Sharing and Exporting

On this page:

• Sharing
• Export to PDF

Best practice is to share material in advance of a presentation, meeting, or class.

• Sharing allows users to check for barriers beforehand and customize their experience.
• All users can take additional, in-depth notes and understand terminology and names with greater comprehension.

Sharing

Upload your document to Brightspace, share via OneDrive, or email a copy. Avoid exporting your Word document to PDF as there is additional and precise work required to make a PDF accessible.

Sharing a Word document allows users to customize the appearance (font size, background colour) and easily have the document read aloud to them without changing the content of the document.

There are a number of options for sharing a Word document:

Share for collaboration via OneDrive/SharePoint.

Learn how to share a Word document.

Save, share a copy via Brightspace or email.

Add a document to Brightspace Content via Upload/Create > Upload Files.

Share with Always Open Read-Only enabled.

Select File > Info > Protect Document and choose Always Open Read-Only.

Selecting Always Open Read-Only will prompt users to opt-in to editing the document:

Learn more about making a document read only.

Mark as Final

A document can be marked as final to inform readers the document is in a complete form and is not to be edited.

1. Select File  and choose Info.
2. Open the Protect Document menu and select Mark as Final.
3. Documents will indicate to users the document has been MARKED AS FINAL

Read Only

To completely lock a document, use Restrict Editing.

1. Go to the Review tab.
2. In the Protect group, choose Restrict Editing.
3. The Restrict Editing pane will open.
   1. Select the Allow only this type of editing in the document: 
   2. Choose No Changes (Read only) from the menu.
      1. You may also allow comments, tracked changes, or filling form fields
   3. Set any exceptions for specific users
   4. Click Yes, Start Enforcing Protection
   5. You will be prompted for a password or User authentication.

To make changes or turn off editing restrictions:

1. Navigate to the Review tab.
2. Select Restrict Editing.
3. In the Restrict Editing pane, click Stop Protection.
4. Enter password if prompted.

Learn more about protected documents and watch the following video demonstration:

Export to PDF

The knowledge and time needed to make accessible PDFS rarely justifies the use of PDFs. PDFs require significant coding to make accessible, do not reflow content to fit different size monitors, and should be used only when necessary.

Do not use File > Print > Save as PDF as that method does not retain any document structure and requires significant time and expertise to make an accessible file.

If you absolutely must create a PDF and have Acrobat installed:

1. Open File > Save as Adobe PDF
2. In the save dialogue, select Options and ensure the following are checked:
   1. Enable Accessibility and Reflow with tagged Adobe PDF
   2. Create Bookmarks
   3. Convert Word Headings to Bookmarks
3. Click Ok and then Save.

Without Acrobat installed:

1. Open File > Save as or Export.
2. Enter file name and select save location.
   1. (Windows) Select PDF in Save as type list.
      1. Choose Options and select Document structure tags for accessibility check box.
      2. Select Ok.
   2. (MacOS) Select PDF from File format drop down.
      1. Select Best for electronic distribution and accessibility (uses Microsoft online service) radio button.
      2. Select Save.