In July 2024, nearly all US airlines were impacted by a faulty software update that caused flight delays, cancellations, and stressful airport operations. Some electronic flight display boards were not functioning, people didn’t have access to information or resources to help them, reservations and car rentals were not available, and it was difficult for travelers to discern accurate information to complete their journey.
If you knew someone who was in that situation, or you were yourself, then you have some perspective of what someone with disabilities face on a daily basis. Part of their daily routine is to attempt to understand information and interpret the meaning of documents by filtering out the chaos of outside factors.
Now is a great opportunity for all companies to address investors, customers, plan members and stakeholders’ disability needs.
Here are three ways to be prepared:
- Do all of your investors and members understand the information being presented, or do they need special support where they have to initiate the conversation and search for assistance?
- How your message is perceived, and how it works with digital technology, can make a big difference to someone with disabilities.
- Know your customer and investor demographics. 61 million adults in the United States live with a disability including 13.9% with cognitive related challenges that affect concentration, memory and decision making1.
Look for any risks to mitigate:
- Do you have any federally-funded programs as part of your business product? If so, there are regulations that apply under American Disability Act (ADA) Title II or Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Section 508. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is an example of a federally-funded program.
- Federally funded programs2 that fall under Section 508 will need to move to the higher accessibility requirements of ADA as early as April of 2026.
- Demonstrate responsible compliance. The industry standard for all accessible hardware and software is W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG 2.1. The regulatory impact aligns with the American Disability Act, Title III and public access – including websites and documents posted to them.
- ADA isn’t going away. Keep a balanced perspective – you don’t need a full-blown culture overhaul. Target existing workflows and strategies and enhance them with ADA-compliant documents. This provides the bridge from governance directives to responsible compliance.
- Know your product reach. If your distributions are international, Europe has a new regulation called the European Accessibility Act that goes into effect in June 2025. Compliance is mandatory.
As a Leader, what are key value indicators to address?
- This isn’t a social statement or a polarizing initiative. ADA is a benefit to your customers and investors who have a disability and need to understand your documents.
- Digital acceleration is happening at a fast pace. Keep up with technology, but don’t let it consume your initiatives. Keep perspective and focus.
- Always keep your customers’, members’, and investors’ needs in mind. As they age, their needs for accessibility will increase.
- Be prepared and proactive with new regulations. Let ADA compliment your power of successful marketing.
How Toppan Merrill can help
At Toppan Merrill, we are engaged with regulatory disclosure, regulated communication companies, and corporations. We can help you get started by remediating documents that provide that assistance to everyone.
We are differentiated by our credentials not only through our tenured expertise but also our industry-focused support teams that can simplify the process while controlling costs. Our operational team will take care of the technical components where accuracy is critical in ensuring your documents are ADA-compliant. Our service team guides the direction and coordination of efforts and always keeps your company goals in mind.
1 U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
2 Federal Register § 35.104 WCAG 2.1, level AA
