PDF Accessibility

The best time to make a PDF accessible is when you create it. If you do accessibility work in Acrobat, and the document ever changes, you will have to re-do all your work! So, use the Word, PowerPoint, or InDesign Accessibility Guides before saving as PDF, then use Acrobat to check your work:

1. Set-up - Set up Acrobat Pro (one time).
   • Make sure you're using Acrobat Pro, not Reader. (Reader can't do these steps.)
   • If there is a Menu button in the upper left, click it and pick "Disable new Acrobat" to switch to the "classic" look. (Either look will work but these instructions are written for "classic".)
   • Go to Tools, More Tools, Protect & Standardize, Accessibility and click Add or Open.
2. Accessibility Check - Use Acrobat's automatic checker.
   • In Accessibility Tools, click Accessibility Check. Leave the settings as they are (with everything but table summaries selected) and click Start Checking.
   • In the Accessibility Checker, expand all the sections and look for items that say "Failed". (Don't worry about the ones that say "Needs manual check" -- we'll get to those.)
   • Note: Don't use the "autotag" tools -- they'll thow away all the accessibility work you did in Word, InDesign, etc.
3. Logical Reading Order - Use Export to Text (Accessible) to check reading order.
   • Go to File, Export To, Text (Accessible).
   • Save the text file to your Desktop and open it in Notepad.
   • Read through the text side-by-side with the PDF; check that all text, including alt text for images, is present and in the right order.
4. Color Contrast - Double-check color contrast if needed.
   • If you made the document in Word, it should have checked the color contrast of text.
   • If you need to check, see the Color Contrast Guide.
5. Fixes - Make fixes in the original document. 
   • If there are any issues, fix them in the original document, re-save as PDF, and check again.
   • Note: Don't use Acrobat to save as Word -- this creates documents that can be hard to fix.

PDF forms require some additional tests. These can be done using Acrobat Pro or Reader:

1. Tooltips - Check that labels for form fields are shown in their tooltips.
   • Hover your mouse pointer over each field to see its tooltip.
   • Check that the tooltip shows the entire label of the field without any unnecessary extra text.
2. Keyboard - Check that form fields work with keyboard commands. 
   • Start at the top of the form and press the Tab key to move from field to field.
   • Check that focus moves to every field in a logical order.
   • Check that each field can be operated with keyboard commands. See Keyboard Testing.
3. Fixes - Fix tooltip and tab order issues in Acrobat or Designer.
   • If the form was made in Word & Acrobat, see the PDF Form Accessibility Guide.
   • If the form was made in AEM Forms Designer, see the Designer Accessibility Guide. 

• WebAIM: PDF Accessibility - a detailed explanation of how PDF accessibility works.