Guidance for Digital Accessibility Compliance: Official Records and Legal Documents
Official records and legal documents are those that establish, record, or preserve official business, legal obligations, or government actions. These documents may be subject to records retention requirements and may require fixed formatting to preserve their official nature.
Preferred Format
Official records and legal documents should be published as accessible PDFs, or as HTML with an accompanying official PDFs when appropriate.
Examples
- Board agendas
- Meeting minutes
- Resolutions
- Legal notices
- Contracts
- Memoranda of understanding
- Board policies
- Administrative regulation
- Public hearing materials
Design Principles
- Preserve the official record. Official records should accurately document government business while remaining accessible to the public.
- Preserve meaning, not unnecessary formatting. If formatting is not essential to the document's purpose, consider whether HTML would provide a better user experience.
- Publish one authoritative version. Users should be able to clearly identify which version of a document is the official record.
- Separate records from information. Official records preserve actions and decisions. Informational webpages explain those actions and help users understand them.
Review Steps for Accessible PDFs
Review Document
Before deciding how to publish the document, answer the following questions:
- Does this document record an official action or decision? Examples include meeting agendas, approved minutes, and resolutions.
- Is the document required by law, regulation, or records retention policy? Some documents must remain publicly available or be preserved in their original form.
- Does the document need to preserve a fixed layout or pagination? If formatting is part of the official record, PDF may remain the most appropriate delivery method.
- Is this the official published version? Determine whether this document serves as the authoritative version or simply communicates information. If it primarily communicates information, it may be a better candidate for an HTML webpage.
Consider Alternatives
Not every official document must exist only as a PDF. For example:
- Board policies and administrative regulations are generally better suited for HTML webpages because users need to search, reference, and link to them regularly.
- Long reports may benefit from an HTML summary with an optional downloadable PDF.
- Supporting information, appendices, and related resources can often be presented as webpages.
The goal is to determine whether the PDF itself is the official record or simply the vehicle currently being used to communicate information.
Test and Confirm Accessibility Before Publishing
All documents must be tested for accessibility before they are published to the website.
For PDFs and other downloadable documents, accessibility cannot be assumed simply because the document was created in Microsoft Word, Adobe InDesign, or another authoring tool. Documents should be reviewed to ensure they can be successfully used by people using assistive technologies.
Before publishing a document, verify that:
- The document is the current approved version.
- The document has a clear title and language.
- Headings and document structure are logical.
- Images include meaningful alternative text.
- Tables are necessary and include appropriate headers.
- Links use descriptive text.
- Color is not the only method used to convey meaning.
- The document has a logical reading order.
- The document can be navigated using a keyboard and assistive technologies.
- The document has been tested with an accessibility checker and any identified issues have been addressed.