The Wild West of Accessible PDF Remediation

Howdy, partner! Finding an accessible PDF remediation vendor can feel a lot like navigating the Wild West.

A company’s website may look impressive. It may feature all the right buzzwords, including the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), PDF/UA, Section 508, and certificates of compliance.

But a polished website doesn’t prove the company can make a PDF accessible.

Accessibility standards already exist. Vendor quality is where things get wild. Testing methods, experience, security practices, and the quality of the finished documents can vary widely.

In this unpredictable territory, finding a vendor that can deliver a truly accessible PDF may feel like searching for gold in them thar hills.

There’s a lack of regulation.

The Wild West had an appointed sheriff scouting the area. Accessible PDF remediation vendors don’t.

Anyone can claim to offer accessible PDF remediation. They may advertise training, certifications, automated testing, and WCAG compliance. That doesn’t mean they have the knowledge or experience to do the work correctly.

Legitimate accessibility training and professional certifications do exist. However, there is no federal licensing board that tests PDF remediation companies and declares, “This vendor knows what they’re doing.”

That leaves you to investigate before handing over your documents.

Accessibility checkers won’t help.

“But I have an accessibility checker report saying my document passed.”

Sorry, cowboy. That dog won’t hunt.

An accessibility checker is a useful deputy, but it can’t run the whole town.

Automated tools can find missing tags and flag certain technical problems. They can’t fully determine whether the tags are correct, the reading order makes sense, or the alternative text properly explains an image.

A PDF can pass an automated check and still leave someone using a screen reader completely lost.

Software can spot some of the clues. A trained person has to solve the case.

Be on the lookout for common issues.

A shiny storefront can hide some shoddy work.

Vendors may talk the talk, referencing WCAG, alternative text, forms, and all the other bells and whistles. The real test is whether they handle those elements correctly.

• Incorrect tagging: Some vendors slap generic paragraph tags onto content, run an automated checker, and hand back a document you think is compliant. The report may look good, but the document can leave the reader as lost as a tumbleweed in a dust storm.
• No manual review: Automated tools can’t catch everything. A trained specialist should inspect the tags, reading order, headings, links, tables, forms, alternative text, and overall experience.
• Undisclosed outsourcing: Ask who will access your documents and where those people are located. A server in the United States doesn’t mean U.S.-based employees are doing the work. This matters when your files contain private information or your contract requires domestic labor.

Your neck’s on the line.

Here’s another nugget of wisdom: Hiring a vendor doesn’t hand off your organization’s accessibility responsibilities.

What in tarnation does that mean? 

If you buy cheap document remediation and post those documents on your website, you, not your vendor, are held responsible if they aren’t accessible.

So, while you may have recourse with your vendor, any fines or negative publicity will be associated with your name, not theirs.

That’s why it’s so critical for you to choose wisely when picking an accessible PDF remediation vendor.

More laws than ever cover digital accessibility.

Section 508 used to get most of the attention when people talked about accessible PDFs. The legal landscape has grown since then.

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires federal agencies to make public-facing electronic documents accessible. Federal contractors also run into Section 508 requirements when working with government agencies.

State and local governments must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II. Its web accessibility rule requires web content to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA, with limited exceptions. And yes, PDFs count as web content.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act protects people with disabilities in programs that receive federal funding. Healthcare organizations may also have responsibilities under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. Then, some states have added their own digital accessibility laws.

These laws don’t all apply in the same way, but they lead organizations to one important question: Can a person with a disability actually use your PDF?

Spot the outlaws.

Telling a trustworthy remediation vendor from an outlaw isn’t always easy. 

Thankfully, there are specific indicators that can help you make an informed decision when selecting the best accessible PDF remediation vendor.

• One price for every page: If a company quotes the same page rate without looking at your documents, mosey on outta there. A page of plain text doesn’t require the same work as a page packed with forms, charts, tables, and footnotes. Pricing should reflect the complexity of the work.
• Color contrast: Ask whether the vendor identifies and corrects color contrast issues. Many vendors won’t or don’t know how to resolve these challenges.
• Images of text: Do they convert images of text into readable text? Some companies skip the optical character recognition (OCR) process. They’ll say, “It’s an image,” and move on. Doing that means the screen reader user won’t know what’s in that image of text.
• Workforce location: Ask, “Who will work on my documents, and where are they located?” If your organization requires U.S.-based employees, get a direct answer. We’ve even seen organizations set up their servers in the U.S., and have people overseas log in to do the work. On a purely technical level, the work is being done in the U.S., but there isn’t a single U.S. citizen doing the work

Put ‘em to the test.

Bad document remediation is about as welcome as a rattlesnake at a square dance. Before choosing a vendor, ask them to prove themselves.

Create a three- to five-page test document with a few tricky elements. Include a table, a list, images, links, and poor color contrast. Then ask a few accessible PDF remediation vendors to remediate it.

Compare more than the price. Look at what each vendor catches, what questions they ask, how they explain their work, and whether the finished PDF is genuinely usable.

If you don’t know what to inspect, ask a reputable vendor to walk you through the results. Some may even review another vendor’s sample at no charge.

A small test now can save you from a heap of trouble later.

Choose your Accessible PDF Remediation Vendor wisely.

Navigating the Wild West of accessible PDF remediation takes a sharp eye. Look beyond checker reports, certificates, and polished sales language.

Ask who performs the work. Find out how the vendor tests its PDFs. Give them a sample document. Make sure human review is part of the process.

Then choose a vendor that can show you what accessible work looks like.

Don’t ride into a compliance showdown with nothing but a checker report, partner.