Accessible PDF Documents with Adobe Acrobat 8

Sean KeeganWeb Accessibility Specialistskeegan@gmail.comCSU Summer Accessibility Institute 2007

Overview

• Working in MS Word• Headings, Tables, and Images (oh my)

• Working in Adobe Acrobat• Adding Tags• Repairing and Evaluating Text Content• Working with Tables

Create A Logical Structure

• Apply Headings where appropriate in the document

• Headings will be translated into PDF Bookmarks during the transformation process

Utilize MS Word Layout Tools

• Use the tools within MS Word to customize columns and layout

• Avoid using text boxes, tables or tabs to visually format your document

Add Table Header Information

• From the menu bar, choose Table > Insert Table

• To designate the column headers• Select the appropriate cells• Open the Table Properties menu for the selected

cells• In the Row tab, select the checkbox

“Repeat as header row at the top of each page”

Include Text Descriptions

• Select the image and choose Format from the menu bar

• Choose “Picture”

• In the Web tab, add a text description only if necessary for the image

Convert from MS Office

• Apply styles and formatting

• Design data tables usingTable menu options

• Add text descriptions

• Create PDF by selecting Adobe PDF on the menu bar

Using Adobe Acrobat Pro

• Find original file, re-author, and export using PDFMaker (not Distiller!)

OR

• Add tags to the PDF document• Evaluate reading order• Make repairs and evaluate…again

Adding Tags to a PDF

• Tags provide a structure in which to manipulate the accessibility of the content

• To add tags to a PDF document:• Select Advanced on the menu bar• Choose Accessibility and Add Tags to Document

• Even with tags, there can still be errors in reading order, figures, form fields, etc.

Evaluating Reading Order

• The best method is to read the PDF using assistive technologies

• Export the file as Text (Accessible)• Provides a rough simulation as to the reading order used

by assistive technologies

• Use the Read Out Loud feature in Acrobat• Can be time-consuming to perform

Manipulating PDF Tags

• The TouchUp Reading Order tool provides the easiest method to improve PDF accessibility• Choose Advanced on the

menu bar• Select Accessibility and then

“TouchUp Reading Order tool”

• Information can be either added or removed with the TURO tool

Using the TURO Tool

• When selecting content to repair, draw the zone region larger than the actual content space

• Review Figures and Tables after adding tags to the PDF file - they may get misidentified

• Zone content as “Background” to remove from the reading order of the document

• Use the Table Inspector to add a table summary and row and column header information

Adobe Resources• Adobe Accessibility Website

http://www.adobe.com/accessibility

• Adobe Accessibility Bloghttp://blogs.adobe.com/accessibility/

• Adobe Online PDF Conversion Toolhttp://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/access_onlinetools.html

Other Resources• Planet PDF

• http://www.planetpdf.com/enterprise/article.asp?ContentID=6066

• Additional “How-to” Manuals• http://www.wac.ohio-state.edu/pdf/index.html

• http://www.htctu.net/trainings/manuals/tutmain.htm

www.calstate.edu/accessibility