Client Profile
The client is a large city administration with more than 20 departments responsible for creating and publishing public-facing documents. These documents include PDFs, Word files, reports, and presentations, all produced independently by different teams. As document volumes increased, ensuring consistent accessibility compliance across departments became a critical requirement.
Challenges
The city operated in a fragmented environment where each department followed its own approach to document creation and remediation. There was no standardized process, resulting in inconsistent accessibility outcomes. Some departments attempted remediation, while others did not actively address compliance. Even where remediation was performed, issues such as incorrect reading order and improper tagging were common.
There was no dedicated internal team with expertise in accessibility remediation. Efforts were largely dependent on basic training, which led to inconsistent quality and incomplete compliance.
Visibility was another major limitation. The organization did not have a clear understanding of how many documents were accessible, how many required remediation, or where these documents were located. The overall process was not scalable. Accessibility efforts were siloed and reactive, with only a small portion of documents being remediated, making it difficult to meet growing compliance requirements.
The Solution
A centralized accessibility framework was established by documenta11y to bring structure and consistency across departments. A single intake and processing system was introduced, allowing all departments to submit documents through one platform. This created a unified approach while simplifying access for users across the organization.
Department-specific workflows were designed to align with how different teams operated. Each department had authorized users and a designated administrator responsible for approvals. When a request was submitted, notifications were sent to both the requester and the department administrator, ensuring controlled execution before remediation began.
A role-based structure was implemented to balance autonomy and oversight. Departments retained control over their own workflows, approvals, and budgets, while a central administrative layer provided complete visibility across all departments.
All remediation work was handled by a centralized team of experts. This ensured consistency in tagging, structure, and reading order across all documents, significantly improving quality and compliance.
The system also included multilevel approval workflows and department-level budget tracking. This enabled better financial control while maintaining operational flexibility. Flexible payment options were supported, including invoice-based payments, card payments, and credit-based systems, allowing departments to manage transactions according to their preferences.
Dashboards and reporting capabilities provided real-time visibility into project status, turnaround times, and spending. This allowed stakeholders to monitor progress and make informed decisions.
Our Approach
The implementation began with an initial discovery phase, where a high-level audit was conducted to understand document volumes, formats, and content complexity. This helped identify gaps and define the scope of the solution.
A pilot phase was then carried out with a select group of departments. This allowed workflows to be tested, refined, and aligned with user expectations. Feedback from this phase helped improve the overall system before broader rollout.
Once the workflows were standardized, the solution was expanded across all departments. The rollout ensured consistency while accommodating department-specific requirements.
The process continues to be optimized to improve turnaround times, cost efficiency, and quality, ensuring long-term sustainability.
The Impact
- Document accessibility inconsistencies reduced by 80% to 90%.
- Turnaround time improved by 50% to 60%.
- Overall costs reduced by 30% to 40%.
- Improved compliance readiness across all departments.
- Complete visibility into document pipelines, approvals, and budget utilization.
- Transition from fragmented, department-level efforts to a centralized and scalable accessibility program.
- Department-level control maintained within a unified framework.
The transition from fragmented, department-level efforts to a centralized accessibility program brought structure and scalability to document remediation. The implementation balanced centralized execution with department-level autonomy, ensuring both consistency and control.
As a result, the organization established a sustainable model for accessibility compliance, supported by clear visibility, standardized workflows, and improved operational efficiency.
