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Educational Development

PDF Accessibility Guidelines

Table of Contents

Fixing Accessibility Issues Before Saving As PDF

As a best practice, it is important to ensure your files are accessible in Word before saving them as PDF Documents. This makes resolving accessibility issues much simpler.

From your Microsoft Application, use the Accessibility Checker to:

  • Review the Results
  • Correct all issues found under Errors
  • Inspect all warnings
  • Resolve any additional concerns.

Ensure you follow Microsoft’s Steps for Saving an Accessible PDF document.

You only have the PDF Document

If you do not have the original non-PDF document, you may be required to address the accessibility using Adobe Acrobat’s Accessibility Features. Please be aware, you will need an Adobe Pro License to complete this. Also, be aware that some PDF documents may have issues that may not be addressable if you do not have the original document.

Addressing Scanned PDF Documents

  • Avoid using Scanned PDF documents where possible.
  • Scanned PDF document text and other elements are inaccessible to screen-readers and students.
  • You can use the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Feature of Adobe Acrobat to convert scanned text to actual text. Watch our OCR Video for Adobe Acrobat.
  • Note: The reported Ally score for an OCR document will be higher than a scanned PDF document without OCR. However, that score will be around 60%, assuming there are no other issues. Ally does not recognize an OCR document as completely accessible. This is the primary reason we recommend replacing scanned documents rather than using OCR tools.

Tagging Untagged PDF Documents

  • Tags ensure that assistive technology can appropriately navigate a PDF document.
  • If you have a scanned document, you can try auto tagging the document with Adobe Acrobat.
  • See our Tagging PDF Documents video for Adobe Acrobat.

Adding Alternative Text to Images

  • Alternative text is important for sceen-readers to interpret visuals appropriately.
  • To add Alternative text in Adobe Acrobat, watch our Alternative Text video.

Addressing Color Contrast

  • Proper color contrast ensures that students can read content across various device types and accommodate students with visual disabilities. 
  • You can learn how to fix color contrast issues by watching our video tutorial on addressing color contrast in Adobe Acrobat. 

Converting PDF Documents to Word Documents

  • Sometimes, it’s easier to address accessibility issues on a PDF document by converting it to a word document.
  • To try this yourself, watch our video on Converting PDF Documents to Word.

Additional Resources

General

Microsoft Documents