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From: Angela French
Date: Fri, Jun 27 2014 12:55PM
Subject: Standards/Laws pertaining to accessibility of linked-to documents on websites
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Hello All,
I remember some years back that there was some disagreement on whether standards and laws around accessibility required linked-to documents on websites to be accessible. The argument was that Word and PDFs, etc. are not technically "web" documents as they are not html. While I personally think that argument to be a bogus attempt to wiggle around the intent of the law, I'm wondering if there is anything definitive in this regard now that I can refer to .

Thank you,



Angela French
Internet Specialist
State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
360-704-4316
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = <mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
www.checkoutacollege.com<;http://www.checkoutacollege.com>;
www.sbctc.edu<;http://www.sbctc.edu>;

From: Julie Romanowski
Date: Sun, Jun 29 2014 5:02AM
Subject: Re: Standards/Laws pertaining to accessibility of linked-to documents on websites
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Since we've recently been focused on addressing accessibility of our Canadian site to meet AODA requirements, we've been using the AODA IASR definition - "Content may include any information that may be found on a web page or web application, including text, images, forms and sounds." If it's available on a web page then it's always considered web content regardless of the technology used to create the content.

The information is found on page 73 of the "A Guide to the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation" PDF provided by the Ontario government. The text above comes from the "What does new website and content mean?" section, included below:

What does new website and content mean?
A new website refers to a site with a new domain name - a brand new web address. The term does not refer to a new page or new link on an existing site.

The term also refers to a site with an existing domain name that is undergoing a significant "refresh". There is not an industry standard definition for significant refresh. In this context, "significant refresh" could include, but is not limited to, the following elements:
* a new look and feel to the website
* a change in how users navigate around it
* a major update and change to the content of the website.

Content may include any information that may be found on a web page or web application, including text, images, forms and sounds.

-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Angela French
Sent: Friday, June 27, 2014 1:56 PM
To: WebAim Forum ( = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = )
Subject: [WebAIM] Standards/Laws pertaining to accessibility of linked-to documents on websites

Hello All,
I remember some years back that there was some disagreement on whether standards and laws around accessibility required linked-to documents on websites to be accessible. The argument was that Word and PDFs, etc. are not technically "web" documents as they are not html. While I personally think that argument to be a bogus attempt to wiggle around the intent of the law, I'm wondering if there is anything definitive in this regard now that I can refer to .

Thank you,



Angela French
Internet Specialist
State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
360-704-4316
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = <mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
www.checkoutacollege.com<;http://www.checkoutacollege.com>;
www.sbctc.edu<;http://www.sbctc.edu>;