Microassist

Document Remediation Buyer’s Guide

What is document remediation?

Document remediation is the process of bringing your digital documents (such as Microsoft Word documents, PDFs, and presentations) into compliance with recognized standards of accessibility with the goal of providing a better user experience for people with disabilities. Typically, accessibility standards are based on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 or 2.1:

  • WCAG is often mentioned in legal decisions regarding website accessibility and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  • Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) resolutions that have been filed in the past typically require that websites and digital content be remediated to conform to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
  • Federal agencies and their information and communications technology (ICT) vendors are often held to Section 508 standards. Section 508 also incorporates WCAG.
  • Title II of the American Disabilities Act (which applies to state and local governments) requires that web content and mobile applications meet WCAG criteria. The Title II revision explicitly includes documents in its definition of web content (with some exceptions).

Why is having accessible documents important?

Accessible documents are often legally required. Non-accessible documents hosted on digital mediums may expose organizations to accessibility-related lawsuits. This risk is especially high in government, healthcare, financial institutions, and education sectors. Thus, document accessibility is crucial not only for inclusive user experience, but also for legal compliance.

At the same time, ensuring that documents are accessible helps people with disabilities (such as those with disabilities related to vision, hearing, mobility, or cognition) to access information and use documents in a way that’s similar to those without disabilities. Remediating document so that they are accessible makes certain that they reach the widest audience possible.

I’m with a U.S federal government agency (or provide documents to one)

In that case, your documents are required to be accessible by several laws and regulations, including Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In addition, the requirements apply to documents that are created for you by other entities, such as contractors. Basically, any document that comes from your organization needs to meet the requirements.

There is sometimes a question of whether the requirements apply to everything an agency creates, or just documents that are public facing. All documents, whether they’re used internally or externally, need to be accessible. There can easily be someone working at an agency who needs fully accessible documents so that they can do their work effectively, even if they don’t seem to have a disability. (And the regulations don’t draw a distinction, either.)

I’m with a U.S. state or local government entity (or provide documents to one)

There was an update to Title II of the ADA in April 2024 that mandates all state and local government services (including educational institutions, libraries, etc. and those that state and local governments contract with) need to ensure that their documents are accessible (with some very limited exceptions).

But you have a little time. If you’re a large state or local public entity, you have until April 2026; if you’re a small public entity, you have until April 2027 to be in full compliance. (What counts as a large or small public entity, and well as information about the limited exceptions and much more is discussed on Microassist’s Digital Asset Accessibility Under ADA Title II page.)

I’m with a private organization

We’re glad you’re here!

It’s not only government agencies that need to make documents accessible. Organizations in sectors that produce legal, financial, or digital information or health and safety documents also need to make their documents accessible.

What happens when documents are remediated?

It can depend on where you are in your document development process, and what the output needs to be.

If you’re starting work on new documents, you’re in the best place possible—when you start with accessibility in mind, it makes everything smoother. Using color with the right level of contrast with the background, using built-in styles and headings, making sure that tables only have one header row and one header column, all of these things make it easier to ensure accessibility down the road.

If you address elements like these when you create the document, the document might look the same, but because of behind-the-scenes changes (such as the addition of alternate text for images), the document now meets accessibility standards.

At the same time, there might be visible changes to the document (especially if accessibility is addressed after the document is created). For example, if text doesn’t have sufficient contrast with the background, the text will need to be made darker (or the background made lighter). If a presentation doesn’t have unique (and visible!) slide titles, the slide titles will need to be updated. If charts and graphs use only different colors to draw distinctions between data, another element (such as a pattern or a label) will need to be added.

In addition, the remediated version of the document becomes a new version, to replace the non-accessible version. If anything needs to be changed in the document after remediation is complete, then either the revision needs to be made in the accessible version (and done in such a way that maintains the document’s accessibility) or, if the change needs to be made to the original, un-remediated document, the document will need to go through the remediation process again.

How do documents get remediated for accessibility?

It really depends. The particular steps for remediation can depend on how accessible the document is when the process begins; steps can also depend on what the final format of the document will be (the process to remediate a PowerPoint presentation, for example, would be different from the process to remediate a PDF).

On a high level, Microassist uses a combination of automated and manual remediation methods, generally including these elements (it’s not the only approach, but we’ve found it most effective, especially when quickly processing a high number of documents):

  • Check the document for color contrast, hyperlink, and table structure issues.
  • Review document properties, including titles, title views, language, tab order, embedded fonts, and assistive technology markers.
  • For PDFs, correct (or create) the tag tree.
  • Add alternate text to the figures that are missing it.
  • Set the reading order.
  • Perform manual tests. Manual testing verifies the document attributes and checks the document using an appropriate screen reader.

An overview of the process we use is in Figure 1.

Microassist standard document remediation process. First the documents are evaluated manually for page counts, color contrast, hyperlinks, and structure using tools appropriate for the document. We then prepare which is both a manual and automated process. The document is converting to it's final format and recognizing text for scanned documents. The document properties such as title, view, language, tab order, embedded fonts, and assistive technology markers are set. The tag structure is corrected or created setting the reading order to reflect the structure of the document using automated and manual processes. Finally, testing is completed both manually and automated by reviewing the tag tree and testing with tools such as accessibility checkers and screen readers.

Key to Microassist’s process is that combination of manual and automated approaches. While automated solutions are helpful, even in this age of artificial intelligence, they only catch about 30% to 50% of accessibility errors on web sites, although document-based accessibility checkers are more effective.

We also include quality assurance (QA) testing throughout the process (instead of waiting until the end of the process). This helps make sure that the QA team is aware of everything that needs to be done. And it helps ensure that, by the time the document gets to formal QA testing, the QA team is checking off that the document meets the standards, not finding new issues to address.

Occasionally, other steps need to be added to the general approach.

Scanned document remediation

If a document is composed of scanned images (which can occur especially with PDFs), we run text recognition software to convert the images to text. We then review the results and repair it if needed.

Form field remediation

Sometimes documents (especially PDFs) have form fields, which allow users to fill out a form directly on their computer. Form fields require special attention to ensure that people using assistive technology (like a screen reader or speech recognition software) can access the form (including naming, setting properties, and tagging).

Alternate text descriptions

Ideally, the person creating the document also includes alternate text for images. After all, they’re the person who best knows why the image is in the text and can describe it most appropriately. Sometimes, however, the Microassist team will need to add alternate text to an image, drawing on subject matter experts if needed.

Translations

When needed, we also make sure that any alternate text has been translated, should the document need to be available in different languages.

Document editing

We will also, should we have permission, make minor editing changes to the document. Generally, we prefer not to—it’s best if the document is fully edited and proofed before formal remediation begins. But people are people, and sometimes mistakes creep into the best-edited documents. When we come across things like a missing period or a wrong-word-but-spelled-correctly situation, we’ll usually contact the document’s author to confirm and correct it.

I want to do it myself, but I’m not sure I have all of the knowledge or training needed

You’re in luck! There is a plethora of resources available to help you develop the knowledge and skills to remediate documents.

First and foremost (not to brag, but) Microassist offers extraordinary training in making Word, PowerPoint, and especially PDF documents accessible. (If you’d like to know more, please take a look at Microassist’s training course list.)

And there are other resources that you can access, ranging from paid courses to free YouTube videos. In addition, document creation and editing software (including Microsoft Word, Microsoft PPT, and Adobe Acrobat Pro) often has training available on how to use the tools to ensure accessibility.

One caution. Content creation tools often have a built-in accessibility checker. These checkers are very helpful, especially in catching low-hanging fruit (such as whether all images have alternate text—read to screen reader users who can’t see the images on the screen). But they cannot be fully depended on. A manual review is always necessary.

I want someone to do it for me

Fortunately, this is right up our alley. We’re happy to take on remediating your documents for you; we’re also happy to work with you to develop a process to integrate remediation fully (or partially) into your document creation and distribution process. Please contact our Accessibility Remediation team for details.

One note of caution. If you’re looking for assistance, ensure that the service does not use a solution that is 100% automated. Automated solutions can miss things such as alt text context, proper reading order, color contrast issues, use of color issues, and proper formatting and structure. The most effective solution—in terms of both meeting regulatory standards and creating documents that are actually usable by people with disabilities—is (currently) a combination of automated and manual processes.

I want the whole thing to just go away

We understand. It’s a lot of work. At the same time, in addition to meeting legal requirements, we find it valuable and meaningful work—helping everyone to participate and communicate in the most effective way possible.

Can’t AI do this?

Nope.

Current AI solutions can help identify accessibility concerns to some extent (although they often still miss issues, like color contrast). They can often suggest solutions—some accessibility AI tools can analyze an image and propose alternate text. But they are also unable to judge whether the alternate text is meaningful in context.

So while AI tools are an effective assistant in remediation, they remain a helpful tool, rather than a complete solution.

How will ADA Title II changes affect document remediation?

Great question! Please take a look at Microassist’s resources on Digital Asset Accessibility Under ADA Title II.

Final thoughts

Document remediation—ensuring that documents are able to be used by those with disabilities—is not only often legally required, but it’s key to ensuring that the information available in documents is available to all. This can mean the public (if you’re a government entity), or your customers (if you’re a private organization), and employees (for both government entities and private organizations).

Creating accessible documents does require additional effort, but there are a plethora of tools and services available to assist you, and clear guidance is available in documents such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (just ignore the name!).

And should you have any questions—whether you might be looking for assistance, or just additional information—please don’t hesitate to reach out to us here at the Microassist Accessibility Remediation team.