When the Cabinet Office contacted a UK public sector organisation to let them know their website had non-compliant PDFs, they were faced with a large amount of work in a short space of time.
The organisation wasn’t aware its website was being reviewed. It only found out when it was contacted about accessibility issues identified under the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018 (PSBAR).
What the Law Actually Requires
The Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018 (PSBAR) require public sector websites and mobile apps to meet accessibility standards, including the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard.
And it doesn’t stop at web pages. PDFs published on a website need to be accessible too.
The Government Digital Service checks public sector websites for accessibility. If it finds issues, it contacts the organisation and asks them to take action. Ongoing issues may be referred to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
The Audit Revealed Over 500 PDFs That Needed Remediating
Once the organisation received the audit findings, the scale of the challenge quickly became clear. The audit identified over 500 PDFs that needed to be assessed and remediated for accessibility.
“There was a large amount of work to do that I wasn’t expecting, within a small and already very busy team. It was a worrying time, with multiple pieces of work happening at the same time, and a short deadline to resolve the issues.”
Manually working through every PDF wasn’t a realistic option. “We estimated half an hour per PDF to remediate and then re-upload, so that would have been 260 hours, so £15,000 to £20,000 in staff time.”
Without specialist support, the alternative was to bring in external accessibility expertise, adding more cost and another relationship to manage at a time when the team was already under pressure.
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They Turned to Recite Me, a Supplier They Already Trusted
Faced with hundreds of PDFs to remediate, the team turned to Recite Me, a supplier they had already been working with for two years.
“As a trusted supplier for the last two years, with the Recite Me Assistive Toolbar on both our external website and internal site, it was clear that this was the right way forward. An excellent solution was proposed and a way forward was mapped out.”
260 Hours of PDF Remediation Work, Taken Off the Team’s Plate
With priorities agreed, the team got moving. They identified the most urgent PDFs first, focusing on pages containing mandatory public information, and worked through the rest in order. Web pages have been redesigned to carry both a standard and an accessible version of each document.
“Recite Me have been extremely supportive and have been instrumental in allowing us to reach sign off with the Cabinet Office.” 83 PDFs have been completed so far, with a clear plan in place for the rest.
From Audit Findings to a Clear Way Forward
“As soon as we had a plan in place, we felt fully supported and safe in the knowledge that Recite Me experts are working through the issues with us hand in hand. Our account manager has checked in regularly and called others into the meetings when necessary. We still have a long way to go, but we are moving in the right direction.”
The organisation still has work to do, but it now has a clear plan, ongoing support from Recite Me, and a structured approach to working through the remaining PDFs.
Has Your Organisation Received a Failed Audit Notice?
The Cabinet Office can audit public sector websites for accessibility compliance, and organisations may only become aware of an audit when issues are identified. PDFs can be particularly challenging for organisations with large amounts of content published online.
This experience shows how quickly an accessibility audit can create a significant workload, and how the right support can turn that challenge into a structured way forward.
If you’d like to explore how accessibility technology can support your website visitors, get in touch with the Recite Me team to find out more.
