Build access into document publishing

A practical workflow for preventing, checking, repairing, and validating document barriers.

Starter draft for review. Use as a conversation or planning aid.

1. Prevent barriers at the source

Start with an accessible authoring template. Use real headings, lists, and meaningful link text.
Write plainly and keep a logical reading order.
Provide useful text alternatives for informative images. Keep essential instructions out of images alone.
Use sufficient contrast and avoid conveying meaning through color alone.
Prefer accessible HTML when a downloadable document is not necessary.

2. Check before publishing

Run the authoring application's accessibility checker and resolve the issues it finds.
Review headings, table structure, reading order, language, and links manually.
After PDF export, check tags, text selection, reading order, and document language.
Use keyboard and assistive technology checks suited to the document and audience. A clean automated report does not establish accessibility.

3. Repair or escalate

Fix the source file where possible so future exports retain the improvement.
Route complex tables, forms, or scans to qualified remediation support.
Assign a publisher and an accessibility review owner. Record unresolved barriers and a responsible escalation route.
Provide an accessible alternative that carries the same information while a barrier is addressed.

4. Validate and sustain

Confirm the published download opens correctly and remains readable.
Record the version, owner, review date, and accessible alternative.
Give readers an accessible way to report a problem.
Update the template or process when the same issue appears again.

Use with your team: select one document type, trace its publication workflow, and identify the handoff where an accessibility check would prevent repeated rework.

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