PDF Compliancy

Using Adobe Acrobat Pro to check for accessibility

If you don't already have Adobe Acrobat Pro you can get it using the link above.  You will need to be an active CSUF staff, faculty, or student for a Campus license.

WebAIM has additional tutorials about PDF Accessibility with Adobe Acrobat Pro that can be another useful resource.

Step 1) Do you need this in PDF format?

Is this a flyer or newsletter?  Is it older materials that are not really relevant to keeping for your current website?  Remediation can include making significant updates and will take time.  If you really don't need the content why spend the time to keep it.  Check your analytics and see how much traffic is going to these files, ask if its something that is worth the time to do. 

If the content is worth keeping but is not really needed in PDF format you might want to consider just transferring it to a regular web page.  While that process may take time as well it will be easier to keep updated with accessibility standards over needing to constantly update a PDF file format.

Step 2) Try the CSUF PDF Remediation tool

Use the link above an let the automated system try and do the heavy lifting for you.  While there are limits to what it can do its still better than starting from scratch.  It will analyze the file for you then make updates and return a new version of it.

Step 3) Is there any text or just an image with text in it?

If you can select individual letters then that's a good sign.  There is a very good chance that you might have image and text but any image where text is included that needs to be communicated to the user will need to be given alt text.

You can convert to text using View > Tools > "Recognize Text".  

 

Step 4) Does the document have tagging?

Just like web pages, PDF data needs to be tagged well so screen readers know how to interact with it.

Test for tagging by using the opening the document properties (ctrl+D / command+D).  Look at the Description tab and under the Advanced section, is a Tagged PDF field.  That value will indicate Yes or No.

If the document has no tagging you will need to add tags by using View > Tools > Accessibility > "Add Tags To Document"

Step 5) Run theaccessibilitychecker

Acrobat has a built in tool that is part of the Tools, which are listed on the left menu.  If you do not see this you can expand the list by clicking "View More".  Use the tool "Prepare for accessibility" and that will open the accessibility checker.

The option you want to start with is "Check for accessibility".  That will first scan the document so you have an idea where you currently need to focus your efforts.

Remember that document remediation can drastically change the file organization if you choose to change a reading order or automatically tag the PDF.

After you click on the "Check for accessibility" it will open the Accessibility Checker Options dialog box.  This will allow you to check which options you want.  Normally we want to scan them all to verify that our PDF will meet accessibility standards.

Press "Start Checking" at the bottom when you are ready.

After processing the document a right sidebar will open with the Accessibility Checker report.

Review the results in the right sidebar.  Open the categories to review the issues found with the document.

Each issue will be marked with a passing, failure, or needs manual check. 

Manual checks represent something that you as the content editor need to verify such as logical reading order or color contrast.  This is because there is no way for the system to know how you expect users to understand the content flow.  While there is no need to "pass" a manual check it needs to be reviewed for accuracy.

Anything marked as a failure needs to be resolved before posting the document to your website.  This guide is not an exhaustive how-to but we encourage you to go through the WebAIM tutorial or search the Adobe Acrobat Pro guides to learn more about fixing the issues.

 

Fixing Issues

For some issues you can right click on them and a "Fix Issue" may be listed.  This will provide you with new options that Acrobat will use to help fill in missing data that was not found.

PDF content, like web content, needs to be accessible for screen readers.  Making sure your document is properly tagged, has the right reading order, and images with proper alt text will ensure that everyone has a productive experience.

Remember that changing the logical reading order can sometimes cause the document to reformat.  Save your work after fixing each issue to ensure you can reload in the event the document becomes malformed.