DSI announces the world's first Section 508 compliance remediation service for PDF files. The new service allows any organization publishing in PDF to make their content accessible to disabled users.
Oakland, California - March 11, 2004 - Document Solutions, Inc. (DSI), a leading provider of services, consulting and middleware for PDF technology applications, announces the immediate availability of remediation services for existing PDF files to ensure compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
As of June, 2001, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act required U.S. federal government agencies and their contractors to produce electronic documents in accessible form. Many state and local governments, educational institutions and businesses have begun adopting mandates to ensure their content is accessible to disabled individuals.
"Many Federal government and contractor web sites have revised their HTML since 2001 to comply with Section 508," says DSI's 8-year veteran CEO Duff Johnson. "Their PDF files however, often a third or more of the total online content, are the glaring exception."
"Almost three years after the regulation went into effect, very, very few PDF files comply with Section 508," said Johnson. "We estimate that as of Q1, 2004, less than 1% of PDF files deployed online by the Federal Government comply with 508. Even fewer private-sector documents comply, even though Section 508 is mandated for many federal contractors," Johnson says.
DSI's new Section 508 Compliance service is available on a per-page basis. Files submitted to DSI are processed and returned to replace the PDF files existing files on enterprise servers. At the same time, DSI also refreshes the PDF, adding features such as bookmarks, form-fields, or other PDF features as needed, and reducing file-size.
The process imposes no visible changes on a PDF file whatsoever, but screen-reader users or users of other text-based assistive technology will breath a sigh of relief.
"There's no longer any excuse for government and business treating disabled users as second-class citizens," says Johnson. "In combination with commercially available systems for Section 508 remediation in HTML, DSI's unique solution for PDF compliance bridges the gap between the good intentions and sad reality of non-compliant government and contractor-originated content."
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About Document Solutions, Inc. (DSI)
Document Solutions Inc. has delivered professional electronic document services and custom solutions based on PDF technology since 1996. Via a service and consulting/development model, the company leverages the capabilities of the PDF format in a wide variety of electronic document applications ranging from document imaging and conversion to Business Process Management (BPM), forms, interactivity, content management and accessibility.
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