PDF accessibility for insurance
Policies, terms and conditions, product information documents and claims correspondence: Accessful automatically remediates your PDFs in line with PDF/UA-2 and WCAG 2.2 – from a single form to the entire portfolio, without requiring changes to templates or processes.
The challenge
Insurance is one of the most document-intensive industries. Large volumes of PDFs are created throughout the customer lifecycle – from quotations and policies to claims settlement correspondence. Much of this output is generated automatically from templates enriched with individual customer data, so every file is different.
Manual remediation does not scale in this environment. It ties up experienced specialists for every document and is neither practical nor economically viable for established collections and continuous new output.
The German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) has applied since 28 June 2025. Insurance services offered to consumers electronically must be accessible, including the documents provided as part of those services. Accessful automates auditing and remediation for both existing collections and daily new output.
Typical documents
- Policies and contract documents
- General insurance terms and conditions (AVB)
- Product information sheets (IPID)
- Offers and application documents
- Claims forms and settlement correspondence
- Premium invoices and annual policy statements
- Customer correspondence from output-management systems
How Accessful helps insurers
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Remediate existing document collections in batches
Process thousands of documents in a single batch – from current policy terms to long-standing archive collections – with live status updates in the web app.
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Integration with output management
The REST API automatically submits newly generated correspondence and notices for remediation, while webhooks report the result directly back to your system.
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Fast enough for day-to-day operations
From policy terms to daily customer correspondence, a document is typically audited and remediated in seconds. Only the structural layer changes; its visual appearance is preserved.
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Audit-ready report
Every document receives an audit-ready report – providing evidence for auditors, compliance teams and internal control functions.
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Remediation guarantee
If a document remediated by Accessful is not recognised as accessible during an accessibility audit, we will remediate it free of charge – promptly and at no additional cost.
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On-premises for sensitive data
Run Accessful entirely in your infrastructure, optionally air-gapped and using your own AI models, so policy and claims data remain within your organisation.
Legal framework
- BFSG / European Accessibility Act
- The German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) implements the European Accessibility Act (EAA) in German law and has applied since 28 June 2025. It covers services offered to consumers electronically, including insurance products taken out online; contracts managed through customer portals may also be covered. Documents that form part of the service, such as policies and product information sheets, must be accessible.
- EN 301 549, WCAG 2.2 and PDF/UA-2
- Technical requirements are defined by the European standard EN 301 549, WCAG 2.2 and the PDF standard PDF/UA-2. Accessful audits and remediates documents against these standards and provides an audit-ready report for every document.
- BITV 2.0 for public-law insurers
- Public-law insurers and social insurance bodies are also subject to BITV 2.0 on the basis of Directive (EU) 2016/2102. It requires public-sector bodies to provide file formats such as PDF accessibly, independently of the BFSG.
Note: This content provides general information about legal requirements and does not constitute legal advice.
Frequently asked questions about insurance
Do we have to recreate policies and terms and conditions to make them accessible?
No. Accessful remediates existing PDFs by adding only the structural layer – tags, reading order and alt text. Layout and content remain unchanged. Electronically signed policies and endorsements require special handling: integrate remediation before the signing step, because any subsequent change can invalidate the signature.
How do we connect Accessful to our output management system?
Add Accessful as a downstream step in your document workflow. Your output-management system submits the completed policy or correspondence through the REST API, a webhook reports when remediation is complete, and your system retrieves the accessible PDF for delivery. Templates and authoring processes remain unchanged. For implementation details, see API & Integration.
How can we remediate a long-standing document collection for accessibility?
Use batch processing to remediate thousands of documents in one run, either through drag-and-drop in the web app or automatically through the API. It is usually best to prioritise active consumer documents such as policies and product information documents before moving on to the archive. See Pricing.
Are insurance services covered by the BFSG?
The BFSG does not apply indiscriminately to every business. It covers services offered to consumers electronically, which will typically include insurance products sold or managed online. Purely business-to-business relationships are outside its scope. For a detailed overview, see BFSG and accessible PDFs; it does not replace legal advice.
How is personal data from claims and contract documents protected?
Documents are processed in ISO/IEC 27001-certified data centres in Germany. For stricter requirements, run Accessful entirely in your own infrastructure – optionally air-gapped and using your own AI models – so documents remain within your organisation. For details, see On-Premises.
Check your PDFs for accessibility – free of charge.
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