As the CEO of a group of companies that specialize solely in accessibility solutions, I can say with pride and certainty that the GAAD Foundation remains a constant source of inspiration for us all.
As part of Accessible360’s ongoing initiative to support non-profit organizations, we perform quarterly complimentary digital accessibility assessments—helping them embark on their road to accessibility. Most recently, our professional accessibility auditors completed a comprehensive digital accessibility website assessment for Association of Independents in Radio (AIR).
In today’s ever-connected world, digital accessibility should always be comprehensive—going beyond just website pages. In fact, many organizations now spend a great deal of time and effort to ensure their website pages, mobile applications, and customer kiosks are accessible and in compliance. But unfortunately, many overlook PDFs even though they too are digital assets.
So what is the answer? Look for a solution that is laser-focused on PDF accessibility. And whether that’s software or professional services—either can help achieve compliance with document accessibility standards, including WCAG, PDF/UA and Section 508.
Happy Holidays from A360!
As another year winds down, we would like to wish you and your entire team a happy and safe holiday season! In reflection of the past year, it is quite clear that digital inclusion is more important than ever before. Our team was extremely busy as we grew at a record pace. Ultimately, when we look at the growth of our team and client base, among many amazing factors one thing stands out above all - the digital world became more accessible in 2021 than ever before!
Last week, A360 accessibility engineer Anthony Lawlor and I had the chance to speak at Minnebar, the nation’s largest and longest-running technology “unconference”. We wanted to take a different angle from many of the accessibility events and focus on B2B web applications - and what better example to demonstrate than our own A360 HUB, our fully accessible project and issue management system. Being central to our work every day at Accessible360, we’ve learned many lessons on how to think about making a solution that works for everyone. A 25 minute talk isn’t nearly enough to get into many of these complex topics, but we did want to share some of how we think about our development:
As you may know, T-Base Communications has been at the forefront of document accessibility solutions and associated technologies for more than 25 years. We are proud to say that, in that time, we have purpose-built our offerings to best serve low-vision and blind customers of the world’s leading enterprise, government, and educational organizations.
To continue our ever-present commitment to the community that we serve, we are always evolving. That is why earlier this year we acquired Accessible360—the nation’s leading live-user accessibility auditing firm.
ST. LOUIS—October 19, 2021— Thompson Street Capital Partners (TSCP), a private equity firm based in St. Louis, today announced the acquisition of CommonLook by T-Base Communications, a TSCP portfolio company. CommonLook is a leading provider of software and services enabling electronic document accessibility and remediates more than one million pages annually for more than 600 customers. T-Base simplifies the fast, secure delivery of accessible communications in a wide range of print, web, and digital formats for financial, education, healthcare, telecommunications, and government entities.
Social media has become a great way for organizations to promote themselves and their services. In recent years, social media platforms have made accessibility improvements. An example of such an improvement is adding the ability to include alternative text to images. However, social media platforms have generally been less than stellar as it relates to access for consumers with disabilities.
This needs to be top of mind as you leverage social media platforms to enhance your brand image or reach. According to the CDC, over 25% of the US population lives with a disability. As leading social platforms have provided more tools to enable an accessible experience, much of the accessibility falls to social and digital marketers providing content in an accessible manner. Below, we have outlined some best practices to keep in mind when sharing content on your social media feeds:
For many years, federal government agencies have been required by Section 508 Compliance to provide equitable access to digital technology. In a landmark move for state governments, Colorado was recently the first state to enact a law mandating that state agencies provide accessible technology by complying with the WCAG Guidelines.
Quite honestly, laws like this have been a long time coming. There is no excuse for any organization, let alone a federal or state government agency, to not provide equitable access to their websites and apps. As the COVID-19 pandemic exemplified, people with disabilities and the aging population were put at risk due to lack of information and simply left out of the online conveniences available to others during the extended periods of shelter in place orders. Everyone needs access to engage with the previously traditional “in-person” activities from the comfort of their home via a web or mobile browser.
Video has long been a great medium to convey content in more expressive and imaginative ways than text or imagery alone. Ever since their introduction to the digital environment, people have used videos to attempt to capture the spectrum of the human experience (and then some) using storytelling devices, set/background/clothing design, choreography, music, and sound design, and expressive acting.
How can we take a medium so complex and varied and ensure that everyone can engage with it in a meaningful way? In this article, we’ll explore the guidance from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and techniques like text, captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions to learn how to maximize your ability to reach diverse audiences and conform to WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
