Fans of Arrested Development rejoiced recently at the long-awaited release of season 4, available exclusively from Netflix. The widely hailed comedy series was cancelled in 2006 by Fox but reached cult status via DVD sales and digital streaming. Netflix revived the series and all 15 episodes of the new season were made available for download on May 26th. Since the release, many fans have held viewing parties and have re-watched the episodes to pick up the series’ deftly layered humor.

In a recent interview with TV Guide, creator Mitch Hurwitz spoke about his intention to create rewatchability:

“Early on, I remember thinking, fans are looking so forward to this and after 15 episodes it’s going to be over for them. That’s what motivated me to keep layering and layering. The audience may watch it once, and like it or dislike it. Or they may want to watch it a lot and have fun digging out all of the subtext and connections. It seemed like fun to use the new medium as something people can play with. Like an Arrested Development toy.”

Viewers who use closed-captions are also being rewarded to this extra attention to detail. Fans at Reddit recently spotted additional details in the captions that provided more clues to running gags and in-jokes. Check out this blog at International Business Times for screenshots and details on some of extra jokes featured in the captions. But if you haven’t finished watching the new season yet, be forewarned of spoilers.

Are you new to web accessibility and don’t really know where to begin?  Have you wondered what exactly makes a website accessible or how your business may be impacted by an inaccessible website?

Our new Web Accessibility 101 webinar will answer these questions and more.

We invite you to join accessibility expert Todd Liebsch on June 25 from 11 AM to 12 PM EDT for this introductory overview of website accessibility.

The Web Accessibility 101 webinar will cover:

• Foundational knowledge of building accessibility into your website and where to begin
• What a screenreader is, what it does, and how it works
• The three approaches an organization can take to achieve accessibility, and the single most sustainable option for large organizations
• And what Deque’s product solutions can do to help your organization meet website accessibility guidelines

Which side of the fence do you stand on? Are you ready to defend your position?

Join us Monday, June 17th at 4PM EDT for an #A11y Smackdown! We’ll be talking ARIA vs. HTML.  Why would you use one over the other?  What are the benefits?  Where do they fall short?  We’ll answer questions like, “Will ARIA break an old system?”, “How far back is ARIA supported?”, and decide who will go home as the Intercontinental Champion!*  You won’t want to miss it!

If you’re new to #a11ychat or Twitter, don’t forget to check out our #a11ychat How-To Guide.

Download the file to add this event directly to your calendar.

*We will not be determining an Intercontinental Champion… Sorry.

Digital Accessibility compliance is one of the most pressing issues in online finance.

Making sure your company’s web content and mobile applications are accessible to users with disabilities and the elderly will not only extend your services to a very loyal and appreciative client base and improve the overall quality of your digital content, but it will also protect your company from potential litigation, saving valuable resources.

But no matter how hard authors work at integrating accessibility best practices in their source documents, all of these efforts can be put to waste in a matter of seconds when uninformed authors use lame conversion processes to generate their PDFs. Maybe this has a lot to do with the reasons why PDF has been getting such a bad reputation when it comes to accessible content over the past few years…

There are many quick and dirty methods through which a Word file can be turned into PDF, and most tools out there will allow authors to do just that. But as you could guess, the majority of these methods or tools yield very poor accessibility results.

One of the worst ways to create a PDF is using the default print options available in most software packages; a method that is arguably used by a lot of tools out there, as well as most people who simply want to create their PDF document and be done with it. Simply put, “printing to PDF” is not a recommended way to convert a Word document to PDF format because by doing so, all accessibility features integrated into the Word document are inherently stripped out in the process, resulting in a “untagged” PDF – a PDF that has no mark up to structure its content.

And really, what would be the point of putting all sorts of accessibility efforts in, if it was only to lose them all at the very last minute, due to a bad or uneducated conversion process? Untagged documents are wiped clean of any accessibility efforts, which in turn, means these efforts need to be provided all over again in Adobe Acrobat Pro. So obviously, you should always avoid printing to PDF at all costs.

The truth is, the appropriate method for converting Microsoft Word files to PDF depends largely on the version of Microsoft Office you have installed. For conciseness, we will concentrate mostly on the options available in Microsoft Word 2010, but we will also quickly go over ways it can be achieved using Word 2007 and Word 2000-2003 before we wrap this post up.

Microsoft Word 2010

There are two ways available in Office 2010 to create tagged PDF files: 1) natively or 2) with the Adobe add-in called PDFMaker. This add-in is available to those who have Adobe Acrobat installed. Otherwise, the native method can be used. Both are described below.

Converting to PDF using Word and PDFMaker

The most reliable way to convert a Word document to PDF format is to use the PDFMaker add-in, which is automatically installed in Office 2010 when Acrobat Pro is installed. Using PDFMaker ensures all accessibility features from the Word document are preserved through the conversion process to PDF, including tagged elements.

However, before first converting a Word document to PDF format, it is highly recommended that you check the PDF conversion settings for accessibility. Once set, these settings will remain in effect until changed. So unless modifications are applied, these settings can be set only once and be reliably used afterwards.

To view or change the PDFMaker conversion settings, begin by going to the Acrobat tab in the Create Adobe PDF group and click on the Preferences button. This will open the Acrobat PDF Maker dialog box. From there, complete the following steps:

1. Selecting the Settings tab, go under Application Settings and make sure the “Create Bookmarks”, “Add Links” and “Enable Accessibility and Reflow with Tagged Adobe PDF” options are checked. The “Attach Source File” option can remain unchecked.
2. Next, moving to the Security tab, make sure the Permissions options are not checked. Password Security will later be applicable in Adobe Acrobat Pro. If, for some reason, this option needs to be checked prior to PDF conversion, make sure that at least the Enable Text Access for Screen Reader Devices for the Visually Impaired option is checked.
3. On the Word tab, under Word Features, make sure the “Convert Footnote and endnote links” option is selected. The other two options can remain unchecked.
4. Finally, on the Bookmarks tab, make sure the “Convert Word Headings to Bookmarks” option is selected as well. The other two options can also remain unchecked.

Once these settings have been selected, click on the OK button to confirm. PDFMaker is now ready to properly manage your PDF conversion processes. It’s now time to create the PDF document!

1. Going back to the Acrobat tab in the Create Adobe PDF group, click on the Create PDF button. You can also simply go to the File tab and select Save as Adobe PDF from the list of format options. Both options will open the Save Adobe PDF File As dialog box.
2. You will then be asked to name the file and save it to your hard drive as you normally would, using a .pdf extension and clicking the Save button.
3. The Acrobat PDFMaker dialog box will open as the file is being converted to PDF format. Once the conversion process is completed, the newly created file will open in Acrobat Pro. And voilà! The resulting PDF should be tagged, and contain most, if not all, accessibility features that were initially built in.

For more information on the conversion process, WebAIM offers a nice set of guidelines for properly converting a Word document to PDF format in their PDF Accessibility Tutorial: http://webaim.org/techniques/acrobat/converting.

Converting to PDF Natively using Word

If you do not have Acrobat Pro installed on your computer, you can convert a Word file to PDF natively by selecting File » Save As and select PDF under Save as type. Before you save the file, select Options and ensure that the “Document structure tags for accessibility” option is selected. Again, the resulting PDF should be tagged, and contain most, if not all, accessibility features that were initially built in. Again, as it was the case with the other method previously explained, your mileage may vary.

Office 2007

Office 2007 users must have either Adobe Acrobat or the Microsoft PDF add-in installed. The Adobe add-in allows you to convert to PDF by clicking the Office Button and selecting Save As » Adobe PDF, or by selecting Create PDF on the Acrobat ribbon. A tagged PDF document should be created by default. You can verify the accessibility setting by selecting Adobe PDF conversion options. The Create Accessible (Tagged) PDF file option should be selected.

A free Save as PDF Add-in is available for Word 2007. Click the Office Button and select Save As » PDF. Select Options before saving to ensure the “Document structure tags for accessibility” option is checked.  Note however, that this method is not as good as the Adobe add-in at tagging content. You should always verify the accessibility of the resulting PDF with Acrobat Pro.

Office 2000-2003

Office 2000-20003 users must have Acrobat installed, as well as the add-in, which is installed by default in Microsoft Office when you install Adobe Acrobat. With the add-in you can convert Office files to PDF without opening Acrobat. This add-in also installs an Adobe PDF menu, which should appear in the Menu bar. To convert a Word Document to PDF, Select Adobe PDF » Convert to Adobe PDF. To verify that accessibility features are enabled, go to Adobe PDF » Change Conversion Settings and ensure the “Enable Accessibility and Reflow with tagged Adobe PDF” option is selected.

So, that’s about as simple as it gets. When most accessibility efforts are put in the source document and the conversion process to PDF is handled in one of the ways presented above, the resulting documents should be in great shape from an accessibility standpoint. Now fire up those tools and let’s play!

This blog post concludes our series on PDF Accessibility. The previous posts can be found here:

• Requirements for an Accessible PDF: Part 1
• Requirements for an Accessible PDF: Part 2 – Common Accessibility Barriers
• Requirements for an Accessible PDF: Part 3 – Authoring Best Practices
• Requirements for an Accessible PDF: Part 4 – Proper Conversion Process (this post)

We hope you enjoyed this last part of our series on PDF Accessibility Requirements. Do you feel these best practices were relevant in helping you get started on the right track with PDF accessibility? Are there other specific elements you would have hoped for us to cover? Don’t hesitate to leave a comment so we can keep this conversation going.

Deque’s Vice President of Product Development, Dylan Barrell, and CEO, Preety Kumar, accept the 21st Century Achievement Award.

On Monday evening, Deque Systems attended the Computerworld Honors Laureate Ceremony and Awards Gala at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC. We were thrilled to be awarded the 21st Century Achievement Award in the category of Innovation for our ground-breaking Amaze technology.

The Computerworld Honors program has been awarding ”organizations that use information technology to promote and advance the public welfare, benefit society and business, and change the world for the better” for 25 years. In order to be considered for the award, the organization must also fit the following criteria:

• Provides a significant benefit to society in one of the 11 outlined categories.
• Addresses a social or humanitarian need, either alleviating or resolving it.
• Is currently in use, and demonstrating measurable results for its target beneficiaries.
• Develops a new technology, or takes an existing technology and applies it in novel way, to meet a specific social or humanitarian need.

In March, it was announced that Deque was one of 267 laureates, chosen after a rigorous application and review process. From that group, a panel of judges narrowed down 5 finalists in each of the eleven categories, and then from those, one 21st Century Award winner was chosen.  Deque is honored to have been selected for this year’s 21st Century Achievement Award in Innovation.

About Amaze

Amaze provides greater flexibility and speed-to-market by enabling accessibility fixes to be developed outside of a site’s code base. Server-side “accessibility overlays” are programmed and housed within the Amaze servers and are delivered to the user in real-time when a page loads. The Amaze overlays seamlessly replace buggy code that makes the site inaccessible. Because Amaze accessibility overlays can be developed independently of a site’s source code, accessibility enhancements can be deployed rapidly, and without tasking an organization’s development resources.

More and more companies are recognizing the importance of making their content accessible to customers regardless of ability. This trend towards accessibility has now gone Hollywood: Regal Cinemas, the largest movie theater chain in the United States, is rolling out assistive technology glasses nationwide.

Sony Entertainment Access Glasses are a breakthrough technology which enables instant close-captioning as well as an audio headset that offers descriptive tracks. These glasses enable customers with hearing or visual disabilities to fully enjoy the cinema experience.

Regal Cinemas, which is also the most geographically diverse theater chain, is expected to roll-out the service to over 6000 screens. In a recent press release, Rob Del Moro, Chief Purchasing Officer for Regal Entertainment Group stated, “We deeply appreciate and are encouraged by all of the positive feedback from guests and advocacy groups who recognize Regal’s leadership in this area. The evolution from open caption presentations and earlier generations of technology to our advanced Sony Entertainment Access System has led to the dawning of a new age of greater access at Regal. And we could not be more proud of the progress.” Customers can check local listings for “Accessibility Devices Available” screenings and ask for the device at the guest services counter.

(via CNET)

M-Enabling

The M-Enabling Global Summit is “the only program exclusively dedicated to promoting mobile accessible and assistive applications and services for senior citizens and users of all abilities, a market of more than one billion users worldwide, with considerable untapped potential.”

Many organizations are seeking systematic ways to ensure the full accessibility of their regular web sites, mobile web sites and mobile applications. Several innovative solutions are now available which enable organizations to streamline their web content management, providing superior consumer experience and compliance with web accessibility standards. Our M-Enabling Panel, “Advanced Solutions for Mobile Apps and Mobile Web Access,” is scheduled for June 7th from 11am-12:30pm and will examine newest methodologies and tools, as well as their implementation by large organizations.

We will be joined by:

• Ted Drake, Sr. Accessibility Software Engineer, Intuit
• Pina D’Intino, Sr. Manager, Enabling Solutions and Support Management, Scotiabank
• Dylan Barrell, VP of Product Development, Deque Systems
• Dinah Cohen, Director, Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP), U.S. Department of Defense
• Dan Mouyard, Senior Interface Engineer, Forum One Communications

ABA Regulatory Compliance Conference

This is the 27th Annual ABA Regulatory Compliance Conference, and the conference attracts hundreds of risk and compliance professionals in the financial industry. Deque CEO Preety Kumar will be joined by Kristina Launey, a Partner at Seyfarth Shaw, LLC for a Power Breakfast session on June 11th from 7:15-8:15am. Our session is titled “Digital and Mobile Accessibility: Is Your Bank Prepared?” and will cover everything you need to know about digital accessibility compliance and offering practical solutions for getting your company on the path to compliance. Digital Accessibility compliance is one of the most pressing issues in online finance. Making sure your company’s web content and mobile applications are accessible to users with disabilities and the elderly will not only extend your services to a very loyal and appreciative client base and improve the overall quality of your digital content, but will also protect your company from potential litigation, saving valuable resources.

If you’re planning to attend either conference, be sure to stop by and check out these enlightening and informative sessions.

While working to educate yourself on web accessibility, you may have asked yourself these very questions.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3c) is an international community that was established in 1994 to develop Web standards. They developed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as “a single shared standard for web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments internationally.” This standard is what is used to determine accessibility of websites today.

The guidelines are organized under four principles: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.

• Perceivable – Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. This means that users must be able to perceive the information being presented (it can’t be invisible to all of their senses)
• Operable – User interface components and navigation must be operable. This means that users must be able to operate the interface (the interface cannot require interaction that a user cannot perform)
• Understandable – Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable. This means that users must be able to understand the information as well as the operation of the user interface (the content or operation cannot be beyond their understanding)
• Robust – Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. This means that users must be able to access the content as technologies advance (as technologies and user agents evolve, the content should remain accessible)

The idea behind these principles is that if any of the things listed above are not true, users with disabilities will not be able to use the Web.

The WCAG (now 2.0), includes over 50 accessibility checks, but if you are looking for some quick and easy wins, we have a ten-point checklist that includes some of the most common accessibility errors.

When you are ready to go further, take a look at WebAIM’s checklist. It is a more reader-friendly version of the official WCAG 2.0 standard.

One reason shows such as Undercover Boss are so popular is that many of us can relate to wishing upper management knew what it was like to do our job, and we enjoy seeing those top level people struggle to complete the tasks they created for their employees. It’s the ultimate “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.” How else can we learn to understand and appreciate things other people experience if we haven’t experienced them ourselves?

Give it a Try

Casa Grande, AZ observes a Disability Awareness Day that gives that “walk a mile” experience to people without disabilities for one day. Headed by the Mayor’s Committee on Disability Issues, students and community members tried to live with different types of disabilities, simulating what it’s like to be a person with visual, speech, or motor impairment. It was an eye opening experience for everyone involved.

In addition to trying to navigate the city physically, using ramps to go into buildings and even just getting out of the house in the morning, participants were able to try out different assistive technologies. Tools such as “a keyboard in high-contrast colors with large-print letters, a computer mouse that can be used while holding the hand vertically and a device for people with speech difficulty that allows the user to spell words into it and ‘speaks’ the words out loud.”

The Mayor’s Committee encouraged people who work in Human Resources or related fields to try the simulations. They often make changes that directly impact people living with a disability. “When a grocery store manager participated, for example, Smith said the company widened the aisles in the store.”

This event plays an important role in the ongoing struggle to make the world accessible. More cities should host a similar day, and allow people to experience some of the areas that are difficult to navigate as a person with a disability.

Global Accessibility Awareness Day, which takes place every May 9th, employs a similar tactic – they encourage people to simulate a disability and then try to navigate the Internet. By doing this, they can experience what millions of people with disabilities deal with every day – websites that are not accessible.

If you work for or own a company that has a website, try it out for yourself. Can you get to everything on your webpage without using a mouse? If you had a hearing impairment, could you watch a video on your site and understand what was going on? Take a minute and “walk in your customer’s shoes.” With 10% of the world’s population living with a disability and an aging Baby Boomer generation, can you afford to lose customers because they can’t navigate your website?