The Accessible PDF: Techniques for Creating a Document Everyone Can Use

PDFs can offer stability, portability, and a clean presentation for documents across many platforms. But let's face it: PDFs are not everyone's friend. A PDF can present significant challenges in accessing information for people relying on assistive technologies like screen readers, text-to-speech apps, or Braille displays. Unstructured content and lack of proper tagging make them difficult to navigate.

Creating an accessible PDF goes beyond just making the text readable. It's about ensuring everyone, including those with disabilities, can easily understand and navigate the document.

Before you begin to create your accessible PDF, it's essential to know the characteristics of an accessible PDF. If you notice, many of these characteristics are the same for an accessible webpage.😉

Proper Structure Accessible PDFs have headings, paragraphs, and tables clearly defined using tags (YouTube). These tags allow screen readers to understand the hierarchy and flow of information, making it easier for users to navigate.
Readable and Searchable Text
Accessible PDFs have actual machine-readable text, not images of text. Many scanned PDFs (hard copy scanned into a PDF) are images with text.
ALT Text
Images in an accessible PDF, like images on an accessible webpage, have proper ALT text, captions, or long descriptions.
Logical Navigation
Accessible PDFs provide clear navigation and logical reading order, ensuring the content is presented in a meaningful way.
- The use of bookmarks allows users to jump to specific sections.
- A well-structured table of contents also provides easy access to specific sections of the document.
- Discernable text for hyperlinks is another key element for making navigation intuitive for everyone.
Color Contrast
Accessible PDFs ensure the text is clearly visible against the background and meets the minimum contrast requirement of 4.5:1.
Document Properties & Metadata
Accessible PDFs have document properties such as PDF version, page size, and number of pages, which are included automatically. Metadata provides information about the document, like the author’s name, keywords, and copyright information, which search utilities can use.

What can you do to ensure your PDFs have all the above characteristics? Here are some techniques for creating accessible PDFs that are inclusive and user-friendly.

Pro Tip: It is always easier to make your source document (any MS Office document, Google Suite document, or webpage) accessible before exporting to PDF.

Document Structure

Click through the tags tree of your PDF document to verify the tags are correctly identifying the associate content. For example, if you click on an H1 at the top of the page, the PDF tag should ID that as an <H1> tag.

For any mistagged content, you can 1) select the incorrect tag, right-click, and select Properties. Use the dropdown menu labeled Type to select the correct tag, or 2) select the incorrect tag, press F2 (fn + F2 on a Mac) on your keyboard, key in the proper tag, and press enter.
The reading order of a PDF determines the order in which a screen reader reads the document aloud. The default reading order is top to bottom and left to right. To check the reading order, select the Reading Order icon on the right side. It looks like this -

You can change the reading order using the Order Panel or drag the highlighted regions on the page into the correct order. For instructions on each method, please read " Reading Order tool for PDFs (Acrobat Pro)."

Text Accessibility

If your PDF is a scanned document, the first step is to convert the context into readable text and individual images. This is accomplished by incorporating Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. OCR converts the image text into actual text, making it readable by assistive software.
Make sure to choose accessible fonts like Arial or Calabria, and avoid decorative or custom fonts.
Incorporate proper contrast between fonts and the background.

Keyboard Accessibility

Ensure all interactive elements, such as buttons and form fields, can be accessed and navigated using just the keyboard. This will help users who rely on assistive technologies that don't support mouse interaction.

Document Properties & Metadata

Include document properties and metadata like title, author, subject, and proper document language. This provides crucial context for assistive technologies and ensures screen readers use the correct pronunciation and grammar rules.

Test and Check

Creating accessible PDFs doesn't have to be a solitary endeavor. Many authoring tools offer built-in accessibility features. Additionally, automated accessibility checker apps, like DubBot, can streamline the process. These tools can identify and flag potential accessibility issues in your PDFs, allowing you to begin the remediation process sooner.

By following these techniques and leveraging accessibility checker tools, you can ensure your PDFs are inclusive and reach a wider audience. Remember, accessible PDFs are not just the right thing to do but also good for business. They improve the user experience and elevate your brand reputation.

The Accessible PDF: Techniques for Creating a Document Everyone Can Use

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