九色视频

How to create accessible PDFs

PDFs are a versatile and convenient way to share information. But PDFs are often not structured properly, which can create barriers for people who need to read and understand the information. Fortunately, there are accessibility best practices that can help make PDFs more accessible for everyone.

Preliminary considerations for PDF accessibility

The first step to PDF accessibility is determining whether a PDF file is necessary. Would this content be better served as a website page or web form? Will the information become outdated quickly? Even if a PDF is needed, there are other accessibility considerations for making accessible PDFs:

  • Does it really need to be a PDF? Consider if a PDF is really the best way to share the information:
    • If your PDF is a form: consider using a website form (e.g., Gravity Forms, Encompass, Slate, Microsoft Forms, or Google forms). A web form is easier to create and much more accessible than a PDF, and you’ll have them go straight to your inbox!
    • If your PDF is informational: consider sharing the content on a web page. HTML is generally more accessible than PDFs, works better on mobile, and is easier to update. Whether you’re uploading them to the website or emailing them to users, old document versions may exist in search results, email inboxes, or on devices.
  • Start with an accessible source document: Whether you start in Word, Google Docs, or PowerPoint, make sure your source document is accessible before converting to PDF. Review our聽Document Accessibility Guidelines to ensure you’re following best practices for your document.
  • Quick 鈥淪elect All鈥� Readability Test: A quick way to check if a PDF is 鈥渞eadable鈥� is to try to Select All text by pressing Ctrl + A or going to Edit > 鈥淪elect All鈥� from the Acrobat menu.
    • If you can鈥檛 select the text, this is an image file and is not accessible (see OCR below).
    • If the selection jumps around wildly, the reading order is broken (see Reading Order).
  • OCR for Scans: If you are starting with a scanned image of a document or textbook, you must run Optical Character Recognition (OCR) first. An image-only PDF is entirely invisible to a screen reader.
    • Select the All Tools > Scan & OCR tool, then under “Recognize Text” select In this file > Recognize Text and the image will be converted to text (or use the search feature and search for Recognize text).
    • Then verify its accuracy by: (1) Reading the document with a screen reader or a read-aloud tool to identify if all text is read correctly and in the correct reading order; and (2) Saving the document as text and checking that the converted text is complete and in the correct reading order.
  • Never “Print to PDF”: Printing to PDF strips away all the accessibility tags you’ve worked on. Always use “Save As Adobe PDF” or “Export to PDF” to preserve elements such as headings, alternative text, and properties.
  • Use PAC (PDF Accessibility Checker): You can start using Adobe鈥檚 Accessibility Tool, but professional remediators often use the to verify “PDF/UA” (Universal Accessibility) compliance, which is a stricter and more reliable standard. HCU employees can also request access to the Siteimprove Intelligence Platform to upload their PDFs for accessibility verification (contact Marketing).

In addition to the Basic Content Accessibility Guidelines, keep reading for specific guidelines for this document type.

PDF accessibility guidelines

Guidelines for PDF documents reflect general content guidelines, but the instructions for applying these recommendations are unique.

In this page:

  1. Use the Acrobat Accessibility Tool
  2. Set File Properties
  3. Logical File Naming
  4. Check if your PDF has tags
  5. Review Reading Order and Tags
  6. Ensure Image Accessibility
  7. Check Color Contrast
  8. Tables & Data
  9. Long Document Navigation

1. Use the Acrobat Accessibility Tool

Acrobat鈥檚 accessibility tool will help you simplify and streamline the process of making your PDF accessible. These can be found at All Tools > View More > Prepare for accessibility.

  • Automatically tag PDF: Automatically analyzes the visual layout and applies a hidden tag structure (headings, paragraphs, lists) for screen readers.
  • Automatically tag/identify form fields: Specifically detects lines and boxes to create interactive form elements with proper underlying tags.
  • Check for accessibility: Performs a comprehensive scan of the document against WCAG or PDF/UA standards and generates a detailed report of failures.
  • Add alternative text:聽Discovers all graphics and gives an interface for adding alternative text for each one.
  • Use setup assistant: Wizard tool that guides you through making a document accessible.
  • Fix reading order: Fix basic tagging problems by displaying your content with an overlay that shows the order of your page content, allowing you to re-order content blocks and聽tag images as “decorative” or “figures.” Press Show Order Panel to modify the reading order.

See additional Manual Accessibility Checks that you can perform.

2. Set File Properties

Screen readers first read aloud the document title, allowing users to immediately know the document’s purpose. A descriptive title allows visually impaired users to quickly distinguish between documents without needing to read the entire file content, whereas missing titles make navigating files time-consuming. The title also appears in users’ web browser tab, helping all users identify it’s purpose; a blank title will read “Untitled” in the tab.

Add or Verify Metadata

  • Add Title and Author (File > Properties > Description Tab)
    • Title must be descriptive: This is often the first thing a screen reader announces.
    • Author is usually “九色视频”
  • Set Doc Title to Display (Properties > Initial View > Window Options > Show > Document Title)
  • Define the primary Language (Properties > Advanced Tab > Reading Options > Language)

Be Mindful of Security Settings

If text editing is restricted on the document, ensure screen readers can still access the text in the security permissions so assistive technology can reach the content.

  1. Select File > Document Properties (or press Ctrl+D on Windows or Cmd+D on Mac).
  2. Click the Security tab at the top of the Document Properties window.
  3. Access Permissions:
    • If Security Method is set to “No Security,” you don’t need to change anything; screen readers should have access by default.
    • If a security method like “Password Security” is active, click Change Settings.
  4. In the “Permissions” section, if聽“Restrict editing and printing of the document” is enabled, locate and check the box labeled “Enable text access for screen reader devices for the visually impaired.”

3. Logical File Naming

If no title is defined in the properties, the screen reader will often fall back to reading the filename. The file name also matters because after a user downloads the file, they can identify the document’s purpose when browsing their downloads folder. Every word/character is read aloud, so it must make sense.

  • Avoid generic names like Final_v2_Draft.pdf. Use a clear, descriptive name (e.g., HCU-Financial-Report.pdf) so users can identify the content in their “Downloads” folder without opening it.
  • For website use, ensure there are no spaces (use hyphens instead). Also, do not add a year to the filename if it will ever be updated. (Instead, overwrite older files with newer ones so that there are not old versions that appear in search results and links to the file don’t have to be updated on the website.)

4. Check if your PDF has tags

Tags provide structure for content in your document and help users quickly find the sections relevant for them. To see if your PDF has tags, open the Tags Panel. If you don’t see any tags, you may have to add them.

  • Open the Tags Panel: Navigate to View > Show/Hide > Navigation Panes > Tags.
  • Fix 鈥淣o Tags Available鈥� with Autotag:聽In the Accessibility panel select “Autotag Document.” The tags will not be perfect, but they will be a good start!

What Tags you might see

  • Heading Tags: Headings provide structure and organization and enable the generation of a Table of Contents. Generally, there should only be one Heading 1 (<H1>) for your document. Use in ascending numerical order; don鈥檛 skip heading levels!
    • Tags: <H1> through <H6>
  • List Tags: Lists should be tagged with List <L> for the entire list, List Item <LI> for each item, and List Body <LBody> for the content.
    • Tags: <L>, <LI>, <LBody>
  • Paragraph Tags: Most text in your document will be tagged with a <P> tag, indicating regular paragraph text.
    • Tags: <P>
  • Link Tags: All links should have descriptive link text and be tagged.
    • Tags: <Link> and Link-OBJR

Tag Specific Language Parts

If your document contains a quote, phrase, or section in a language different from the primary one, you must define that specific language for that section so the screen reader can switch its voice/accent. This is applied at the Tag level within the document structure.

  • Open the Tags Pane (View > Show/Hide > Navigation Panes > Tags).
  • Highlight the foreign language text in your document.
  • In the Tags Pane, click the Options icon (or right-click) and select Find Tag from Selection.
  • Right-click the highlighted tag in the tree and select Properties.
  • In the Object Properties dialog, go to the Tag tab.
  • Select the correct language from the Language dropdown (or type the ISO code if it鈥檚 not listed).
  • Click Close and save.

5. Review the Reading Order and Tags

  • Reading Order: The order of the tags displayed in the Tags Panel is the Reading Order. Use your arrow keys to navigate through the tags; content will be highlighted as you go. Make sure the order matches the visual reading flow.
  • How to move a tag: Right-click a tag and select 鈥淐ut.鈥� Then, right-click the tag just before the correct location and select 鈥淧aste.鈥�
  • How to modify an existing tag: Right-click the tag > Properties > Tag tab > Select the correct tag from the 鈥楾ype鈥� menu.

6. Ensure image accessibility

  • Image Tags: Images should be tagged as <figure> and they should have useful alt text.
  • Adding Alt Text: In the Accessibility Panel, select 鈥淪et Alternate Text.鈥� A pop-up will guide you through adding or editing alt text, or marking unimportant images as 鈥淒ecorative.鈥�

7. Check Color Contrast

Choose a color for your text and other elements that has a high degree of contrast against the background color. If you find contrast errors, it is always better to correct them in the source document before converting to PDF.

  • Use a standard contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for most text.
  • For most documents, use black text for the default white background.
  • Avoid light text on light backgrounds and dark text on dark backgrounds, and avoid using red and green.
  • Never use color alone to convey meaning or emphasis (e.g., “the red text is urgent”).
  • Stick to HCU Brand colors.
  • How to check Color Contrast: In addition to using the Adobe Accessibility tool, you can test colors using the .

Read more about having sufficient color contrast.

8. Tables & Data

  • Avoid Tables for Layout: Never use a table to “look” like columns. Only use tables for actual data. Layout tables confuse screen readers by announcing “Column 1, Row 1” for standard paragraph text.
  • Identify Header Rows: Ensure the top row of a table is specifically tagged as a Header (<TH>) and set to repeat if the table spans multiple pages. Without this, a screen reader user loses the context of what the numbers mean halfway through the table.
  • Avoid Merged/Split Cells: These break the “grid” that screen readers rely on. If a table is too complex, it is often better to break it into two simpler tables.
  • No empty cells for “spacing”. Don’t leave cells blank: instead, type “N/A” or “None.” An empty cell can make a screen reader user think the table has ended prematurely or that there is an error in the content.

For any document over 9 pages, bookmarks and table of contents are essential, but they also have benefit for medium-length documents. Page numbers should be formatted correctly.

  • Table of Contents: Insert a native Table of Contents (Insert > Table of contents). This automatically uses your heading structure to create a “jump list” for users.
  • Bookmarks: They act as a “permanent” Table of Contents in the PDF sidebar, allowing users to jump between sections without scrolling.
  • Page Numbering Format: When adding page numbers, use the format “Page X of Y” in the footer. Simply putting a number “3” can be confusing; explicitly stating “Page 3 of 10” provides much better orientation.

Manual Accessibility Checks

A manual check is your final step to identify other issues. While an automated check can identify if an image has alternative text, only a manual review can determine if it is appropriate or if the reading order is correct. Use this list to guide your manual checks:

  • Is the tab order correct?
  • Can you scan the document using headers?
  • Can you get to all the content by using only a keyboard?
  • Are images associated with content in the correct locations?
  • Do data tables read cells correctly and clearly?
  • Are a table of contents or bookmarks included in large documents?
  • Use the All Tools > View > Read Out Loud option to experience the document as a reader who uses the text-to-speech conversion, including properly labeled form fields.

PDF Accessibility Resources

Learn more about creating accessible content

Guidelines for Documents, Multimedia, Email, Canvas, Charts & Graphs, and Forms.