Consist enables large banks to produce accessible documents in record time:
Founded in 1972, the Consist Group is a leading business IT company, headquartered in New York, with offices and development centres spread across the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East.
In 2022, new legislation in one of Consist’s key markets mandated that all businesses and organisations make their customer documents accessible to people with disabilities. Anticipating this change, Consist began preparing well in advance.
During 2021, Consist worked with some of the region’s major banks and other leading organisations to make millions of documents accessible. The solution was NAGIX, a tool they developed in-house. Today, organisations can provide their customers with accessible versions of any document at the click of a button. This article explores how the system works and the impact it has had on document accessibility.
Making documents accessible with NAGIX:
What is an accessible document, and what is the principle of inclusivity in accessibility?
An accessible document is a digital document that a visually impaired person can listen to using a screen reader. The accessibility process creates a PDF document that contains an accessibility tree that a screen reader can read in the order determined by the document’s accessibility designer.
The principle of inclusivity in accessibility dictates that simply making a document accessible is not enough to meet legal requirements. The accessibility must enable a person with a disability to operate in the public space like anyone else. Accordingly, accessibility that adheres to the principle of inclusivity must allow a visually impaired person to immediately create an accessible version of any document without needing to ask the organisation to make one on an individual basis.
This is similar to the principle of inclusivity in physical accessibility. For example, a café that is accessed via a staircase. The café cannot meet its obligation by placing a person at the bottom of the stairs to assist people with mobility impairments in climbing the stairs. True accessibility, according to the local law and the principle of inclusivity requires mobility in the space like any other person. Therefore, in this example, the café would need to install a lift or ramp that allows a wheelchair user to access the building independently`. The same principle applies to document accessibility.
How to Make Millions of Existing Documents Accessible: The Repetitive Automatic Accessibility Method:
- Design Phase
In this phase, the designer uses the unique DESIGNER tool of the NAGIX document accessibility system to define master templates for each types of document existing in the organisation. In a large bank, for example, the number of templates can reach into the hundreds. After all the organisation’s documents are categorised according to the structure of the different document types, the implementer uses NAGIX to create a template for each type of document, consisting of an accessibility tree. - Production Phase
After all the organisation’s documents are categorised into families and master templates, every customer will automatically receive an accessible version of every document they need. NAGIX identifies the family and type of document the customer wants to receive and knows how to provide the screen reader with the template and order in which to read the document.
Challenges of Document Accessibility:
Even the most advanced screen readers cannot independently know what a piece of text is. For example, if a number in a document is a phone number or part of an address. Tables also present a particular challenge in the world of document accessibility. To overcome these challenges, the NAGIX system integrates advanced technology to provide the best accessible customer experience. For example:
- Accessibility of Phone Numbers
Screen readers read the content of documents in Hebrew from right to left. However, when it comes to phone numbers, for convenience, the digits need to be read from left to right. NAGIX allows the template designer to specifically instruct the screen reader to read phone numbers from left to right while reading the rest of the document right to left. - Images, Icons, and Logos
Screen readers cannot read images, logos, icons, or symbols. NAGIX allows the document designer to provide a description of the image or logo, enabling the screen reading software to provide the user with an accurate description of the visual. This is known as alt text. - Tables
NAGIX’s solution allows the designer to define fields within tables, providing clear accessibility for complex content within tables, nested tables, and rotated tables. The system also knows how to define numbers, amounts of money, dates, and any other elements within the tables so that the screen reader knows to read the column title and also the column content in the correct order. It is therefore possible for a visually impaired person to understand the context of each piece of data in the table. - Graphs and Data within a Graph
Graphs based on information present a unique challenge in document accessibility. NAGIX allows the accessibility of such elements by linking the data file from which the information was drawn. The PDF document displays the graph, with the data on which the graph is based being highlighted in white by the implementer. NAGIX’s implementer knows how to associate each data point with the graph so that the screen reader reads them correctly.
Consist’s Accessibility Implementers Task Force:
Due to the enormous number of documents and forms they needed to make accessible, Consist quickly established an implementers task force. Using NAGIX, they were able to make a vast array of documents accessible in record time. Thanks to the accessibility implementers team, customer of these organisations can now generate accessible document for themselves.
It’s important to add that our sense of satisfaction at Consist is immense, not only because we met the goal we set for ourselves, but also, and primarily, because there is a tremendous social value here—allowing a visually impaired person to receive the information they need without any limitation. The law indeed mandates this, but at Consist, we believe that public space and documents should be accessible not just because the law requires it, but because it is a first-rate social value, and we are happy and proud to be partners in this endeavour.
