Working with Government Clients to Create Accessible Documents

With the increased focus on accessibility in recent years, digital services project teams—particularly those working with government entities—are required to not only design accessible products and services, but also produce document deliverables that meet accessibility standards. 

At Coforma, we take a multi-pronged, holistic approach to delivering accessible documents that can include: 

• Staffing project teams with an accessibility specialist to guide them through the process of creating accessible documents for contract deliverables, 

• Building accessibility tasks and checkpoints into project timelines, 

• Developing learning opportunities to raise the collective knowledge of project teams, and 

• Launching affinity groups through which a culture of accessibility advocates and practitioners can thrive. 

Through these efforts, Coforma demonstrates our commitment to leveraging human-centered design approaches to crafting civic technology solutions that are designed to be accessible and serve all individuals.

Start with Accessibility in Mind 

Thinking about document accessibility only when the due date is approaching can result in a cumbersome remediation cycle and/or failure to meet compliance. Involving an accessibility specialist from the beginning of a project helps to ensure that the project team considers embeds accessibility from planning through execution and document creation. This saves time, improves the team’s overall practices around accessibility, and it can save you the cost of hiring outside help.

In the planning stages of project work, providing guidance on color choices and contrast, insight into image selection considerations, oversight for layout, and recommendations for software usage are some of the many ways an accessibility specialist adds value. They can lend their deep knowledge of Section 508 and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to the team’s decision-making process.

There are three major areas of accessibility impacted by the involvement of an accessibility specialist:

1. Color selection. Working with teams to verify color selection is important in the planning stages, as these decisions influence design and style choices. An accessibility specialist can verify that color combinations are compliant with color contrast standards, enabling individuals with visual impairments to better read and understand documents. Sharing information about recommended alternative text standards for images allows the project team to evaluate options when determining a visual approach for the document and then later when selecting images. 

2. Document layout. A specialist should also verify the potential layout of the document(s) to ensure a logical order can be easily determined. This is crucial because individuals with cognitive disabilities may have difficulty understanding the content of a document if it is not presented in a logical and easy-to-follow format. 

3. Platform-specific support. Finally, an accessibility specialist can provide guidance and best practices for platforms commonly used to create deliverables for government—such as InDesign, Microsoft Office, and Google Suite—to ensure teams are creating documents in a way that achieves accessibility most efficiently for the selected platform. Using the most up-to-date techniques and best practices for creating a document is imperative to the success of its accessibility and usability. 

Involve an Accessibility Specialist Throughout the Project

After the overall strategy and direction of the deliverable document(s) is determined, the accessibility specialist can continue to work with the project team, government partners, and additional contractors and consultants throughout the product life cycle to answer questions, provide feedback, and ensure that content is being created with accessibility in mind from beginning to end. 

Being involved at this level also allows the accessibility specialist to gauge content complexity and propose an estimated amount of time needed to review and remediate the final document. Then the project team can build their timelines and review schedules with their government clients to ensure sufficient time to create accessible content optimized for PDF conversion. 

Once the project team has completed the document, the specialist will conduct a thorough review of the finalized document to ensure that it meets all relevant accessibility standards and guidelines. This includes reviewing the document for proper layout structure, alternative text for images, appropriate color contrast, and overall readability. 

Any minor tweaks that are needed, such as text edits or color changes, will be identified and communicated to the design or development team prior to remediation. Involving the accessibility specialist throughout the process typically shortens the amount of time needed for these final steps.

Collaborating with Government

Coforma’s comprehensive understanding of accessibility guidelines and standards helps us work with government agencies effectively to provide accessible and Section 508-compliant documents. It is crucial to collaborate closely with agency stakeholders to ensure that all documents meet the necessary requirements for accessibility, and to provide ongoing support if needed. 

This process may involve proper tagging, assessing logical order, or conducting keyboard and screen reader user testing. 

By working collaboratively with agencies, we not only ensure deliverables are 508 compliant, but also provide products that are accessible and usable by all, ultimately leading to a better user experience. 

Create a Culture of Accessibility Awareness 

Beyond involving an accessibility specialist throughout the process of document creation, at Coforma we believe that creating a culture of accessibility awareness enables everyone on our team to advocate for and participate in our shared commitment to creating accessible products. We achieve this in a number of ways:

1. Offering training. Coforma provides document accessibility training to its employees to promote awareness of the features available to make content accessible. The company has also made investments in broader accessibility training and knowledge for its staff.

2. Providing checklists. In addition to training, we provide checklists for employees to use when developing documents which make it easy for employees to look for and remediate accessibility issues on their own. 

3. Maintaining a community of practice. Our Accessibility Community of Practice (CoP) is made up of accessibility advocates who are passionate about making sure that Coforma's products and services are accessible to everyone. This group provides guidance to employees ranging from web and document accessibility to overall accessibility awareness and can respond to any questions or concerns that arise. The CoP ensures that employees have the support they need—through advocates naturally embedded in departments and on teams—to create accessible content and products.

Creating accessible documents, products, and services is a team effort. Having an accessibility specialist involved in the process of document creation from the initial planning stages through final delivery is a great place to start and ensures accessibility is being considered at every stage of the project. 

Building on that foundation to train employees in accessibility practices and provide them with resources and guidance deepens a team’s abilities and demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and inclusivity that serves the public well.