10.12 Accessible PDF Documents

Consider creating the pdf document in another application such as Microsoft Word, and then save as a pdf. The accessibility features created in Word should transfer to the pdf.

Accessible pdf documents have searchable text, working navigation/hyperlinks, headings, and alternative text descriptions for non-text elements.

Points: 3 (Essential)

QM Alignment: 8.3, 8.4

Overview

• Consider creating the PDF document in another application such as Microsoft Word, and then save as a PDF. The accessibility features created in Word should transfer to the PDF.
• Accessible PDF documents have searchable text, working navigation/hyperlinks, headings, and alternative text descriptions for non-text elements.

Tips

• Blackboard Ally will check the PDF documents in your Canvas course for any accessibility issues.
• Make PDFs accessible w/MathPix, Acrobat, PAVE, or PAC 2021
  • For simpler PDFs, you can open a PDF with Microsoft Word, then use Word’s accessibility checker to fix any issues, and then optionally save the Word document back to a PDF.
• Consider using alternatives to PDF such as Word or HTML documents that are more accessible.
• Rename files or links to files to be readable by screen readers. For example, a link to a file called “Syllabus-Fall2023.pdf” might be labeled something like “Fall 2023 Syllabus.”

Resources