Developing accessible content requires not only technical expertise, but also an understanding of user-centred design. Innovative solutions help to overcome these challenges. Tremonia DXP not only supports editorial teams in creating BITV-compliant content, but also helps to check existing content for accessibility before publication.
Creating accessible content with the BITV Assistant
Creating accessible content often requires a great deal of detailed work, particularly when it comes to language tags, abbreviations or complex terms. This is precisely where Tremonia DXP’s BITV Assistant comes in, making it easier for editorial teams to comply with BITV requirements – on multiple levels.
- A key feature of the BITV Assistant is the integrated dictionary. This automatically recognises foreign-language terms, such as English words, and correctly marks them both on the web page and in the underlying HTML code. This ensures that foreign-language content is recognised and pronounced correctly by screen readers. A particularly useful feature is that the dictionaries can be customised and updated manually to meet the specific requirements of the editorial team.
- Another key feature is the automatic recognition and management of abbreviations. This function is particularly important for public administration, as it frequently uses abbreviations. With the BITV Assistant, abbreviations can not only be recognised but also labelled, ensuring that an explanation of the abbreviation is available to all users. In addition, editors have the option to create their own abbreviations, as the BITV Assistant also supports individually used abbreviations.
- Furthermore, the BITV Assistant offers the option to mark up glossary terms maintained in Tremonia DXP. Whilst this is not directly relevant to the BITV, it enhances the text considerably and makes the content easier to understand. Complex technical terms are explained here, making them accessible to readers. Website visitors benefit from this feature particularly when dealing with technically or legally complex content, as it enables them to grasp complicated issues more quickly. Naturally, Tremonia DXP also provides an overview of all glossary terms as a reference guide.
With these intelligent features of the BITV Assistant, the creation of accessible content becomes both more efficient and of a higher quality – resulting in accessible websites that reach all users equally.
Automated checking with the BITV Checker
Even the best content fails to make an impact if technical details are neglected. This is precisely why Tremonia DXP includes the BITV Checker. With three key functions, it ensures that content is thoroughly checked for BITV compliance before publication – and helps editors identify and rectify hidden errors.
- The first highlight is the heading assistant. It checks whether the heading hierarchy has been correctly maintained. This is crucial so that screen readers can structure the content logically and users can navigate effortlessly through the page. The assistant also detects errors that are easily overlooked in day-to-day work – for example, when a heading has been mistakenly used to make text bold. Such differences are often barely noticeable visually, but they play a crucial role in the HTML code.
- The second feature, the Semantic Check, goes one step further: it automatically analyses the content for semantic errors. For example, it recognises lists and marks them up correctly, or flags superfluous blank lines that went unnoticed during creation. This ensures that the content is presented in a structurally clean and accessible manner.
- The third important tool is the Table Assistant. Tables can be particularly challenging for screen reader users if they are not correctly marked up. The assistant checks whether tables contain all the necessary markup so that screen readers can interpret and read them out clearly.
In doing so, the BITV Checker employs a ‘human-in-the-loop’ approach. BITV-related improvements are highlighted to editors, but are not implemented or published directly. This means that the editorial team retains full control over all content at all times.
With these features, the BITV Checker makes life easier for editors and ensures that content not only looks good, but is also technically sound and accessible to everyone.
Conclusion: Accessibility benefits everyone
Web accessibility means more than just compliance with legal requirements – it creates digital content that is accessible and understandable to everyone. With Tremonia DXP, editors have a powerful tool at their disposal that supports them in both creating and reviewing accessible content. From the BITV Assistant, with its features for language tags, abbreviations and glossaries, to the BITV Checker, which analyses headings, semantics and tables – the work becomes not only easier but also more effective.
An additional benefit: a high level of BITV compliance also improves SEO performance as an added bonus. Websites that are easily understood by machines such as screen readers are also better interpreted by search engines and therefore perform better in search engine rankings. This means that accessibility is not only a benefit for users, but also a genuine competitive advantage.
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