Create Accessible PDFs | Sectiongov.Compliance for Existing PDFs: Identifying & Resolving Common Accessibility Issues | US EPA

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Create and verify PDF accessibility, Acrobat Pro 

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Creating accessible PDFs in Adobe Acrobat.

 

Make sure that alternate text is always an alternate representation for content on the page. If an element has alternate text, but does not contain any page content, there is no way to determine which page it is on.

If the Screen Reader Option in the Reading preferences is not set to read the entire document, then screen readers never read the alternate text. Alternate text can't hide an annotation. If an annotation is nested under a parent element with alternate text, then screen readers don't see it.

This report checks for content, other than figures, that requires alternate text such as multimedia, annotation, or 3D model. If an element has alternate text but does not contain any page content, there is no way to determine which page it is on. If the Screen Reader Options in the Reading preferences is not set to read the entire document, then screen readers don't read the alternate text. Because table structure can be complex, it is best practice to check them for accessibility manually.

See Correct table tags with the Tags panel. Related WCAG section: 1. See related WCAG section: 1. To be accessible, tables must contain the same number of columns in each row, and rows in each column.

When this rule check fails, the structure of this list is incorrect. Level AA. The order of headings is not required under WCAG, and is only an advisory technique. Legal Notices Online Privacy Policy. User Guide Cancel. The simple, guided workflow lets you do the following: Make PDFs accessible : A predefined action automates many tasks, checks accessibility, and provides instructions for items that require manual fixes.

The Action Wizard toolset is displayed in the secondary toolbar. A list of available actions is displayed under the Action List in the right-hand pane. From the Actions List, click Make Accessible. Click Start. Follow the prompts to complete the Make Accessible action. The Accessibility toolset is displayed in the secondary toolbar.

The Accessibility Checker Options dialog box is displayed. Select a page range if you prefer to check individual pages of a document. Select one or more of the Checking Options. The report displays one of the following statuses for each rule check: Passed : The item is accessible.

Verify the item manually. Failed : The item didn't pass the accessibility check. Use Read Out Loud to experience the document as readers who use the text-to-speech conversion tool experience it.

Save the document as accessible text and then read the saved text file in a word-processing application. This exercise enables you to emulate the end-user experience of readers who use a braille printer to read the document. Fix accessibility issues Acrobat Pro. Skip Rule:. Runs the checker again on all items.

Choose this option after modifying one or more items. Displays a report with links to tips on how to repair failed checks. Accessibility issues. Prevent security settings from interfering with screen readers. Or, fix accessibility permissions manually:.

Image-only PDF. The Scan toolset is displayed in the secondary toolbar. Tagged PDF. If this rule check fails, the document isn't tagged to specify the correct reading order. To specify tags manually, do one of the following: Enable tagging in the application in which the PDF was authored, and re-create the PDF.

The Add Tags Report appears in the navigation pane if there are any issues. The report lists potential problems by page, provides a navigational link to each problem, and provides suggestions for fixing them. For more information, see Reading Order tool overview. Open the Tags panel and create the tags tree manually. For more information, see Edit document structure with the Content and Tags panel. Logical reading order. Document language.

If the language doesn't appear in the drop-down list, you can enter the ISO code for the language in the Language field. This setting applies the primary language for the entire PDF. Set the language for all text in a subtree of the tags tree. Open the Tags panel. Expand the Tags root and select an element. Then choose Properties from the Options menu. Choose a language from the Language drop-down list. Set the language for a block of text by selecting the text element or container element in the Content panel.

Then, right-click Windows or Ctrl-click Mac OS the text and choose Properties from the context menu and choose a language from the Language drop-down list. These issues cause reading order problems in the PDF. You can add a watermark to a tagged PDF without adding it to the tag tree. Once you have a tagged PDF, evaluate the document for reading order problems, tagging errors, and accessibility errors, and then repair them as needed. Whichever method you use to tag the PDF, use Acrobat to touch up the tagging and reading order for complex page layouts or unusual page elements.

It may incorrectly tag all of these elements as figures. Similarly, this command may erroneously tag graphical characters within text , such as drop caps, as figures instead of including them in the tag that represents the text block.

Such errors can clutter the tag tree and complicate the reading order that assistive technology relies on. If you tag a document from within Acrobat, the application generates an error report after it completes the tagging process. Use this report as a guide to repair tagging problems. For example, if the web page relies on tables for its layout design, the HTML code for the table may not flow in the same logical reading order as a tagged PDF would require, even though the HTML code is sufficiently structured to display all the elements correctly in a browser.

Depending on the complexity of the web page, you can do extensive repairs in Acrobat Pro by using the Reading Order tool or editing the tag tree in Acrobat. For more information, see the guidelines on the W3C website. Creating tags in the authoring application generally provides better results than adding tags in Acrobat. For more information about creating accessible PDFs, see www. You can combine multiple files from different applications in one operation to create a single PDF.

For example, you can combine word-processing files with slide presentations, spreadsheets, and web pages. If you start with a mix of tagged and untagged PDFs, tag the untagged files before proceeding.

When you insert, replace, or delete pages, Acrobat accepts existing tags into the tag tree of the consolidated PDF in the following manner:. When you insert pages into a PDF, Acrobat adds the tags if any for the new pages to the end of the tag tree. This order occurs even if you insert the new pages at the beginning or the middle of the document.

When you replace pages in a PDF, Acrobat adds the tags if any from the incoming pages to the end of the tag tree. This order occurs even if you replace pages at the beginning or the middle of the document. Acrobat retains the tags if any for the replaced pages. Pages whose tags are out of order in the logical structure tree can cause problems for screen readers. Screen readers read tags in sequence down the tree, and possibly do not reach the tags for an inserted page until the end of the tree.

To fix this problem, use Acrobat Pro to rearrange the tag tree. Place large groups of tags in the same reading order as the pages themselves. To avoid this step, plan on inserting pages to the end of a PDF, building the document from front to back in sequence. This is especially important in headings.

Hyperlinks can be inserted from the Insert tab and then Hyperlink on the Links panel. Always double check that your hyperlinks work. For Images, right click on the image and choose Insert Caption. For tables, right click on the table and choose Table Properties. The 5th tab is for ALT Text. When you run the accessibility checker, this error should be ignored.

The checker can only identify that the image does not have a tag. It does not know that it is a non-informational image. You may be able to do this using the Group option or using a third party tool such as SnagIt. Ready for Release. Black and white is always a good choice. This is not usually checked via Microsoft applications. It requires a visual check. Always run the accessibility checker when you are finished with your document to see if any issues are identified, then remediate those items prior to publishing your document.

From the menu that appears on the right side of your document, select the Full Check panel under the Accessibility section. When the pop-up window appears, click Start Checking. Your results will appear on the left side of your document. Don't assume that your document is good; always run the checker to confirm. After the Accessibility Checker inspects your content, it reports the inspection results.

Because the Full Check feature can't distinguish between essential and nonessential content types, some issues it reports don't affect readability.

You should review all issues to determine which ones require correction. The report displays one of the following statuses for each rule check:. To fix a failed check after running Full Check, right-click the item in the Accessibility Checker panel and choose one of the following options from the context menu:. If the document appears to contain text, but doesn't contain fonts, it could be an image-only PDF file. Or to fix this rule check manually, use OCR to recognize text in scanned images:.

Make sure that the reading order displayed coincides with the logical reading order of the document. To do so, click the Reading Order icon in the far-left column, then start clicking through the items listed in the Order column to ensure they flow correctly.

If they do not, return to the source document i. Enter the document title in the Description dialog box deselect Leave As Is, if necessary. Or, fix the title manually:. In the Structure Elements dialog box, select the elements that you want to use as bookmarks and click OK.

You can also access the Structure Elements dialog box by clicking the Options menu on the Bookmark tab and selecting the New Bookmarks From Structure command. Contact Us. Helpful Tip. Create a document Word or presentation PowerPoint file and select the Review tab.

Select Check Accessibility to open the Accessibility panel. If you close the Accessibility panel you can track your progress with the Accessibility button in the status bar in the bottom left of your screen. Move your Reading Order Box to the side so you can see your document.

 

Create Accessible PDFs | Sectiongov

 

By using the built-in features within Word, you can avoid many of the common accessibility mistakes. Content must be properly tagged so that a screen reader can know what kind of information the content represents. Such elements include headers, body text, lists, images, backgrounds, and tables. Using the Styles in Word will also ensure that your document is bookmarked properly. All correctly formatted documents from Word will be tagged and bookmarked correctly on the portal site.

Read more about Word accessibility and best practices before you begin. If you choose to scan, run the Text Recognition OCR feature of Adobe Acrobat to make the text accessible to a screen reader and then run the accessibility checker to ensure that the document meets the other accessibility requirements.

Without running the Text Recognition function, scanned text is simply an image and therefore not accessible. Read the table below and then visit the links on the right below the Related Pages area for more information and some video tutorials.

Note that the blue italicized items on the left columns apply to all Microsoft Office files and serve as sound guiding principles for creating accessible documents from any other program. To compare the two products, check out this matrix. Using Styles will ensure that your document is properly bookmarked and tagged when converted to PDF format. Under the Review tab, ensure you are seeing all markup and that none display in the document.

Defining articles in your PDF document allows someone to follow the article without having to manually skip around in the document. If your document is sequential in nature and does not use columns, then this is an unnecessary step. Use fonts that are clear and legible e.

The spacing in the document should be enough to show paragraph breaks clearly. This is the default in Word. This is especially important in headings. Hyperlinks can be inserted from the Insert tab and then Hyperlink on the Links panel. Always double check that your hyperlinks work. For Images, right click on the image and choose Insert Caption. For tables, right click on the table and choose Table Properties.

The 5th tab is for ALT Text. When you run the accessibility checker, this error should be ignored. The checker can only identify that the image does not have a tag. It does not know that it is a non-informational image. You may be able to do this using the Group option or using a third party tool such as SnagIt.

Ready for Release. Black and white is always a good choice. This is not usually checked via Microsoft applications.

It requires a visual check. Always run the accessibility checker when you are finished with your document to see if any issues are identified, then remediate those items prior to publishing your document. From the menu that appears on the right side of your document, select the Full Check panel under the Accessibility section. When the pop-up window appears, click Start Checking.

Your results will appear on the left side of your document. Don't assume that your document is good; always run the checker to confirm. After the Accessibility Checker inspects your content, it reports the inspection results. Because the Full Check feature can't distinguish between essential and nonessential content types, some issues it reports don't affect readability. You should review all issues to determine which ones require correction. The report displays one of the following statuses for each rule check:.

To fix a failed check after running Full Check, right-click the item in the Accessibility Checker panel and choose one of the following options from the context menu:. If the document appears to contain text, but doesn't contain fonts, it could be an image-only PDF file. Or to fix this rule check manually, use OCR to recognize text in scanned images:. Make sure that the reading order displayed coincides with the logical reading order of the document. To do so, click the Reading Order icon in the far-left column, then start clicking through the items listed in the Order column to ensure they flow correctly.

If they do not, return to the source document i. Enter the document title in the Description dialog box deselect Leave As Is, if necessary. Or, fix the title manually:. In the Structure Elements dialog box, select the elements that you want to use as bookmarks and click OK.

You can also access the Structure Elements dialog box by clicking the Options menu on the Bookmark tab and selecting the New Bookmarks From Structure command.

When this check fails, it's possible that the document contains content that isn't accessible to people who are color-blind.

To fix this issue, make sure that the document's content adheres to the guidelines outlined in WCAG section 1. Or, include a recommendation that the PDF viewer use high-contrast colors:. Make sure that all content in the document is either included in the Tags tree or marked as an artifact. If the source document is not available, then do one of the following to fix this rule check:.

Do one of the following:. Alternate text can't hide an annotation. If an annotation is nested under a parent element with alternate text, then screen readers don't see it. For more detailed tutorials on how to create compliant documents view videos below.

Recommended that you use Microsoft for the best experience:. This video describes how to use the Accessibility Checker and the accessibility features in Microsoft Topics include converting scanned documents to OCR, setting the tab order, setting table headers, determining whether a document has been tagged or not, tagging an untagged document, adding ALT text to images, changing the reading order, and marking paragraphs as text.

Making Accessible PDFs. PDF Accessibility Overview. A basic review of PDF documents and an overview of accessibility features. Contains tips and guidelines for making documents accessible but does not give any step-by-step instructions. Recommended to understand the concept of accessibility.

More Training from AcrobatUsers. The Acrobat Users site contains many useful tutorials for a variety of versions of Acrobat, beyond just accessibility training.

A good site to bookmark. Defining Articles. An excellent overview of articles in PDF documents complete with steps on viewing an editing various types of articles. Please note that you should expect to receive a response from our team, regarding your inquiry, within 2 business days.

Turn on more accessible mode. Turn off more accessible mode. Governance and Training for the DAU. Note that Adobe has a built-in accessibility checker in the Tools section. Do not use red and green text and highlighting together.

Do not use red text on a black background. Results: [back to top] Adobe Accessibility Checker - Understand the Inspection Results After the Accessibility Checker inspects your content, it reports the inspection results.

The report displays one of the following statuses for each rule check: Passed: The item is accessible. Verify the item manually. Failed: The item didn't pass the accessibility check. Skip Rule: Deselects this option in the Accessibility Checker Options dialog box for future checks of this document and changes the item status to Skipped. Explain: Opens the online help. Check Again: Runs the checker again on all items. Choose this option after modifying one or more items. Show Report: Displays a report with links to tips on how to repair failed checks.

Options: Opens the Accessibility Checker Options dialog box so you can select which checks are performed. Enter a title in the Title text box. Click OK to close the Description dialog box. Click Accessibility. Choose the color combination that you want from the drop-down list, and then click OK.

Open the Content panel and right-click the content that you want to mark as an artifact. Then, select Create Artifact from the context menu.

Right-click on the content, and then apply tags as necessary. Assign tags using the Tags panel. Items such as comments, links, and annotations don't always appear in the Tags tree.