Behind the Screens: Meet FMP’s 508 Accessibility Team

Today, we’re highlighting one of FMP’s important and often unsung capability areas: Accessibility and Section 508 Compliance. We sat down with four subject matter experts at FMP: Amanda Palla, Emma Wright, Kayla Reid, and Julie Jasewicz. Keep reading to learn more about how they got started in this field, the role of AI in their work, their favorite tools, and more!

How did you get into the world of accessibility and 508-compliance?

Amanda: I first learned about Section 508 compliance while working as a government contractor more than 15 years ago. I was building eLearning courses and had to make them accessible. I was later placed on a project where we had to make PDFs accessible. I quickly learned just how much I didn’t know and what an impact accessibility work can have for individuals with disabilities. I’ve been interested in learning more ever since!

Emma: I first became involved in this world on a project here at FMP. I quite enjoy meticulous tasks, and I feel strongly that resources and information should be available and easy to use for all individuals. Work in the 508-compliance sphere was squarely at the intersection of these two things, so it captured my attention almost immediately. I was lucky enough to have a manager (Amanda) who was also interested and skilled in this area, so I learned a lot from her early on and was able to join more projects that had compliance requirements. I’m now always looking for opportunities to learn and my put knowledge to work!

Kayla: I initially was introduced to the world of accessibility when creating academic planning resources for college students. Through this process, I was shocked to learn that many common techniques and practices for creating documents within Microsoft or Adobe aren’t accessible. It’s important that everyone is able to access the information and tools that they need, so learning how to support this through the creation of accessible documents quickly became a passion of mine. So much so that I was inspired to earn my certificate as an Accessible Document Specialist (ADS) from the International Association of Accessibility Professionals!

Julie: I was first introduced to Section 508 accessibility after joining a Strategy and Communications team at NSF. As my work expanded into developing SharePoint and ServiceNow sites, I became increasingly interested in ensuring those digital experiences were accessible to all users. When the opportunity arose to become a DHS Trusted Tester, I saw it as a chance to deepen my expertise and better support both my client and colleagues.

What are the current hot topics in this space?

Amanda: I think the biggest hot topic in accessibility right now is the delay of the implementation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was supposed to go into effect on April 24, 2026. The rule would have required all public entities, such as state and local governments, public schools, and transit authorities, to make all their digital content compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA. It was extended for a year for organizations with populations greater than 50,000 and for two years for populations under 50,000 and special districts. I, like many others, am extremely disappointed that equitable access to content has been delayed for those with disabilities.

Julie: One of the biggest shifts I’m seeing in the accessibility space is moving from treating accessibility as a final compliance check to embedding it throughout the entire content and development process. While there will always be a need for accessibility specialists to provide guidance and perform thorough testing, empowering subject matter experts, content authors, and developers with foundational accessibility knowledge leads to stronger products from the very beginning. When accessibility is considered during planning, writing, design, and development, not after the fact, it reduces rework and results in a better experience for everyone.

I also think there’s a growing recognition that accessibility extends far beyond compliance. Many accessibility best practices, such as clear organization, meaningful headings, descriptive links, and plain language, improve the usability of digital content for all users. When organizations embrace accessibility as part of creating intuitive, user-centered experiences rather than simply meeting compliance requirements, everyone benefits.

How does AI factor into accessibility and 508-compliance? Do you use AI in your day-to-day accessibility work?

Amanda: AI already powers pieces of some of the accessibility checkers built into the everyday software that we use. Right now, AI is great for catching (and sometimes correcting) some accessibility issues. However, there are so many things that must be checked by a human (e.g., logical reading order, proper heading level assignment, accurate alternative text for images, proper use of color). I think AI will be able to do more in the future, but I don’t know that we will ever be able to rely solely on AI to remediate human-built websites or documents without a human in the loop.

Kayla: From the perspective of creating accessible documents, there definitely are pros and cons to using AI. While there is great potential for AI to help everyone make their documents more accessible, the current tools cannot make a document fully accessible – this still requires human expertise. Microsoft has a tool, called the Accessibility Assistant, which will check your document for things like color contrast, appropriate document structure, table structure, and alternative text on images. Additionally, Adobe has an Accessibility Checker for PDFs and an automatic tagging tool which will tag PDFs for you. These tools are a great place to start, but I find they oftentimes fall short because they cannot understand the meaning behind a document. A large part of making a document accessible is understanding what information an author is trying to convey and the user experience for someone who is using assistive technology to access that document. By understanding this, you can make sure that content is being written and designed appropriately for accessibility.

For example, AI will be able to identify if there is an image in a document and flag that additional steps need to be taken. However, it won’t know if that image is a decoration (and should be marked as decorative) or if it is informational (and should be given alternative text). AI can automatically tag a PDF to make sure it has headings, but it’s not able to identify if it correctly assigned the heading levels. Additionally, AI can tell you if a table is formatted correctly for accessibility, but it’s not able to tell you that tables should only be used for data and not as a design feature to format written content or images. In all of these cases, it takes a human who understands the intended structure and content of the document to check the AI’s work and take the appropriate next steps. 

With that being said, I typically only use the accessibility checkers as a final “just in case” check. However, if you are new to making accessible documents, they are a great place to start! Microsoft’s Accessibility Assistant will even provide some additional information on how to fix a problem that it encounters, so it can be a good learning tool as well.

Julie: AI has become a valuable tool in accessibility, particularly for improving the clarity and readability of content. I find it especially useful for refining plain language, simplifying complex information, and creating clear, concise communications that are easier for a broad range of users to understand. Used thoughtfully, AI can help content creators adopt accessibility best practices earlier in the writing process.

Where I think organizations need to be more cautious is when AI is used to generate visual content, documents, or page layouts. While these tools can accelerate development, they don’t consistently produce accessible outputs. It’s important to verify that elements such as heading structures, alternative text, table formatting, color contrast, and reading order have been implemented correctly. AI can be an excellent starting point, but it should complement, not replace, human expertise and accessibility testing to ensure the final product is truly usable for everyone.

What relevant tools/resources have you found to be the most useful, both for learning and executing these skills?

Amanda: For learning, the DHS Trusted Tester training and certification will be helpful for those wanting to learn more about building and testing accessible websites. For document remediation, there is no single source that I have found for training. For someone starting out with documents, I’d recommend browsing resources available in the Section508.gov Content Library, and then listening to the Chax Chat Accessibility Podcast, which does some deeper dives into targeted accessibility topics with many sessions focused on document remediation. As far as execution goes, I use a color contrast checker almost every day. A good free one is the WebAIM: Contrast Checker. For PDF remediation, I love Allyant’s CommonLook PDF software. Although it is expensive, it will pay for itself in time savings after just one or two complex PDFs. I would say that I recognize a 5- or 6-fold reduction in my time spent on PDF remediation when I use CommonLook PDF versus remediating directly in Adobe Acrobat.

There is a lot of information available online. The most important thing you can do is be open to learning, seek out answers to your questions when you don’t know how to do something, and incorporate accessibility into your everyday workflow. For example, always use heading styles in Word versus just bolding and enlarging text to make it look like a heading. Over time, practices like that will become second nature and you’ll be creating more accessible content from the beginning.

Emma: I have found that any resource that offers hands-on experience is the most useful when it comes to this type of work. As with many skills, this one clicks the most for me when I can put it into practice and then receive direct feedback and ask questions. It’s also been so helpful and motivating to have a community of specialists at FMP to engage with and learn from. Whenever I’m stuck on something, I can rely on my teammates to offer their expertise and brainstorm creative ways to make deliverables visually appealing and also fully accessible. I also have WebAIM: Contrast Checker bookmarked, which has helped checking color contrast become second nature!

Kayla: Coming from a higher education background, I love to understand the “why” behind things. The practices to make accessible documents are based off of the Word Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). As I was learning how to make documents accessible, I read through all of the guidelines. By doing this, I learned a lot not only about the practices to make things accessible, but why we need to take those steps to ensure an accessible user experience. Understanding the “why” gave me the flexible foundation I need to creatively approach a variety of documents to ensure that everyone has the best user experience possible.

Julie: When I first started learning about accessibility, I relied heavily on a combination of structured training and guidance from experienced colleagues. LinkedIn Learning courses helped me build a strong foundation, while Section508.gov resources provided practical guidance on standards and best practices. Just as valuable, though, were the mentors at FMP who generously shared their expertise, answered questions, and helped me apply what I was learning to real client work.

As I’ve continued to grow in this space, I’ve found that accessibility is a field where continuous learning is essential. Standards, technologies, and tools continue to evolve, so staying curious and learning from both formal resources and experienced practitioners has been invaluable. My advice to anyone getting started is to take advantage of the wealth of free resources available, seek out mentors when you can, and don’t be afraid to learn by doing. Every project is an opportunity to strengthen your accessibility skills and create more inclusive experiences.

Zoe Nerantzis joined FMP as a Consultant in May 2021 and works with the National Science Foundation team by supporting NSF’s learning and development branch. Zoe is from Rockville, Maryland and can generally be found reading fantasy novels, working out in her basement, or rooting for the Washington Football team.