Section 508 · WCAG 2.1 AA · PDF/UA
We fix the documents a screen reader can’t read.
A PDF that looks fine on screen is often unusable to someone browsing with a screen reader, a keyboard, or magnification. 508 Guidehouse repairs those files — and the websites and videos around them — to the standards federal and state buyers actually test against.
Standards we work to
- WCAG 2.1 Level AA
- Our default conformance target. WCAG 2.2 AA on request.
- Revised Section 508
- 36 C.F.R. Part 1194, US Access Board standards.
- PDF/UA — ISO 14289
- The tagging standard institutional buyers specify by name.
- ADA Title II
- The 2024 DOJ rule covering state and local government.
- Virginia ITAA
- Commonwealth procurement requirements, as amended by HB2541.
Credentials and tooling
- DHS Trusted Tester
- 15+ years in digital accessibility and web design
- Federal agency 508 program experience
- Level Access AMP
- CommonLook PDF
- Adobe Acrobat Pro
- NVDA & JAWS testing
- Virginia small business
Start here
Most people find us because someone told them their files aren’t compliant.
Usually it’s a grant officer, a procurement clerk, a university web team, or a letter from a law firm. If that’s you, here is the plain version of what that means.
What’s actually wrong with the file
A PDF carries an invisible structure that tells assistive technology what is a heading, what is a table, what order to read in, and what a picture shows. Most documents are exported without it. Visually nothing is missing. To a screen reader the page is a jumble, or silence.
Why a checker isn’t enough
Automated checkers catch roughly 20–30% of real accessibility problems. They can confirm a tag exists; they can’t tell you the reading order is wrong, the alt text is meaningless, or the table headers point at the wrong cells. That part is done by hand.
What you get back
The same document, looking the same, with the structure repaired underneath. Plus a short conformance summary you can forward to whoever asked — written so a non-technical reader can follow it.
Services
Four things we do, and we do them properly.
Document remediation
PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint repaired by hand to WCAG 2.1 AA, Section 508 and PDF/UA. Tagging, reading order, alt text, table headers, bookmarks, metadata.
How we do itWebsite accessibility
Manual and automated review, screen reader and keyboard-only testing, code-level fixes, and a findings report mapped to specific WCAG success criteria.
How we testCompliance audits
A prioritized inventory of what fails, what it would take to fix, and what to tackle first. Useful when you need a remediation plan before you need a budget.
What’s involvedCaptions & transcripts
Synchronized captions reviewed and corrected by a person, delivered in SRT, VTT, SCC or DFXP. Auto-captions cleaned up, speakers identified, terminology fixed.
What we correctHow it works
Three steps, no surprises at invoicing.
The short version. The full process covers file handling, confidentiality and what we need from you.
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Send us the files
Email the documents, a URL, or the video. We look at the actual content — not a page count — and sort it by complexity. No charge, and we don’t need you to know which standard applies.
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Get a written scope and price
Back within one to two business days: what we found, what we’d fix, the per-page tier each file falls into, a firm total, and a delivery date. If the file turns out harder than it looked, we tell you before we start, not after.
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Review and sign off
You get the remediated files and a conformance summary. Ten business days to tell us anything in scope wasn’t fixed properly — we correct it at no charge.
Virginia
The Commonwealth just changed its procurement rules.
HB2541 amended the Virginia Information Technology Access Act to require accessibility conformance provisions in solicitations and contracts for technology bought by covered entities. VITA revised its Mandatory Core Contractual Terms to match, and is including the revised requirements in RFP packages negotiated or renegotiated on or after April 24, 2026.
If your agency, school division, or company sells to the Commonwealth, that language is now in your contracts. We are a Virginia company and this is the part of the market we know best.
Where the ADA Title II deadlines actually stand
An April 2026 interim final rule extended the compliance dates. A lot of guidance still circulating online has not caught up.
April 26, 2027 — public entities with a population of 50,000 or more.
April 26, 2028 — public entities under 50,000, and special district governments of any size.
The standard is WCAG 2.1 Level AA, and documents published to your site are in scope. Virginia’s ITAA contract requirements are already in effect and run separately from these dates.
Send us one file and find out where you stand.
Quotes are free and come back in one to two business days with a written scope. If your documents are already in good shape, we will tell you that too.