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October 2014 is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM)

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Expect – Employ – Empower

National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) is a nationwide campaign that raises awareness about disability employment issues and honors the many contributions of America’s workers with disabilities.

NDEAM is led by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, but its true benefit derives from the many observances held at the grassroots level across the nation. Employers of all sizes and in all industries are encouraged to participate in NDEAM.

This year’s theme – “Expect – Employ – Empower” encapsulates the spirit of NDEAM in three powerful words. Advancing disability employment is about much more than just hiring. It is about creating and maintaining a continuum of inclusion.

The PDF/UA Reference Suite is Here!

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On June 16 the PDF Association’s PDF/UA Competence Center, now known as the PDF/UA Technical Working Group published the PDF/UA Reference Suite:

“To serve as a reference for software developers and practitioners interested in best-practices for creating tagged and accessible PDF files, the PDF Association’s PDF/UA Competence Center has posted a set of ten PDF documents conforming to PDF/UA-1.”

The ten documents within the PDF/UA Reference Suite demonstrate correct tagging in a number of sophisticated cases, including:

  • Content spanning multiple pages
  • Complex table structures
  • Multiple languages within a single document
  • Interactive forms and JavaScript
  • Links targeting structure elements

The PDF/UA Reference Suite is an excellent resource for everyone who is interested in achieving document compliance with ISO 14289 (PDF/UA), the way to maximize PDF accessibility for today’s users and those of the future.

May 15 is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)

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For details see http://globalaccessibilityawarenessday.org/: “On May 15, we invite you to participate in Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). The purpose of the day is to get people talking, thinking and learning about digital (web, software, mobile, etc.) accessibility and users with different disabilities.”

I have just a minor quibble with the above quote – I would have left “dis” off the last word. Electronic accessibility is really about optimizing the user experience for everyone.

GAAD is being recognized at events all around the world. You can also participate in GAAD at any time by taking a few minutes to experience accessibility first-hand.

PDF is huge in Government and Education

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Duff Johnson posted a survey, 98% of .com is HTML but 38% of .gov is PDF!, showing that PDF documents are far more prevalent on public sector (.gov) and education (.edu) websites than on commercial (.com) sites.

Share of HTML and PDF file formats on the world wide web:

    • .com: HTML 98.7%; PDF 1.0%
    • .gov: HTML 46.9%; PDF 37.9%
    • .edu: HTML 44.6%; PDF 26.7%

The numbers are striking, and illustrate the tremendous importance of PDF accessibility for government and educational institutions in their service of the public.

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Climbing the Matterhorn Protocol

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The PDF Association‘s PDF/UA Competence Center, now known as the PDF/UA Technical Working Group recently published Climbing the Matterhorn: An introduction to the definitive algorithm for PDF/UA conformance. 

“This article is directed primarily at implementers, quality assurance (QA) and technical product managers interested in supporting accessibility in PDF. It describes the purpose and function of the Matterhorn Protocol, and explains how developers may use this document to address PDF/UA conformance in a systematic and reliable manner.”

The PDF/UA Competence Center focuses on developing a specification for accessible PDF, in particular ensuring conforming PDF files are accessible and usable to all, including those who use assistive technology.

Release of PAC2 makes PDF/UA compliance practical

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On August 15, 2013, the Swiss foundation Zugang für Alle (Access for All) released the freeware program PAC2 (PDF Accessibility Checker version 2), the first – and for the time being only – automated validation tool to check PDF documents for accessibility in accordance with the Matterhorn Protocol.

With the availability of PAC2 along with the manual checks specified by the Matterhorn Protocol, it is now practical to test and remediate PDFs for PDF/UA compliance in addition to WCAG 2.0. It would be irresponsible to do otherwise!

The Matterhorn Protocol establishes formal PDF/UA validation criteria

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On August 4, 2013, the PDF Association issued the Matterhorn Protocol, establishing formal validation criteria for conformance with PDF/UA. The Matterhorn Protocol lists all the possible ways to fail the precise technical specifications provided in ISO standard 14289 (PDF Universal Accessibility):

  • 136 failure conditions
  • 89 can be determined by automated testing alone
  • Manual inspection and knowledgeable human judgment are essential for evaluating the remaining 47 conditions

The Matterhorn Protocol promotes adoption of PDF/UA by software developers and document remediators, bringing the substantial benefits of PDF/UA closer to reality.

PDF/UA raises the bar for high quality PDF accessibility

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July 11, 2013: After eight years of effort, the International Organization for Standardization published ISO standard 14289-1, known as PDF/UA (Universal Accessibility). PDF/UA represents the definitive, worldwide standard for PDF accessibility.

PDF/UA offers the promise of empowering all users, including those who rely on assistive technology, to enjoy a reliable, high-quality reading experience.

The benefits of PDF/UA will extend beyond people with disabilities. With support for PDF/UA, reader software will be able to reliably reflow text onto small screens, provide powerful navigation options, transform text appearance, improve search engine functionality, aid in the selection and copying of text, and more.