It may be difficult to identify at a glance whether your documents and resources are digitally accessible, but digital accessibility can be the difference between participating and not participating for individuals with disabilities who rely on screen reader software, captions, plain language, and non-distracting elements. Therefore, ensuring that your online resources, forms, webinars videos, social media, and other online communication are accessible is essential.
The first step to ensuring that your organization is maintaining a digital accessibility presence is to establish a digital accessibility policy. Read on to find out how.
What is a digital accessibility policy?
A digital accessibility policy is a collection of procedures and guidelines that directs your staff in the creation of online resources that are accessible. Such a policy:
- establishes digital accessibility as a cornerstone of your online presence,
- provides tools for staff to utilize, and
- establishes a process for checking and verifying the accessibility of public facing content.
What should it include?
A digital accessibility policy should include the following:
- An affirmation that digital accessibility is important for the organization.
- A list of the resources that should be accessible, including: webinars, online articles, social media, stories, photos, videos, emails, forms, PDF files, and more.
- A collection of resources such as instructions from the web tools that your organization uses for creating accessible content. Companies like Microsoft, MailChimp, Google, and others offer rich collections of material explaining how to use their tools to create digitally accessible content.
- A procedure for the accessibility of outgoing materials to be checked. It does not necessarily have to include testing with users, but rather it can involve a check to ensure that features such as alt text, heading tags, captions, and other things are implemented.
- A procedure to remediate materials that existed before the implementation of the digital accessibility policy.
- An accessible procurement policy that establishes a procedure for selecting new web tools to ensure that it is possible to both create and access content in a way that is accessible. A truly complete process of evaluating for accessibility should include user testing. The procurement policy should also provide guidance on follow up steps to take if a product or service must be procured that does not completely follow digital accessibility guidelines.
See the Related Links for examples of accessibility policies from other organizations.
How should it be implemented?
Take the following steps to implement your digital accessibility policy:
- Identify the positions that are responsible for specific websites or web resources.
- Prepare a section of your employee manual that describes the accessible document policy. Include expectations around accessible document creation, procedures that staff must follow, and the accessibility review that will follow.
- Provide a regular annual training for staff about the accessible document policy and techniques to ensure that documents are accessible.
- Include periodic share outs in staff meetings covering commonly-asked questions about document accessibility.
- In manager guidelines, include a procedure for procuring software and services that allow for the creation of accessible digital content. The policy should outline questions that vendors should be expected to answer, a process that involves user testing, and steps to take if a completely accessible solution cannot be found. These may include periodic check-ins with a vendor to encourage them to fix issues, or a biannual search for an alternative product or service that meets the digital accessibility policy.
Glossary
- Screen reader software:
- A program that enables blind or low vision users to interact with a computer or mobile device through speech output and keyboard commands or touch screen gestures.
- Captions:
- Text displayed on a screen that provides a transcription of dialogue or a description of audio, primarily for deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals.
- Plain language:
- Communication that is clear, concise, and easy for the target audience to understand, avoiding jargon and complex sentence structures.
- Non-distracting elements:
- Design components or content features that avoid unnecessary movement, flashing, or complex visuals, ensuring focus on the main information.
