What is Accessibility?
Web Accessibility is making sure sites and tools eliminate barriers so that people with disabilities, or those who employ assistive technologies have equal access. Accessibility is strongly related to universal design, which is the process of creating products that are usable by people with the widest possible range of abilities, operating within the widest possible range of situations. Research and implementation of web accessibility benefits everyone.
OnBoard's Public Posting and Accessibility
With the introduction of the Public Posting feature, OnBoard has the ability to share your meeting's contents with anyone who has your Public Meeting URL(s). With this functionality, it is our intention to provide methods to ensure these meeting materials are compliant with ADA regulations regarding Accessibility. While we do indeed provide those methods, we want to also inform you that you may need to take special action described below to improve accessibility and compliance for your readers.
What do I need to do to help make my Public OnBoard Documents accessible?
Adobe Acrobat Pro has a built-in accessibility checker. This is a great resource to use when initially creating your documents. Here is an example of an Adobe Acrobat Pro Accessibility Workflow.
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Important: OnBoard now automatically converts Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Microsoft Project (.mpp) files to tagged, PDF/UA-compliant PDFs when they are added to public meeting agendas. Word documents are converted to PDF/UA-compliant PDFs. Excel and PowerPoint documents are converted to PDF/A-compliant PDFs. Microsoft Project files produce PDFs with basic structure and metadata that screen readers can navigate, though some visual elements may not be fully accessible due to format limitations. However, the accessibility of the output depends on the accessibility of the source document. If your source file includes proper heading styles, alt text on images, and designated table headers, those will be preserved in the generated PDF. If the source file lacks that structure, the PDF will reflect that too. We recommend authoring documents with accessibility in mind from the start. See the section below for full details. |
Passageways INC is not liable for published documents that do not meet accessibility requirements.
Recent Accessibility Improvements
As of April 24, 2026 OnBoard has shipped a comprehensive round of accessibility improvements to the public meeting site. These updates benefit keyboard-only users, screen reader users, and anyone who relies on assistive technology.
Site Structure & Navigation
- Modernized the public meeting site’s underlying service (foundation work for ongoing improvements).
- “Skip to content” links added so keyboard and screen reader users can bypass repeated navigation headers.
- Standardized page structure — headings, landmarks, and page metadata — so screen readers can navigate correctly.
- Meetings and agenda items are now marked up as true lists, so assistive technology announces them properly.
- Every public page now has a unique, descriptive title, shown in the browser tab and announced by screen readers.
Keyboard & Visual Accessibility
- Clear visible outlines added around buttons, links, and form fields for keyboard users.
- Improved color contrast on links to meet WCAG AA standards.
Screen Reader Experience
- Improved how icons and document links are announced by screen readers.
- Screen readers now warn users before a link opens in a new tab or a new document.
- Cleaned-up labeling on the public Meeting page so assistive technology describes it accurately.
- The “PUBLIC” watermark is now hidden from screen readers so it doesn’t interrupt reading flow.
Document Conversion & PDF Accessibility
- Word documents converted to PDF for public meetings now produce PDF/UA-compliant output. OnBoard preserves and tags whatever accessibility structure exists in the source document — headings, alt text, reading order, and table headers — so screen readers can use it.
- Excel and PowerPoint documents converted to PDF for public meetings now produce PDF/A-compliant output.
- Microsoft Project (.mpp) files converted to PDF now include basic structure and metadata so screen readers can navigate the document, though some visual elements may not be fully accessible due to format limitations (such as Gantt charts).
- Generated PDFs now declare their language, so screen readers use the correct pronunciation engine.
Understanding PDF Accessibility: What OnBoard Does and Doesn’t Do
OnBoard preserves existing accessibility — it does not add accessibility that isn’t already there.
If an admin uploads a Word document with proper heading styles, alt text on images, and designated table headers, the generated PDF will correctly reflect all of that for screen readers.
If an admin uploads a Word document with no headings and no alt text, the generated PDF will still be structurally flat. OnBoard does not invent structure that doesn’t exist in the source.
| The accessibility of the output depends on the accessibility of the input. We recommend using tools like the Adobe Acrobat Pro Accessibility Checker to verify your source documents before uploading them to OnBoard. |
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