成人头条

A photograph of hands typing on a computer keyboard.

Meeting the PDF Accessibility Challenge

Ease of creation and convenience have made PDFs a very prolific electronic document type across the internet. But, as with webpages, PDFs also need to meet accessibility requirements in order to serve users dependent on assistive technologies. 

Before you go through this process, consider if PDF is the right format for your content:

  • Does it need to be printed with a specific format? Printing is PDF's real reason for existence.
  • Will people need to look at this on mobile devices? PDFs do not resize to fit the device they are on, and are a very poor choice for general communication.

In most cases, we should be making a web page instead of a PDF, and the tools for making an accessible, mobile-friendly web page are built into our content management system. But, if you absolutely need a printable document, then carry on.

 

Throughout this page you will find tutorials and resources to help you in creating fully accessible PDFs. The goal for this page is for it to grow over time to add more tips and techniques so that you can better serve those who access your online documents. 

Adobe Acrobat Pro is necessary for remediating PDF files. The application is available via Adobe Creative Cloud. If you need assistance in obtaining Adobe Creative Cloud, contact helpdesk@wichita.edu for assistance. 

For questions related to PDF remediation, please submit a Support Request via the .


PDFs Sourced from Microsoft Word Documents

Most PDFs our team encounter that require remediation have been exported from Microsoft Word. If the document has been remediated in Word before export to PDF, It can dramatically reduce - or even eliminate - any need to remediate the final PDF in Acrobat Pro. For tutorials and best practices on remediation and optimized accessibility options for Word documents, please visit our Microsoft Word Remediation for Accessibility webpage

Note: Fillable form documents requiring users to provide information ALWAYS require PDF remediation. For fillable form PDFs, please refer to the Basic and Advanced PDF Form Remediation tutorials below. 

Microsoft Word Remediation for Accessibility


Additional Accessibility Considerations

These points are covered in more detail in the Document Creation: Best Practices section of the Microsoft Word Remediation for Accessibility webpage.

Document Creation: Best Practices


Tutorials Menu

Click the button for the tutorial section you wish to use. 

Tutorial 1: Exporting Remediated Word Documents

Note: Fillable form documents requiring users to provide information ALWAYS require PDF remediation. For fillable form PDFs, please refer to the Basic and Advanced PDF Form Remediation tutorials below. 

 Return to Section Menu


Tutorial 2: Basic PDF Remediation for Accessibility

We recommend watching the video in fullscreen mode so all tools and tags are clearly visible.

Practice Files

Samples of the PDFs presented in the videos are included in downloadable ZIP format. One is a nonremediated version that can be used for practice or to follow along with the video, and the other is a completed version that can be used for structure review. 

Basic PDF Practice File - For use in practicing PDF remediation along with the instructional video.

Basic PDF Remediated - a finished version of the Practice File that can be used as a reference.

Basic PDF Remediation, Part One: Introduction and Autotag Method

 

Basic PDF Remediation, Part Two: Manual Tagging Method

Return to Section Menu


Tutorial 3: Basic PDF Form Remediation for Accessibility

We recommend watching the videos in fullscreen mode so all tools and tags are clearly visible.

Practice Files

Samples of the PDFs presented in the videos are included in downloadable ZIP format. One is a nonremediated version that can be used for practice or to follow along with the video, and the other is a completed version that can be used for structure review. 

Basic PDF Form Practice File - For use in practicing PDF form remediation along with the instructional videos.

Basic PDF Form Remediated - a finished version of the Practice File that can be used as a reference.

Basic PDF Form Remediation, Part One: Prepare Form

 

Basic PDF Form Remediation, Part Two: Tags

 

Basic PDF Form Remediation, Part Three: Reading Order and Final Corrections

Return to Section Menu 


Tutorial 4: Advanced PDF Form Remediation for Accessibility

We recommend watching the videos in fullscreen mode so all tools and tags are clearly visible.

Practice Files for Tutorial Videos 1 through 10

Samples of the PDFs presented in the videos are included in downloadable ZIP format. One is a nonremediated version that can be used for practice or to follow along with the video, and the other is a completed version that can be used for structure review. 

Advanced PDF Form Practice File - For use in practicing PDF form remediation along with the instructional videos.

Advanced PDF Form Remediated - a finished version of the Practice File that can be used as a reference.

The Website team would like to wish the Human Resources team a huge "Thank You" for allowing us to use this file for the tutorial.

Advanced PDF Form Remediation, Part One: Prepare Form, Page One

 

 

Advanced PDF Form Remediation, Part Two: Prepare Form, Page Two

 

 

Advanced PDF Form Remediation, Part Three: Prepare Form, Page Three

 

Advanced PDF Form Remediation, Part Four: Prepare Form, Page Four

 

Advanced PDF Form Remediation, Part Five: Autotagging and Organization

 

Advanced PDF Form Remediation, Part Six: Page One Tags

 

Advanced PDF Form Remediation, Part Seven: Page One Reading Order

 

Advanced PDF Form Remediation, Part Eight: Page Two, Tags and Reading Order

 

Advanced PDF Form Remediation, Part Nine: Page Three, Tags and Reading Order

 

Advanced PDF Form Remediation, Part Ten: Page Four, Tags and Reading Order; Final Check

 

Return to Section Menu 


 

Resource Documents

ARC 2020 and Accessibility Summer Camp 2020 Presentation PDFs

ARC 2020 Presentation - Presentation created for WSU Faculty and Staff

Accessibility Summer Camp 2020 Presentation - More general presentation, with WSU-only material removed

Tagging Annotations - How to tag annotations that Autotagging misses. 

 

Return to Section Menu