As of 2020, directives in multiple countries have been set by authorities to ensure that websites comply with the WCAG 2.1.
In Europe, all websites within the public sector must be in compliance with the European Accessibility Act Directive. In America, this is known as ADA compliance.
We recommend reading the legislation of your region to ensure you are living up to their standard.
If you’re reading this, you have probably made sure your website is accessible. But is iPaper compliant too?
The short answer is no. iPaper does not live up to WCAG 2.1 or ADA compliance.
But read on to find out how you might be able to live up to the directive, while still using iPaper :)
Why isn’t iPaper web accessible?
When you process a flipbook, the pages in the PDF become rasterized images that are optimized to be seen online.
As all readable text has become an image, it will not be possible for screen readers or other assistive technologies to convert the text to speech.
But don’t worry, there are several things you can do to still be compliant while using iPaper.
What can you do to provide a web-accessible experience?
The PDF format is quite accessible by itself.
You can choose to offer visitors the iPaper format, as a more engaging alternative or supplement to the PDF.
Use our accessible landing page
Give your visitors the choice between PDF and flipbook with our accessible landing page which can be read using any type of assistive technology.
Each flipbook has an accessible landing page, by simply adding “accessible.aspx” at the end of the flipbook URL. Example:
https://viewer.ipaper.io/demotest/googlepdf/accessible.aspx
Acrobat Accessibility tool
Adobe Acrobat offers an accessibility checker to help you make sure your PDF is accessible.
By default, you won't see it on the Tools sidebar.
To activate it:
1. Open the Tools tab
2. Find the accessibility Icon
3. Click Add
Now you can see it in your tools panel and run the checker. The checker will try to point out, which elements and sections might not be accessible, giving you the chance to change it before uploading to iPaper.
Tips
Make sure to design accordingly to the WCAG 2.1 recommendations.
Here you can access a wide variety of tips and tools to make sure you're designing for Web Accessibility.
Documentation
Read about Web Accessibility here: https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-principles/
Read the European accessibility act here:
https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1202
Read the ADA compliance Act here:
https://www.interactiveaccessibility.com/services/ada-compliance
There are ways to make your flipbook experience more accessible, through manual enrichments. If you would like to learn more, we would be happy to discuss the options and best approach for your content 🙏.
Find a time that suits your schedule here: