Accessibility abbreviation clarification

[Magendravarad28403894r8lu]

Hi All,

Good day! 

I require clarification regarding abbreviations. I am currently involved in the process of tagging PDFs, and during this process, if there are any abbreviations or acronyms, we must provide their full expansion, such as ADA (American Disability Act), in all instances. This consumes additional time for tagging the document. According to the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), abbreviations should be expanded at the first instance.

Clarification: Please let me know if it is satisfactory for us to list all abbreviations along with a concise explanation using a straightforward Note tag at the bottom of the first page.

[S. S · Accepted solution]

Hi @Magendravarad28403894r8lu,

Hope you are doing well. Thanks for writing in!

According to the WCAG, abbreviations and acronyms must be expanded at their first occurrence within a document. This ensures that users, including those with disabilities, understand the content without confusion. While listing all abbreviations and their expansions in a Note tag at the bottom of the first page may be efficient, it does not fully meet the WCAG requirement.

The proper approach would be to expand the abbreviation or acronym at its first appearance in the text. This ensures that users immediately understand the term in context. Additionally, including a glossary or list of abbreviations at the beginning or end of the document is a good practice. Still, it should not replace the need to expand abbreviations upon first use.

So, while you can add a Note tag at the bottom of the first page, you must still expand the abbreviations at their first mention in the document to comply with WCAG guidelines.

Hope this clarifies your question.

-Souvik

[Magendravarad28403894r8lu]

Hi Souvik,

Thank you so much for your information, we will follow the same. 

Regards,

Magendra

[S. S]

Thanks @Magendravarad28403894r8lu for letting me know that it helped.

-Souvik

[Svetla39073612jhta]

Hi, 

Regarding this statement: According to the WCAG, abbreviations and acronyms must be expanded at their first occurrence within a document.

Example:

Is it enough to spell out WCAG in the first occurrence: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)? Would that meet the requirement for expanding abbreviations on the first occurrence? 

[S. S]

@Svetla39073612jhta It should be the opposite.

If you want to use abbreviations, it should be WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).

-Souvik