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PDF Accessibility Overview

Presented by Ally Bartley (she/her)

bit.ly/PDF-a11y-summer

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Agenda

  1. Check-In
  2. PDF Accessibility
    1. Thinking about PDF Accessibility
    2. Determining when to use a PDF
  3. Converting Word Doc to PDF
  4. Adobe Acrobat PDF Accessibility features

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Thinking About PDF Accessibility

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Scope of Training

PDF Accessibility can be complicated!

  • After today, you will know:
    • Some fundamental concepts related to PDFs
    • How to check for basic PDF accessibility issues
    • How to export a Word doc to a PDF
  • After today, you will not know:
    • How to determine if a PDF is fully accessible
    • How to remediate a PDF in Adobe Acrobat

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Pros and Cons of PDFs

Pros:

  • Easily opened on any device
  • Doesn’t require purchased software to access
  • Layout and formatting is consistent across all devices

Cons:

  • Requires purchased software and knowledge to edit
  • Requires form fields to allow users to enter information
  • Requires significantly more time, effort, and knowledge to make accessible than other content types

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When Should I Use a PDF?

  • Do you need a consistent visual layout on all devices?
    • PDF, HTML
  • Does the document need to be available to people outside the university?
    • PDF, HTML
  • Is the document frequently updated?
    • HTML, Word, PPT

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When Should I Use a PDF? (2)

  • Will users need to type in the document?
    • Word, Google Docs, PPT
  • Do you need form fields?
    • Web forms, Google Forms, Qualtrics
  • Does the document need to be printed?
    • PDF, Word, PPT

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How to Create Accessible PDF

  • Make your source document as accessible as possible before exporting to PDF.
  • You may have to export in a particular way to preserve accessibility features; this may vary by content editing platform.

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How to Create Accessible PDF (2)

  • Iterate between source document & PDF:
    • Find issues in PDF using the Acrobat Accessibility Checker.
    • Fix issues in the original platform, re-export to PDF.
    • Continue until PDF is as accessible as possible.
  • Unless you've completed PDF accessibility training, we recommend avoiding PDF remediation as much as possible.

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What Do I Do With Inherited PDFs?

  • Get the source file, if possible.
  • If you don’t have the source file, we recommend exporting to Word or manually re-creating the document.
    • Export to Word from Acrobat Pro:
      • File > Export To > Microsoft Word > Word Document
  • Recreating or exporting the document can save time in the long run and allows future edits to be made.

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Converting From Word to PDF

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Before Converting...

Set the document language

Add a document title

  • Mac: File, Properties, Summary
  • Windows: File, Info, add title under Properties section

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Converting Word Docs to PDF (Windows)

  1. File, Save As or Save as Copy
  2. Save as Type: PDF
  3. Select the Options button
  4. Check box for Document Structure Tags for Accessibility
    1. This setting will be saved for future docs
  5. Preserving accessibility when converting from Word to PDF
  6. Preserving accessibility when converting from Google Docs to PDF

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Converting Word Docs to PDF (Mac)

  1. File, Save As
  2. Change file format to PDF
  3. Select "Best for electronic distribution and accessibility"

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Adobe Acrobat PDF �Accessibility features

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Tips for Using Adobe Acrobat

  • Always use Adobe Acrobat Pro, not Acrobat Reader.
  • When editing in Acrobat, save often! (Ctrl / Cmmd + S). There is not always an undo option, and it can be easy to lose work.

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Run the Accessibility Checker

  • Go to Tools in main menu.
  • Find Accessibility, then select the Add button.
  • The icon will appear on the side toolbar (depends on version of Acrobat).
  • Run the checker by selecting Accessibility Check within the Prepare for Accessibility tool.

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Understanding the Accessibility Checker

  • Errors are in bolded along with the number of document issues in that category.
  • There are always at least 2 issues under the Document tab (Logical Reading Order and Color Contrast).
    • These require manual review.

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Understanding the Accessibility Checker (2)

  • The drop-down arrow to the left of the category will display all issue types within the category (“Figures alternative text - Failed”).
  • The drop-down arrow to the left of each issue type will display all instances of said issue.
  • Click on a specific item in the dropdown list (“Figure 1”) to locate the issue.

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Questions?

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Resources

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Submit Your Questions

Use the link or QR Code to submit questions to the CU Boulder Digital Accessibility Office (DAO)!

We will use your questions to guide us through Friday’s Q&A from 10 to 10:50 AM

bit.ly/camp-questions2026