Electronic documents should be clear, well-organized, and accessible with the use of assistive technology.
Accessible Document Basics
All documents should follow basic accessibility best practices, no matter what app or software you are using. Things to keep in mind are:
- Document structure like headings and lists
- Descriptive hyperlink text
- Alternative text for images
- High contrast colors
More details can be found in the .
PDFs
PDFs have additional considerations. These are a few requirements for accessible PDFs:
- Real, selectable text, not images of text like a scanned page.
- Tag structure - tags are essential for people using assistive technology to fully access, navigate, and understand a PDF.
- A logical reading order
- If your PDF is a form, there are even more requirements. Consider using a webform instead.
How a PDF is created can have a huge impact on its accessibility. NEVER use the "print to PDF" option. Instead, use "save as" PDF with the accessibility features turned on in advanced settings.
It is much easier to fix the accessibility of a document in the source program (Word, PowerPoint, InDesign, Google Docs & Slides) than to fix it using Adobe Acrobat.
More information on PDF accessibility:
- , from Adobe
SensusAccess
SensusAccess allows students, faculty, staff and alumni to automatically convert documents into a range of alternate media including audio books (MP3 and DAISY), e-books (EPUB, EPUB3 and Mobi) and digital Braille.
The service can also be used to convert inaccessible documents such as image-only PDF files, JPG pictures and Microsoft PowerPoint presentations into more accessible formats.