disabilities.

 

How Aptara Can Help

Path to Digital Accessibility:

      1. Stay Accessible and Compliant – We authenticate your digital assets before delivery using our quality check process following WCAG guidelines and other best practices for accessibility.
      2. Evaluate Your Needs – We meticulously evaluate the scope of your needs, provide a thorough audit of your existing digital assets, and design a client-focused workflow of new projects to save time and money upfront.
      3. Enable Accessible Processes – We support your remediation efforts through our convenient workflow, train and educate your staff using appropriate accessibility guidelines, and work with your organization to build a long-term plan for success.

Services we provide:

  • Aptara offers end-to-end solutions for ADA services to a global clientele.
  • We are a team of more than 120 highly skilled and experienced employees.
  • We provide Project Management support to clients.
  • Our solutions in preparing all client communications such as marketing documents, letters, books, and other documents for accessibility are convenient and cost-effective.
  • We process an output document from its native desktop application and transform it into an accessibly tagged, compliant PDF (WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1, and PDF/UA) document.
  • Client-focused workflows. 24/7 Secure Operation Centres following QMS, ISMS, and BCMS quality policies.
  • We also provide Onshore and Offshore services on a needs basis.

Accessibility Lawsuits

To bridge the gap between abled users and differently-abled users, advocates have filed accessibility lawsuits against businesses that do not have accessible websites for all. According to a report by UsableNet, a significantly large number of companies have been sued multiple times in 2019 indicating that there is a high probability of being sued again if they do not act fast.

Additionally, lawsuits in the first half of 2021 reflect the importance of considering accessibility for all digital channels and content. According to the same report, the number of lawsuits on accessibility to desktop websites is the highest. Mobile App lawsuits continue to rise along with a new trend in video-related claims. Video claims demand that all videos have closed caption and audio descriptions.

Here are the 3 best practices to be web-accessibility compliant:

      1. Use Testing Tools and fix common accessibility problems
      2. Be proactive and consistent
      3. Work with web accessibility, not against it

Click below to reach out to us to know how Aptara can help you be ADA compliant.

 

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