Check for accessibility
Adobe Acrobat Pro, which is the most common application for accessing and editing PDF documents, has a built-in accessibility checker that is ideal for giving you a quick glimpse of text readability within the document. To use this feature:
- Choose Tools > Accessibility in the secondary toolbar.
- Select Full Check/Accessibility Check.
- Under Report Options, select how you would like to view the results. Specify a page range if you only want to check a portion of the document (this can be more efficient, especially for large documents).
- Choose one or more of the Checking Options and click Start Checking.
- In the Accessibility Checker, you will see the issues, as well as links for how to fix them.
Quick check
Open your PDF and try to highlight words in the document. If you are able to do so, the document is most likely readable by screen readers. If not, then the document is processed as an image and cannot be read by screen readers. You will likely encounter inaccessible PDFs when documents are scanned.
Untagged documents
Results often indicate the document is unstructured or not tagged. An unstructured document is a document that was not originally created with proper headings (e.g, using the styles feature in Word). Refer to the information below about tagging PDF documents.
Create accessible documents
PDFs have a bad reputation in the world of disability advocacy because they are often inaccessible. However, many instructors and publishers still release PDF files to their students to help protect information. You should try to avoid using PDF files when possible. If you must use a PDF, ensure that it is accessible. Contact the Office of Disability Services if you need assistance with this process.
Word to PDF
The accessibility of a PDF is largely determined by how the original document was designed and exported from Word.
Learn about accessibility in Word →
Saving your file as a PDF in Word depends on your operating system and version of Office.
Pre-made PDFs
It is likely that you use many documents created by others (e.g., scanned pages from a book). Depending on the quality of the original document or scanned copy, you may be able to turn it into an accessible document or use alternative formats.
- The Office of Disability Services can help transfer your PDF documents into accessible versions using Optical Character Recognition. Please contact ODS well in advance if you need this service.
- Check if the library has an accessible electronic version of the text.
- Look for alternative documents online that are accessible to students.
Tagging PDFs
Tagging your PDF allows your students, especially those using a screen reader, to navigate the document more efficiently. It will identify tables, images, page numbers, etc. WebAIM offers an excellent resource on how to tag PDFs.
If you need assistance with tagging PDFs, contact the Office of Disability Services.
Tutorial
Additional guides
WebAIM
Adobe
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