There Is No WCAG Wizard: Be Careful What Your Software Vendor Is Selling You

Accessibility has become a much bigger part of software conversations, particularly in the public sector.

That's a good thing.

But it has also created a new category of software marketing that deserves a little scrutiny.

We've heard two versions.

The first is fairly specific: a software vendor or implementation partner tells you the platform includes accessibility or remediation capabilities. Sometimes those capabilities are real and useful. But exactly what they remediate, how they work, and where their responsibility ends can remain surprisingly vague.

The second version requires considerably more arm waving.

The software will help make you WCAG compliant.

Maybe there is a demo. Maybe there is a feature list. Maybe there are reassuring words like automated, accessible, and compliant.

And somewhere in the middle of all that, the WCAG Wizard appears.

Buy the software. Implement the software. The Wizard waves his wand.

Compliance!

Unfortunately, there is no Wizard.

Software Can Support Compliance. It Doesn't Create It.

We see the same misunderstanding in records management.

An ECM system doesn't make an organization's records compliant.

The organization needs an accurate retention schedule. It needs policies. It needs people who understand those policies. It needs processes that apply them consistently. And then it needs technology capable of supporting all of that.

Accessibility isn't fundamentally different.

Your software matters. Its accessibility capabilities matter. The accessibility of the interfaces your employees and the public use matters.

But documents still have to be created accessibly. Existing content may need remediation. Websites and applications need to be evaluated. People need training. Processes need governance. Someone has to decide what happens when inaccessible content enters the system.

And sometimes you need specialized expertise or specialized remediation tools.

Your ECM platform may be an important part of that environment.

It is not the Wizard.

So Ask Better Questions

When a vendor tells you its software supports accessibility, don't stop at the claim.

Ask: What exactly does it do?

Ask to see the capabilities. Ask where they operate. Ask what happens to a document when it enters the system, while someone is working with it and when it is ultimately delivered to another employee or to the public.

What does "remediation" mean here?

If someone uses that word, make them define it.

What gets identified? What gets corrected? What requires human intervention? What kinds of files are covered? What remains untouched?

What doesn't the software do?

This is often the most useful question you can ask about any technology. A good vendor should be able to tell you where the product stops.

What will we still need to do ourselves?

What requires people? Policy? Process? Training? Testing? Another tool? An accessibility specialist? Those aren't gotcha questions. They're implementation questions. And the answers tell you far more about what your accessibility program will actually require than a checkbox labeled "WCAG."

This Isn't Just About WCAG

The more you look at those questions, the more useful they become for almost any software purchase.

We see the problem clearly with accessibility because compliance language makes the promises especially noticeable.

But software buyers hear versions of the Wizard all the time.

• The AI Wizard.

• The Cybersecurity Wizard.

• The Records Management Wizard.

• The Automation Wizard.

• The Digital Transformation Wizard.

Buy this, and the difficult organizational problem becomes a technology feature.

Except difficult organizational problems rarely work that way.

Software can automate a process. It can enforce a rule. It can make information easier to find. It can reduce manual work. It can provide controls, evidence, and consistency.

What it cannot do is eliminate the need to understand the problem you're trying to solve.

So the next time a software claim sounds unusually magical, don't argue with it.

Ask four questions:

• What exactly does it do?

• What does that term actually mean?

• What doesn't it do?

• What will we still have to do ourselves?

Usually, that's enough to make the Wizard disappear.

And what you're left with is much more useful: an understanding of what you're actually buying.