Accessible Acrobat Pro

Before you start, ask yourself:
  1. Is the content of the file current, or should it be removed from the website?
  2. Should I take this content from the PDF and turn it into a webpage?
  3. If this must be a PDF file, do I have access to the original file from which it was generated?
Steps
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software
Siteimprove

Go to Siteimprove and select Accessibility/PDF.

By default, Siteimprove lists documents with accessibility issues by most clicked.

Common Issues Flagged by Siteimprove:
  • No machine-readable text — a scanned document.
  • No tags.
  • The document has no title.
  • The document contains no headings.
  • The first heading is not a Heading 1.
  • The image has no alternative presentation.
  • The document is missing a language definition.
  • The form element does not have a label explicitly connected.
  • The table has no table headings.
  • The document contains untagged content.
Creating accessible documents with Microsoft Word
Note: It is always easier to create an accessible PDF document if you start with a fully accessible document in the authoring software, like Microsoft Word.
Accessible Word Documents

Steps

  1. Download the file and open it in Acrobat Pro (not Acrobat Reader) and run the Accessibility Checker.
    1. View/Tools/Accessibility/Open.
    2. In the right pane, click Full Check.
    3. In the Accessibility Checker Options pane, leave the default setting and click Start Checking.
  2. In the left pane, fix any and all errors.
  3. Manually check color contrast.
    1. Fix any text with contrast less than 4.5 to 1 (Edit/Edit Text and Images).
  4. For Logical Reading Order, go to the Tags Tool and "Walk the Tree."
    1. Fix any missing, mislabeled, incorrect and empty tags.
    2. Tip: When making changes with tags in Acrobat, it is easy to make a mistake and there is no undo button. Therefore, save and save often.
  5. After you have completed Step 4, do a final save and congratulate yourself, you have an accessible PDF document.
  6. Send your accessible PDF to Web Support.

Note: It is easy to fall into the trap of just fixing issues with a document. Keep in mind, however, the aim is to give individuals with disabilities the ability to consume the content of a document as easily as those without a disability.

Resources
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