All About Portable Document Format & the Workspace

PDF 

Adobe PDF IconPDFs enable users to exchange and view electronic documents, independent of the authoring environment.

Adobe Acrobat DC Workspace 

Although various Adobe Acrobat DC tools will be used to create an accessible PDF, there are two main areas of the workspace.

The first is the Tools Pane, which displays essential tools such as the Accessibility tool and the Action Wizard. These will be discussed more in detail. The second area that we'll concentrate on this course is the Navigation Panel. The Navigation Panel contains vital remediation tools such as Tags Panel and Reading Order Panel. Those who use assistive technologies, like screen readers, rely on the PDF's Tags Panel to navigate and access content. 

PDF Workspace

 

Determine the accessibility path for each PDF 

There are different types of PDFs. Does the PDF have searchable text? Is it a scanned image? Or is this a new document that can be created in Microsoft Word then imported into Adobe Acrobat? Determining the best workflow requires understanding the nature of the PDF and its intended use. 

The next module, PDF Accessibility Repair Workflow, will guide the PDF workflow remediation process. 

You may also refer to Adobe Acrobat Pro DC Accessibility Guide: PDF Accessibility Repair Workflow Links to an external site.as it further details how to assess existing PDF files for accessibility. By following these procedures in the recommended order, authors can efficiently proceed through authoring a PDF with accessibility in mind. However, the next module will consolidate the steps in an easy step-by-step process as well. 

 

Note:

These effective practice techniques require access to Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC and Adobe Acrobat Standard DC do not have the complete set of tools needed to create and validate PDF documents for accessibility.

 

Resources

So many "Adobes" in the title - wait, what's the difference again? Check out understanding the differences between Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader DC Links to an external site. for a video explanation.