Re: Does a downloadable PDF report on a website fall under the legal requirements for ADA?

I'm not a lawyer, but the legal situation for PDFs is similar to a Web page.

That is, if someone wants access to the data and it is only available as an inaccessible PDF, some legal issues may arise if a person could not access the file. At the university where I work, annual reports can be homework for a business course and I have worked with multiple students with visual disabilities taking business courses.

The good news is that if the annual report is composed in Word or InDesign with styles, you can begin checking off settings and using appropriate styles to ensure that an accessible tagged PDF is created. LinkedIn Learning has some excellent PDF accessibility tutorials. An accessible HTML alternative could be another solution.  Or you could hire a vendor who specializes in remediating PDF, and it would be much cheaper than the legal battle.

The other good news is that an accessible file is generally easier to navigate and easier to read on an iPhone/Droid (when contrast guidelines are met). It's amazing what people read on a small screen these days.

Finally, I would add that once an accessible template is established for a given year, the future years would only require minor adjustments. Speaking from personal experience.

Hope some of this helps.

Elizabeth

On Feb 22, 2023, at 10:28 PM, Tyler Petty <tylerp@thinkparallax.com<mailto:tylerp@thinkparallax.com>> wrote:

[You don't often get email from tylerp@thinkparallax.com<mailto:tylerp@thinkparallax.com>. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ]

Sorry if I am phrasing this incorrectly. Does a downloadable PDF report on a website need to meet the same WCAG 2.1 requirements as the website itself or does a PDF not fall under a good, service, activity, or privilege? Specifically a PDF annual report. I am just curious if legal action could be taken against a company for not providing ada complaint pdfs. I could not find anything on W3 that claims a pdf could be seen as an extension of a website and therefore needs to be compliant. Again, my apologies for the bad phrasing. I am very very new to ADA compliance and really have no idea what I am talking about! Thanks!


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Elizabeth J. Pyatt, Ph.D.
Accessibility IT Consultant/Lead Trainer
Penn State IT Accessibility
https://accessibility.psu.edu

accessibility@psu.edu (General accessibility questions)
ejp10@psu.edu
Ph: 814-865-0805