InDesign Accessibility

Use these techniques to make accessible PDF documents with InDesign:

1. Title - Set a Title.
   • Open the File menu, pick File Info, and enter a Document Title.
2. Headings - Create Paragraph Styles for headings and map them to Tags. 
   • Open the Window menu, pick Styles, then Paragraph Styles.
   • Create new styles for Title (H1), Section Heading (H2), Sub-section Heading (H3), etc, and variations (e.g., Section Heading Dark, Section Heading Light) if you need them. 
   • If you already have heading text formatted as you like, select it, and then click "Create new style".
   • Open the Styles options menu (in the upper right corner of the panel), pick Edit All Export Tags, check the PDF radio button, and set the corresponding Tag (H1, H2, H3, etc.) for each heading style.
   • NEVER use these heading styles for anything EXCEPT headings. 
3. Lists - Create Styles for lists.
   • Create new styles for lists, setting Bullets and Numbering as desired.
   • Leave list style Tags set to "[Automatic]".
4. Images - Add Alt Text to meaningful images and 'Artifact' decorative images.
   • Right click on an image, pick Object Export Options, select Alt Text, set Alt Text Source to Custom, enter alt text that communicates what the image communicates, and click Done.
   • For images that don't communicate anything important, right click on the image, pick Object Export Options, select Tagged PDF, set Apply Tag to Artifact, and click Done.
5. Tables - Use the Table tool to create tables.
   • Use Insert Table and set Header Rows to 1. (If you need to check/correct this later, go to Table, Table Options, Table Setup)
   • Keep tables simple; avoid merging and splitting cells.
6. Forms - Set Descriptions for form fields.
   • Create a Rectangle Frame, right click it, pick Interactive, and then convert to the field type you want.
   • Under PDF Options, enter a Description that matches the visible label of the field, e.g., "First Name", "Street Address", etc. (This will become the tooltip in PDF.)
7. Colors - See our Color Contrast Guide.
   • Check that all text/background color combinations Pass (AA).
8. Order - Use the Articles Panel to set the reading order.
   • Set the order after you have completed your document.
   • Open the Window menu and pick Articles, open the Articles options menu (in the upper right corner of the panel), and check "Use for Tagging Order in Tagged PDF".
   • Pick the Selection tool, hold the Shift key down, click content items in the desired order, and drag and drop the items into the Articles Panel.
   • Check the order in the Articles Panel and rearrange if necessary.
9. Export - Make sure "Create Tagged PDF" and "Use Structure for Tab Order" are checked
   • When you're ready to save to PDF, open the File menu and pick Export...
   • In the Export window, pick the folder and name and click Save.
   • In the General settings, under Options, check "Create Tagged PDF".
   • For interactive PDFs, also check "Use Structure for Tab Order".

For more detailed instructions see:

• Creating Accessible PDFs (from InDesign)
  
• Creating Accessible Documents with Adobe InDesign
• Work with Forms in InDesign
• Using Adobe InDesign to Create Accessible PDF Documents (video)