From “Just Take Care of It” to Embedded Accessibility: The Journey of Statistics Austria

Statistics Austria is responsible for a large share of official statistics in Austria. More than 800 employees regularly produce publications as PDF documents. However, in 2017 these publications were not accessible. When Herbert Ebenwaldner, an IT staff member at Statistics Austria, first raised the topic internally, he was simply told to “look into it.” What started as an individual initiative became the starting point for a comprehensive transformation toward standardized and accessible publications.

The first step was raising awareness. Through training sessions, information events, and internal discussions, Herbert Ebenwaldner demonstrated both the importance and the feasibility of digital accessibility. At the same time, Statistics Austria introduced a standardized Word template and implemented axesWord as an add-in for Microsoft Word. This enabled employees to create accessible PDFs directly within their familiar workflow.

axesWord was centrally installed on all computers and has since become part of everyday work. For complex content such as tables, axesPDF is used as a complementary solution. The free PDF Accessibility Checker (PAC) additionally allows independent quality control before publication.

Today, accessibility at Statistics Austria is firmly embedded both organizationally and technically in daily operations. Nearly all new PDF documents are accessible, and external post-processing is no longer required. Legal requirements, the expectations of the Austrian Statistical Council, and demands from public-sector clients have further accelerated this shift. Accessibility is now considered standard practice.