Accessibility in Healthcare

[Approximate Reading Time : 4 mins]

Hospitals, insurance companies and clinics may inadvertently be discriminating against patients with visual disabilities by not offering accessible documents. Health care providers may face legal consequences when their sites don’t address the needs of people with disabilities. However, the benefits of creating an accessible site go far beyond adhering to government regulations. There’s also the unique opportunity for health care companies to align ethical duties with their fiscal responsibility.

Many different formats can be used to make documents, videos and speech accessible to those with visual and hearing impairments;

• EPUB 3 – Format and production standards ensure that assistive technologies can enable interaction with web pages and digital documents.
• Accessible PDF/Word/PowerPoint – These types of electronic documents use tags that enable screen readers to present text logically, from headings and sidebars to multi-column text and tables. Descriptive page elements interpret visual elements such as images, links and form fields.
• Closed Captioning – Live and pre-recorded videos enable the hearing impaired to access the broadcasts through subtitles and closed captions.
• Audio Transcription – This service converts speech into an electronic text document, which can be compatible with assistive technology.

When organizations provide accessible health care documents, they empower patients with visual and aural disabilities to have control over their experience and retain their independence. It demonstrates that all patients matter. Contact our Amnet Systems team to learn more about our accessibility services.