This document discusses WestEd's process for ensuring Section 508 compliance of project deliverables. It outlines WestEd's experience delivering 508-compliant documents, its document preparation process, and the steps taken to remediate any non-compliant documents which include adding tags, validating against checklists, and documenting any remediated items. It also provides an example of remediating a document that is missing alternative text for images.

1. As part of Technical Plan, item i in evaluation section: Adequacy of proposed logistical arrangements,
including a clear understanding of federal laws and regulations for undertaking all aspects of the work,
particularly for convening federal sponsored meetings and Section 508 Compliance (NAEP ALS RFP p. 57
of 72)
Assuring
Section
508
Compliance
for
all
Project
Deliverables:
Section
508
of
the
Rehabilitation
Act
requires
that
federal
agencies’
electronic
and
information
technology
be
accessible
to
people
with
disabilities.
WestEd
is
committed
to
aligning
documentation
to
the
same
standards
set
for
the
Federal
Government.
Over
the
last
year,
WestEd
has
had
ample
experience
delivering
508-­‐compliant
documents
to
the
Massachusetts
Dept.
of
Elementary
and
Secondary
Education,
samples
of
which
may
be
viewed
at
this
URL:
• http://www.doe.mass.edu/edeval/ddm/example/
(MA-­‐DDM)
• http://www.doe.mass.edu/cte/
(MA-­‐CVTE
URL
TBD)
Structural
formatting
is
an
essential
element
of
accessible
digital
content.
Structural
formatting
describes
the
purpose
of
the
text,
allows
readers
to
scan
through
and
identify
content,
and
supports
better
understanding
of
the
author’s
message.
Structured
Word
documents
are
also
more
likely
to
be
accessible
to
other
types
of
technology
(like
search
engines)
and
are
more
likely
to
be
accessible
when
converted
to
other
file
types,
like
HTML
or
PDF.
WestEd
implements
a
document
standards
protocol
that
requires
authors
to
use
project-­‐specific
document
templates,
typically
in
programs
such
as
Microsoft
Word,
Microsoft
Excel,
Adobe
InDesign,
and
Adobe
Acrobat
Professional
that
have
been
designed
to
implement
structured
formatting
using
Styles.
Deliverable
files
will
be
generated
in
both
native
format
and
in
Portable
Document
Format
(PDF).
Document
Preparation
and
Remediation
In
general,
the
core
use
of
the
Portable
Document
Format
is
to
ensure
that
a
document
looks
the
same
online
as
it
does
in
print
form.
This
includes
ensuring
maximum
cross-­‐platform
and
cross-­‐program
compatibility
without
requiring
users
to
install
specialized
fonts
or
rely
on
underlying
operating
system
packages.
An
accessible
version
of
the
Acrobat
document
can
be
held
to
the
same
standard
–
a
document
is
considered
accessible
if
assistive
technologies
can
provide
the
same
information
provided
visually
in
the
document.
This
information
is
provided
via
a
tag
structure
format
packaged
within
the
document
that
represents
the
document’s
visual
and
structural
components.
The
fundamental
requirement
for
an
accessible
and
compliant
PDF
document
is
that
the
document
tag
structure
fully
represents
the
visual
information
provided
by
the
document
itself.
The
process
to
determine
this
requires
an
individual
to
review
each
page
in
the
document
to
ensure
that
it
conforms
to
all
the
accessibility
requirements
and
modify
the
tag
structure
of
the
page
when
required
to
ensure
compliance.
This
leads
to
a
relatively
straightforward
workflow
for
remediating
any
given
document:
• The
document
is
received
by
WestEd
PMP
and
escrowed
in
the
NAEP
Deliverables
Remediation
Workflow
folder
in
the
project
folder
on
Box.com.
• Tags
are
added
to
the
file
using
the
project
standard
version
of
Adobe
Acrobat
Professional.
• Each
page
in
the
document
is
validated
against
the
final
PDF
document
checklist.
o Any
items
that
are
not
in
compliance
are
remediated.
An
example
of
this
is
provided
in
the
Example
Remediation
Activity
section
of
this
document.
o Any
remediation
items
are
noted
in
the
remediation
report.
• The
overall
document
is
validated
against
the
final
PDF
document
checklist.
o Any
items
that
are
not
in
compliance
are
remediated.

2. o Any
remediation
items
are
noted
in
the
remediation
report.
• A
copy
of
the
remediated
document
is
saved
to
the
workflow
infrastructure.
• The
remediated
document
and
a
copy
of
the
remediation
report
are
delivered
to
NAGB.
Accessibility
requirements
include
a
variety
of
different
compliance
requirements
when
applied
to
PDF,
Microsoft
Word
&
Excel,
InDesign,
and
PowerPoint
files.
NAGB
should
be
aware
that
no
legally
binding
set
of
PDF
accessibility
requirements
are
currently
defined
by
the
U.S.
Access
Board,
thus
some
latitude
can
be
applied
in
the
manner
in
which
WestEd
chooses
to
develop
PDF
documents
to
conform
to
the
Section
508
requirements.
The
exact
set
of
best
practices
that
are
relevant
to
NAGB
will
be
developed
as
an
outcome
of
the
initial
project
assessment
activities,
defining
a
concise
set
of
accessibility
requirements
for
the
remediating
activity.
Example
Remediation
Activity
As
an
example,
assume
that
a
document
is
in
violation
of
the
best
practice
“Provide
alternative
text
for
images.”
To
address
this
issue,
the
document
author
must
add
appropriate
alternative
text
for
images
within
the
Tag
tree
element's
Properties
window
or
with
the
Touch
Up
Reading
Order
Tool.
To
do
so:
• Open
the
Touch-­‐up
Properties
dialog
• Select
the
relevant
image
in
the
document
• Place
the
text
in
the
"alternative
text"
field
and
ensure
it
is
a
concise
and
meaningful
replacement
for
the
image.
For
example,
when
describing
a
picture
of
a
red
balloon,
entering
"red
balloon"
will
be
more
helpful
than
"This
is
a
picture
of
a
red
balloon."
• Close
the
Touch-­‐up
Properties
dialog
and
then
save
the
document.
If
the
image
does
not
convey
any
meaning,
such
as
a
spacer
image
or
separation
line,
or
is
redundant
to
adjacent
text,
the
element
may
be
defined
as
an
Artifact
element
in
the
tags
tree.
Making
an
image
an
Artifact
in
Acrobat
has
essentially
the
same
justification
and
criteria
as
giving
an
IMG
tag
a
null
alt
(alt="")
in
HTML.
Both
methods
allow
assistive
technologies
to
reliably
ignore
such
images.
Domain
Knowledge
Requirements
As
part
of
the
document
remediating
process,
it
is
often
the
case
that
content
requires
input
and
guidance
from
domain
experts
to
be
properly
remediated.
For
example,
providing
a
proper
alternative
for
a
text
image
may
require
interaction
with
the
document
author
to
determine
the
purpose
of
the
image,
formulaic
and
psychometric
recommendations
may
require
access
to
assessment
specialist
and
the
correct
pronunciation
of
technical
terms,
acronyms,
and
proper
names
may
require
author
interaction
to
ensure
the
document
remains
appropriate
to
the
audience.
In
addition,
document
structure,
including
heading,
bookmarks
and
inner-­‐document
navigation
features
provided
in
PDF,
need
to
be
exposed
in
a
fashion
that
supports
the
overall
use
of
the
document
as
intended.
For
these
knowledge
domain
requirements,
WestEd
PMP
will
work
directly
with
relevant
members
of
the
project
team
to
determine
what
content
needs
to
be
provided
by
authors
to
properly
remediate
documents.
As
this
domain
knowledge
is
provided,
WestEd
PMP
will
update
and
extend
the
project
PDF
style
guide
to
capture
the
knowledge
and
share
it
across
the
project.
This
ensures
that
as
information
is
provided,
it
is
captured
and
applied
in
a
continuous
process
improvement
loop
allowing
the
remediation
activities
to
rely
less
on
technical
resources
over
time.
Delivery
and
Secondary
Remediation
Work
Once
a
remediated
document
has
been
delivered,
NAGB
may
choose
to
perform
a
regression
test
and
review
of
the
document
to
determine
its
level
of
accessibility.
Based
on
the
test
results,
stakeholders
can

3. then
make
a
decision
to
release
the
document
or
pursue
further
remediation.
If
additional
changes
are
required,
WestEd
PMP
will
complete
these
and
resubmit
a
document
for
secondary
review.
Remediation
Report
For
all
documents
provided
under
this
contract,
WestEd
PMP
will
provide
to
NAGB
and
the
COR
a
remediation
report
that
details
the
changes
that
have
been
made
to
the
document,
the
location
of
the
changes
and
the
best
practices
the
changes
were
applied
to
ensure
conformance
with.
These
remediation
reports
will
be
escrowed
in
Box.com
as
part
of
the
NAEP
Deliverables
Remediation
Workflow
documentation.
This
will
allow
the
project
two
keys
pieces
of
functionality.
First,
reports
can
be
provided
at
no
additional
cost
to
each
document
author
to
define
the
specific
set
of
issues
that
required
remediation
in
their
documents.
This
provides
concise
direction
to
authors
on
what
issues
should
be
addressed
in
subsequent
document
development
as
well
as
the
specific
methods
for
providing
these
items.
Second,
the
workflow
allows
for
compliance
trends
to
be
tracked
over
time
and
across
different
authors.
This
provides
for
easy
identification
of
concepts
that
require
further
training,
investment
or
management
attention.
It
also
provides
a
method
for
justifying
the
investment
into
accessibility
in
terms
of
specific,
quantified
improvements
in
the
level
of
compliance
of
publications
and
documents.