Understanding Accessibility Features
Accessibility features are design elements and technologies that help all users—regardless of ability—interact with documents. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide the framework for document accessibility, outlining four main principles: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust (POUR). These guidelines apply to digital documents including PDFs, Word files, and web-based formats.
Screen Readers: Enabling Audio Access
Screen readers are specialized software tools that convert text and other document elements into speech or Braille output. People with visual impairments rely heavily on screen readers, such as JAWS, NVDA, or VoiceOver, to navigate and understand documents. For screen readers to work effectively, authors must include structured content, descriptive headings, and properly tagged sections so the reading sequence makes sense.
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