Designing documents for accessibility

To comply with the Disability Discrimination Act local government bodies are expected to have their communications created in a format that complies with accessibility standards.

The documents can then be used by people with disabilities such as blindness, low vision or limited mobility. In addition to this, producing accessible content plays a key role in optimising PDFs for successful indexing by internet search engines. All documents, reports and brochures that are produced by external designers must be designed with accessibility in mind. Documents provided by external designers will be checked for compliance. For further information, please contact the Strategy and Communications Branch. Producing a PDF from InDesign that’s machinereadable, and optimised for screen readers and assistive devices – generally referred to as an “accessible” PDF – is critical for compliance with accessibility standards and regulations (such as W3C WCAG2 Level A).