Steps to make your digital documents accessible

Siteimprove scans are automatic and cannot fully check the accessibility of your documents. Like websites, a manual review of your documents is required. 

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Step 1: Stop adding inaccessible documents to your website.

All digital documents provided after April 24, 2026 meet WCAG 2.1 AA requirements. 

Make sure that any new documents that are added to your site are accessible. If any new PDFs or digital documents are added to your website, make sure they meet WCAG 2.1 AA requirements.

Learn more about how to make sure your documents are accessible: 

Step 2: Perform a document audit of your website.

A document audit is needed to find what digital documents you currently have available, find where those documents are stored, and build a plan on how to address any inaccessible documents that are required to meet WCAG 2.1 AA requirements.

Digital Document Remediation How-To Guide: Instructions and Worksheet (Google Doc) 

  1. Download the list of documents you own from Siteimprove. Learn more: How do I find my documents in Siteimprove.

    1. From Siteimprove, select your website from the dropdown menu at the top of your page.

    2. In the left navigation, select Quality Assurance > Inventory > Documents.

    3. In the main content area, select All Documents.

    4. In the All document types dropdown, select Internal.

    5. Select Export.

    6. Under Download Excel File, select Main (Table).

    7. Select All Rows.

    8. Your file will automatically download as a CSV.

  2. Make a copy of the Digital Document Remediation Worksheet
  3. Copy and paste the Document Title and Document URL from your Siteimprove CSV file to your Digital Document Remediation Worksheet. 
  4. Begin to review your digital documents one by one and determine who is responsible for making the file accessible, the priority level of the document for remediation, and what remediation strategy will be applied to the file, if needed. 

Reminder: Siteimprove scans are automated and may not find all documents that are available on your website. You are ultimately responsible for knowing what documents are available. 

Step 3: Build a remediation plan and share it with us (DAP).

A remediation plan is a plan you and your team build to determine how you will make sure your inaccessible digital documents are fixed so that they meet WCAG 2.1 AA requirements. 

Any digital documents people use to apply for, gain access to, or take part in your services, programs, or activities must be accessible and meet WCAG 2.1 AA requirements by April 24, 2026. 

Documents that are used to apply for, gain access to, or take part in your service, program, or activity may include:

  • Sign up forms or sheets,
  • Informational bulletins,
  • Guidance on applying for a degree or certificate,
  • Instructions on joining a meeting or information session, 
  • Among many others. 

What resources should I prioritize? 

Your highest priority resources are those that are most accessed and are used to engage with your service, program, or activity. 

Your lowest priority resources are those that are not accessed frequently and are not used to engage with your service, program, or activity.  

Ask yourself a few questions about each file:

  • Is this content still relevant and up-to-date?
  • Is this content available somewhere else on the site?
  • Can this content be a PDF alternative, like a web page or a Google Doc? 
  • Do I know who owns this content and how to contact them?
  • Does this content need to be publicly available?

After answering these questions, you will have a more clear understanding of how you would like to move forward with determining which files should be prioritized for remediation. 

Step 4: Implement your remediation plan.

Ensure all documents that folks need to engage with your program, activity or service area are addressed first. If a document is needed to gain information, engage with, or participate in your program area, it should be the highest priority for remediation efforts. 

Some preexisting digital documents may be exempt from being made fully accessible.

 Learn more: Preexisiting Digital Documents 

A ‘preexisting digital document’ is any PDF, spreadsheet, or word processing document that was made available before April 24, 2026. 

Any digital documents people use to apply for, gain access to, or take part in your services, programs, or activities must be accessible and meet WCAG 2.1 AA requirements by April 24, 2026. 

A digital document is exempt from this requirement, and is not required to meet WCAG 2.1 AA requirements, if: 

  1. It was made available prior to April 24, 2026 and
  2. It is only kept for research, reference, or recordkeeping. 

Keep in mind that if someone requests an archived content be made accessible, it must be remediated promptly.

Remove, archive, convert, or remediate your digital documents. 

If you decide to REMOVE or ARCHIVE a file, you may decide to:

  • Delete outdated or no longer relevant documents or content. 
  • Archive content that you want to keep public, but is not needed to access or interact with your program area. Archived content is not required to meet WCAG 2.1 AA requirements. 

If you decide to CONVERT a digital document, you may decide to:

If you decide to REMEDIATE a digital document, you may decide to:

Continue to work on backlogged content until all required digital documents have been addressed We recommend focusing on documents that have a higher number of views or have been modified more recently.

 If you need additional support or would like to schedule a consultation to walk through these steps with a DAP team member, please email: improving-accessibility@berkeley.edu