PDF

PDF Remediation – Process Overview

1. Ensure that the source document is accessible before exporting to PDF
2. Export the original document as a tagged PDF
3. Use optical character recognition (OCR) to recognize text in scanned documents
4. Run the Adobe Accessibility Checker
5. Manually review the document for potential color contrast issues

Using the Accessibility Checker

Keep in mind that the accessibility checker is not perfect. Use your own judgment to ensure that your document is accessible.

• Use Tools > Accessibility > Full Check.
• Common areas to correct:
  • Add or fix metadata as needed
  • Add or fix tag structure as needed to properly mark headings, tables, figures, etc.
  • Check and fix the order of tags using the Reading Order tool

Document Structure

• Add a title to the document.
• Set the document language.
• Set bookmarks based on tag type (e.g. Headings 1, 2, 3).

Tags and Reading Order

• Make sure all elements in the document are tagged.
• Common tags to check:
  • Headings: one Heading 1 per document with other headings nested in order without skipping a level
  • Figures: all figures should have alt text
  • Tables: table header cells and data cells are labeled accordingly
• Make sure tags are ordered correctly using the Reading Order tool

For more information on using tags, see Editing document structure with the Content and Tags panels (Adobe Instructions).

Source Document Accessibility

The easiest, most sustainable way to create an accessible PDF is to start with an accessible source document.

While Adobe’s accessibility tools are very helpful (particularly when the source documents are not available), the process can be labor-intensive and require manual mark-up with each version of the PDF.

To make sure your source documents are accessible, see:

• Other Document Accessibility guides (Digital Accessibility Toolbox)
• How to create accessible documents (Center for User Experience)