Creating Accessible PDFs

Find out how to create PDF files that are accessible to users of assistive technology.

Introduction

• The ultimate guide to accessible PDFs
• Introduction to creating accessible PDFs

1. Understanding Accessibility

• What is accessibility?
• Accessibility standards
• Check PDF accessibility
• The NVDA PDF reader experience

2. Accessibility in PDF Files

• Acrobat Pro DC setup and workspace
• PDF accessibility requirements
• The PDF remediation workflow

3. Make an Existing PDF File Accessible

• PDF remediation
• Add metadata
• Tag content with the Reading Order tool
• Dealing with content that spans more than one page
• Tagging lists
• Tagging table of contents
• Creating table of contents links
• Tagging tables
• The Table Editor
• Artifacting elements
• Work with the Content pane
• Add alternative text
• Add bookmarks
• Tagging footnotes
• Walking the tags tree
• Validate the PDF file and cleanup
• Finishing touches
• Checking color contrast
• Testing with a screen reader
• Third-party tools

4. Create an Accessible PDF from Word

• Accessible PDF on Windows vs. Mac
• Layout considerations and setup
• Add metadata
• Styles and outline levels
• Adding bookmarks
• Tagging tables
• Add hyperlinks
• Create a table of contents
• Add alternative text
• Artifacting objects
• Footnotes and endnotes
• Things to watch out for in Word
• Touch-ups after conversion from Word
• Funky fix-up

5. Create an Accessible PDF File from PowerPoint

• General considerations
• Adding a document title in PowerPoint
• The importance of master slides
• Defining PowerPoint tag order
• Add alternative text in PowerPoint
• Work with PowerPoint tables
• Touch-ups after conversion from PowerPoint

6. Create an Accessible PDF File from Adobe InDesign

• Best way to generate the PDF file
• InDesign layout considerations
• Add required metadata in InDesign
• InDesign styles and tag structure
• Controlling tag order with InDesign
• Control InDesign reading order
• Create InDesign captions
• Anchoring objects in text frames
• Work with tables in InDesign
• Interactive hyperlinks in InDesign
• Create a list with InDesign
• Add cross-references in InDesign
• Creating an InDesign table of contents
• Alternative text for images and graphics in InDesign
• Artifacting InDesign objects
• PDF bookmarks in InDesign
• InDesign footnotes and endnotes
• Including an index with InDesign
• Finishing touches and validating

Conclusion

• Next steps