Accessibility: Creating Accessible PDFs

Converting PDFs from Microsoft Office Software

Adobe Acrobat software has an application that works with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that allows you to make PDF documents accessible. This creates a "tagged" document that is accessible to assistive technology.

Tags in a PDF allow you to control the reading order of the document. Use headings to format the document and allow for accessible navigation of the file.

It may be necessary to disable PDF integration with web browsers because it can be difficult for the visually impaired and can throw off screen readers.

Accessible Content in PDFs

When using an image in a file converted from Word, Excel, or PowerPoint be sure to add a text description for that image. Depending on the length of the description, it may be necessary to explain the content of the image in a paragraph leading into or following the image.

Some PDF documents are in a format that reads them as an image. In order for the screen reading software to recognized the file, it is necessary to apply Optical Character Recognition to the document. This will allow the accessibility software to read the text that is actually on the page instead of the image as a whole.

Some OCR programs include OmniPage, ABBY FineReader, and the Text Recognition tool in Adobe Acrobat.

Referenced from: High Tech Center Training Unit