Simkins & ElgazarDigital accessibility and ADA / Section 508 compliance
Independent, third-party accessibility testing that follows the DHS Trusted Tester methodology, the federal gold standard for Section 508 and ADA conformance testing.
What we do
- Manual accessibility audits of websites, applications and documents against WCAG 2.1 / 2.2 AA
- Document accessibility testing and remediation: PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint
- VPAT® / Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) preparation
- Independent re-testing and validation of remediated issues
- Accessibility risk advisory and ADA Title II compliance program support
Documents we test and remediate
Document accessibility testing and remediation in the four formats our federal accessibility credential lists beside the web.
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
How we test
Manual testing to the standards government agencies and businesses are held to.
Federal gold-standard method. Testing built on DHS Trusted Tester, not automated scanners alone.
Truly independent. Third-party validation with no stake in the systems we test.
Standards. WCAG 2.1 / 2.2 AA; ADA Title II and Title III; Section 508.
Both principals do this work
Both principals do the work on every project, across accessibility, AI and data. Both are DHS Certified Trusted Testers.
Maximilian Simkins
Co-founder. DHS Certified Trusted Tester for Web.
Financial and data analyst background; builds Python and SQL automation, performs large-scale data and anomaly analytics, and prepares data across CSV, XLSX, PDF and cloud (AWS, Azure) platforms.
Ahmed Elgazar
Co-founder. DHS Certified Trusted Tester.
Business systems analyst specializing in applied AI. Designs and evaluates production AI / LLM systems, authors AI governance and Section 508 documentation, and builds open-source AI tooling with Python, RAG and agentic workflows.
Further reading
- Council Meeting Video Under Title II: Captions Rules
Title II requires WCAG 2.1 AA: captions for recorded and live meeting video. DOJ set no accuracy number, but auto captions alone are risky.
- Which VPAT Edition: WCAG, 508, EN 301 549 or INT?
Use the edition that matches your buyer's standard: 508 for federal, WCAG 2.1 for Title II, EN 301 549 for the EU, INT for all three.
- How to Evaluate a Vendor's ACR Before You Sign
An ACR is the vendor's own claim. Check it for completeness, spot-check a few criteria, and require an Issue Detail Supplement and contract terms.
Talk to a principal.
Small, direct and responsive. Both principals do the work on every project; no layered overhead.
Maximilian Simkins
Co-founder. DHS Certified Trusted Tester for Web.
Ahmed Elgazar
Co-founder. DHS Certified Trusted Tester.