Featured Image Caption: PDF Tagging Benefits
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In today’s digital landscape, electronic documents have become indispensable, with PDFs reigning as the dominant file format. Organizations heavily rely on files containing vital information, ranging from task details to company policies. PDFs are expected to be easily accessible and navigable by clients, employees, and customers. Despite its popularity, some individuals still encounter challenges when interacting with and accessing PDF documents. Let’s explore the top seven benefits of PDF tags and how they can transform your business organization.
Benefits of Tagging PDFs:
Enhance Accessibility for Clients and Customers
By ensuring PDF accessibility, you can avoid excluding potential customers with low vision or disabilities, who represent a substantial market segment. Improving web accessibility enables your organization to connect with new and future clients effectively. If your products feature PDF user guides or specifications, making these documents accessible becomes even more critical.
Did you know that approximately 1 in 3 Americans (61 million people) and 1 in 4 Canadians (6.2 million people) identify as having low vision or a disability? This represents significant spending power, amounting to over $490 billion annually in the United States and over $50 billion in Canada.
Comply with Government Regulations
Numerous countries have incorporated web accessibility into their civil rights legislation to promote inclusivity and protect individuals with disabilities in the digital realm. In the United States and Canada, adherence to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA is considered the standard for accessible digital assets. Failure to meet these requirements can result in costly litigation, substantial fines, and potential loss of business opportunities.
Avoid the Risk of Litigation
Digital accessibility lawsuits have been on the rise, and this trend is expected to continue. Protect your organization from legal challenges by ensuring that your website’s PDF documents meet accessibility requirements. Taking proactive steps to comply with web accessibility standards can help your organization avoid litigation altogether.
Unlock Tax Credits
If you run a small business in the United States, you may qualify for a $5,000 tax credit. By adhering to the IRS Code Section 44, Disabled Access Credit, your business can receive tax credits for enhancing website accessibility and making other accommodations to ensure usability for individuals with disabilities. In most cases, your efforts to comply with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 508, will fall under this tax credit provision.
Safeguard and Elevate Your Brand
By prioritizing accessibility, your organization becomes a responsible corporate actor and protects its brand reputation. Creating an inclusive environment that enables people with disabilities to access information through assistive technologies such as screen magnifiers, screen readers, and speech-recognition software contributes to a positive brand image. Embrace alternative input devices and refreshable Braille displays to ensure an accessible experience.
Optimize User Experience
Users gravitate toward websites with well-formatted documents featuringclear headings, subheadings, and a logical hierarchy. When you reformat PDF files on your website, consider updating the content to make it more relevant. Structuring the document appropriately ensures optimal viewing on smaller screens like mobile devices. A seamless PDF accessibility experience leads to enhanced user satisfaction and engagement.
Gain a Competitive Edge
In the highly competitive online marketplace, businesses seek every opportunity to differentiate themselves. By providing a user-friendly and inclusive experience, you not only remove barriers for individuals with disabilities but also gain a competitive advantage. Research indicates that 62% of consumers make purchasing decisions based on a company’s values and authenticity.
Foster Multilingual Accessibility
Tagging PDFs allows for multilingual accessibility. By utilizing language tags, you can provide translated versions of your PDF documents, enabling individuals who speak different languages to access and understand the content. This promotes inclusivity and expands your reach to diverse audiences globally.
Improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Tagging PDFs with relevant keywords and metadata can improve their visibility in search engine results. Search engines can index the content within tagged PDFs more effectively, increasing the chances of your documents being discovered and ranked higher. This enhances your overall SEO strategy and drives more organic traffic to your website.
Final Thoughts
PDF accessibility plays a vital role in any website, ensuring that information contained within PDFs, whether receipts, brochures, or invoices, remains accessible to everyone, including individuals with disabilities. When designing or improving your business’s website, keep these benefits in mind to create an amazing user experience for all visitors. By embracing PDF accessibility, you unlock opportunities for growth, foster inclusivity, and align your organization with the values of a diverse and digitally empowered world.
By Emilie Brown
who works with the Digital Marketing team at PREP, an AI-based remediation software that enables businesses to implement PDF tags for creating ADA and WCAG compliant pdfs in minutes. Her approach and methodology is simple, concise, and to the point and connect with readers seeking for solution-driven content on topics related to accessibility and remediation. Apart from her time at work, she loves to spend time with her dog, volunteer and play her guitar.
Member since August, 2023
View all the articles of Emilie Brown.
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