Start with an Accessible Document
Adapted from Adobe Acrobat Pro DC – Introduction to Accessible PDFs, Rob Haverty, Senior Product Manager, Document Cloud Accessibility
The source document is supreme
Things to consider when creating the source document:
- Does the authoring tool of the source document allow the author to create an accessible document? For example, Microsoft Word has an Accessibility Checker to help the author make the document more accessible.
- Does the author know how to create an accessible document? For example, in Microsoft Word, are Styles used to apply heading levels or are manually stylized by changing the text size and making it bold?
- It is almost always easier to remediate the source document then the converted PDF document.
Creating an accessible source document
Choosing an accessible authoring program can simplify your PDF accessibility workflow. Accessible applications support accessibility by providing options for:
- alternative text for images
- headings levels
- built-in lists (numbered and bulleted)
- descriptive and meaningful URLs
- creating accessible data tables
Need to learn more about creating Microsoft Word documents? Sign-up for the free Microsoft Word Accessibility Self-Paced Micro-Course.
It takes more time and effort to make an existing PDF accessible.
- Begin with an accessible Microsoft Word document.
- Or convert the PDF back to a Word Doc, remediate it, and then export it as a PDF with your accessibility tags, if possible!
If the source document is unavailable, in most cases, the document can still be made fully accessible. However, it will take significantly longer and more manual work is required in Acrobat Adobe DC to ensure the PDF is accessible.
In many instances, it is easier to copy and paste content from an inaccessible PDF into a Microsoft Word doc, apply all accessibility principles, then export as a PDF into Adobe Acrobat DC.