PDF accessibility and other e-publishing formats i-documents & other e-publications forum 8 September 2011 Dr Andrew Arch Web Policy – Accessibility Department of Finance and Deregulation

What is accessibility? Why is it important? Who benefits? PDF and e-doc issues Future for e-publications

What is Accessibility?

We’re particularly interested in e-accessibility ... Accessibility is ... ‘the usability of a product, service, environment, or facility by people with the widest range of capabilities’ (ISO) We’re particularly interested in e-accessibility ...

W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative The impact of disability is radically changed on the Web because the Web removes barriers to communication and interaction that many people face in the physical world. Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can access, use and interact with the Web.

Four Principles of Web Accessibility Perceivable Operable Understandable Robust http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/glance/ Perceivable - Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive Operable - User interface components and navigation must be operable Understandable - Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable Robust - Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies

Accessibility is usability for everyone.

Why is it important?

Accessibility matters for several reasons: Social reasons for accessible design Legal obligations and standards Usability benefits that accessibility brings Discoverability benefits from accessibility

UN Convention on Rights of People with Disabilities Article 9 - Accessibility … the identification and elimination of obstacles and barriers to accessibility, shall apply to … Information To promote access for persons with disabilities to new information and communications technologies and systems, including the Internet In Australia, the DDA provides protection against discrimination based on disability But as developed in 1992, no reference to the internet, web, e-books, etc

Australian policy context An inclusive Australian Society that enables people with a disability to fulfil their potential as equal citizens. National Disability Strategy (NDS) has six areas of policy actions – some of the specific directions are directly dealing with online information and service delivery ... Communication systems that are accessible, reliable, and responsive to the needs of people with disability Remove societal barriers preventing people with disability from participation as equal citizens Increase access to employment opportunities as a key to improving economic security and personal wellbeing for people with disability

AGIMO’s Role Develop and oversee a National Transition Strategy for the implementation of WCAG 2.0 Establish Communities of Expertise to collaborate and educate web managers Develop supporting projects to resolve common issues = Mitigation Projects Aim: unified, consistent and cost effective implementation of updated web standard NTS – national adoption of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0

Who benefits from accessibility?

Accessibility beneficiaries? There is an increasing need for Universal Design Who is the newbie? Who is the Geek? Who has a disability?

How are people affected? Many disabilities impact access to the web: Visual (e.g. colour blindness, low vision, blindness) Auditory (e.g. hearing loss, deafness) Physical (e.g. limited motor skills) Cognitive and neurological (e.g. difficulty reading, concentrating, understanding, remembering, concentrating) Users may have multiple disabilities (e.g. a deaf-blind user, older people) Plus situational requirements … 1 in 5 Australians experience long term impairment (3.95m people) 15% of the under 65 population (2.6m) 50% of the over 65 population (1.4m)

Not just disability … People using smart phones and other mobile devices People with poor communications infrastructure People with old equipment Older people and casual users People working in restricted access environments People with temporary impairments People coping with environmental distractions Mobile web resizing and reflowing; colour and images; navigation and layout; multimedia and scripting Poor communications infrastructure slow downloads – text quicker than images Old equipment slow downloads; old browsers Older people impairments – can be multiple Restricted access environments scripting disabled; multimedia disabled Temporary impairments multiple issues, but will get better Environmental distractions noisy; brightness; distractions

PDF and accessibility

Study into Accessibility of PDF for People with a Disability Findings: The design of the PDF file by the author to incorporate accessibility features The technical ability of the assistive technology (AT) to interact with the PDF file The skill of the users and their familiarity with the interaction between their AT and PDF files You can’t do much about the Assistive Technology interaction or the skill of the user, but can address poor document design!!

Key PDF accessibility issues Published as an image Headings missing Table of Contents not navigable Contrast poor Author and Publisher responsibility!

Example of PDF navigation

Example of poor contrast Dan Murphy’s catalogue http://danmurphys.com.au/

Top e-Doc Accessibility Elements Semantic structure Image descriptions Colour not relied on Contrast Understandable content Alternatives provided Aim: e-documents that are universally accessible Semantics Headings Lists Tables Links Navigation Images No images of text – all text is e-text Include alternative text Add in-line descriptions for informative images Colour Do not use colour alone to impart information Contrast Ensure sufficient contrast Minimum 4.5:1 Understandable Meaningful sequence – reading order Focus order Acronyms & Abbreviations Language of page & sections Left justification & other presentation practices Alternatives

Alternative Formats – NDS Report Alternative formats – provide CHOICE AHRC WWW DDA advisory notes – “organisations that publish documents only in PDF risk complaint under the DDA unless they make the content available in at least one additional format and in a manner that incorporates principles of accessible document design. Additional formats should be published simultaneously with the PDF version, and at least one such format should be downloadable as a single document if the PDF version is available as a single download.” Australian Government takes the same position.

Starting points Word InDesign Hard Copy PDF Use styles and other structural elements InDesign Tagging for semantic structure Hard Copy OCR the scanned documents to give digitised text PDF Undertake remediation

Guidance Web Guide on PDF Accessibility http://webguide.gov.au/accessibility-usability/accessibility/pdf-accessibility/ Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag.php http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quickref/ W3C draft PDF techniques for WCAG 2.0 http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/WCAG20-TECHS/pdf.html Canadian/UN Accessible Digital Office Document Project http://adod.idrc.ocad.ca/ Adobe guidance for InDesign http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/products/indesign/

Publishing processes Include accessibility in your internal publishing processes Include accessibility in your RFTs Accessible PDF Alternative accessible format(s)

the future for e-pubs

DAISY & EPUB Convergence between DAISY and EPUB based on XML Both mainstream readers and those who require accessible reading materials will benefit Allows for indexed text + indexed audio

Other developments Book Industry Strategy Group Review of digital technologies 2010 DBCDE Convergence Review To guide media and communications policy framework Hardware and software Kindle / iPad / Cloud / etc Social media – accessible interfaces BISG Fundamental changes to the way books are distributed VA submitted that minimum accessibility standards need to be adopted Convergence Review The Convergence Review is an independent review established by the Australian Government to examine the policy and regulatory frameworks that apply to the converged media and communications landscape in Australia. Hardware & software Built in reading aloud and some navigation – iPad/iPhone/Kindle Cloud - built in highlighting with read-aloud GPII - Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure Social media interfaces Easy Chirp for Twitter - http://www.easychirp.com/ YourTube for YouTube - http://www.povidi.com/yourtube/

Accessibility is about people World made for disabilities

Resources and Contacts

Contacts Contact the AGIMO Accessibility Team: Read the Web Guide: WCAG2@finance.gov.au Read the Web Guide: http://webguide.gov.au/accessibility-usability/accessibility/ Read the AGIMO Blog: http://agimo.govspace.gov.au/category/accessibility/

Additional Resources AHRC World Wide Web Access: Disability Discrimination Act Advisory Notes http://www.humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights/standards/www_3/www_3.html Web Accessibility National Transition Strategy http://www.finance.gov.au/publications/wcag-2-implementation/index.html Australian Govt study into the Accessibility of PDF for people with a disability http://www.finance.gov.au/publications/pdf-accessibility-study/index.html

References WCAG 2.0 seal World Made for Disability Video – EDF http://www.sitepoint.com/australian-government-wcag-2-accessibility/ World Made for Disability Video – EDF http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsuKxY_9f_8