Reduce, remake, remediate: A smarter approach to document accessibility
The most effective way to ensure accessibility is to start with it in mind—using best practices and choosing documents that are already accessible. It isn’t difficult, and it doesn’t take much extra time.
When it comes to existing documents, it can be difficult to determine where to start, and it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Reduce, remake, remediate is a simple strategy that you can employ to streamline your efforts to manage your documents and ensure that all of your content is accessible.
You don't have to manage your content all at once. It's easier than you think, and the best time to start is now.
Reduce—Start by decluttering
Goal: Eliminate unnecessary or outdated documents to reduce the workload and improve user experience.
- Audit your content: Is it still relevant?
- Remove duplicates or outdated versions.
- Consolidate similar documents into one accessible version.
Don't put effort into making a document accessible if it isn't needed.
Remake—Rebuild from accessible sources
Goal: Recreate documents using accessible templates or original source files.
- Use documents such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel that have been created with accessibility best practices.
- Check PDFs to see if they have been tagged accessibly.
- Request accessible versions of externally created documents, such as journal articles.
- Avoid scanning paper documents unless OCR and proper tagging (for PDFs) are applied.
If you have the source, make it right.
Remediate—Fix what you must
Goal: Improve accessibility of existing documents when reducing or remaking isn’t possible.
- Use accessibility checker tools and others that can help correct the accessibility of a document.
- Focus on high-impact documents first.
- Seek help from accessibility subject matter experts when needed.
Remediation is a last resort, not a first step.
Why this matters
Accessible documents ensure that all students, staff and faculty can engage with content equitably. By following the Reduce, remake, remediate framework, you can prioritize your efforts, save time and reduce the amount of work needed to make your content accessible—while making a meaningful impact on campus inclusion.
Ready to get started?
Visit the Accessibility Fundamentals section of the website to learn the basics of creating accessible content or take part in one of the upcoming training opportunities.