Accessibility
NORC is committed to making our digital environments, assets, and products accessible to a wide audience and delivering the most inclusive user experience possible. Our mission to produce trustworthy research is bolstered when our content meets the needs of all people, including those with disabilities.
Ensuring that we continually improve upon our digital accessibility standards and best practices is of the highest priority. We do so by partnering with employees (i.e., NORC’s Digital Accessibility Group and Employee Resource Group, Diversability), intentionally collaborating with consultants on digital accessibility and inclusive design, offering ongoing training and professional development opportunities, and sharing best practices gleaned with partners and clients.
Section 508
The Section 508 Amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires that individuals with disabilities seeking information or services from a federal agency have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to individuals without disabilities.
NORC's 508 Compliance Commitment
NORC’s Desktop Publishing (DTP) team provides Section 508 guidance, training, and remediation services for Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and PDF documents. NORC’s IT department uses 508 best practices to create and review web deliverables for our federal government projects.
508 Compliance Tools for PDFs
For PDFs, we use CommonLook PDF, an Adobe Acrobat plug-in that measures the compliance of PDF files against HHS, WCAG 2.1, and PDF/UA requirements by generating a checkpoint-by-checkpoint, element-by-element report. We use WCAG and HHS checklists, internally published guidelines, and Adobe’s automated Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates to ensure 508 compliance before submitting PDFs to a COR.
508 Compliance Tools for Web
For software applications, websites, and data collection instruments, we use tools such as the Web Accessibility Checker by AChecker and Sortsite by PowerMapper to ensure 508 compliance. A dedicated Quality Assurance (QA) team within IT ensures compliance to checklists outlined within Section 508. The off the shelf tools we use to develop surveys also adhere to Section 508. Upon request, we provide our clients with completed Accessibility Conformance Reports (ACR) based on the latest Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) published by HHS.
