{"id":37,"date":"2020-10-16T15:49:25","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T19:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=37"},"modified":"2026-03-04T15:13:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T20:13:25","slug":"creating-accessible-pdfs","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/chapter\/creating-accessible-pdfs\/","title":{"raw":"Creating Accessible PDFs","rendered":"Creating Accessible PDFs"},"content":{"raw":"<img class=\"img.chapter noborder alignright wp-image-4065\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0em\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2022\/08\/PDF_file_icon.svg_-244x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"103\" height=\"127\" \/>\r\n\r\nIn addition to adhering to best practices for plain language, font, colour, and other <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/chapter\/accessibility-essentials\/\">accessibility essentials<\/a>, an accessible PDF is [pb_glossary id=\"1347\"]tagged[\/pb_glossary]. PDF tags are code that provides structure for assistive technology.\r\n\r\nTo create accessible PDFs, ensure you have Acrobat Pro DC installed on your device. Acrobat Reader lacks the necessary features to make PDFs accessible. PDFs can be generated in software such as Adobe Acrobat, but the most common method is to take an existing Word document or PowerPoint presentation and export it to PDF. Ensure that you start with an accessible document before exporting to PDF.\r\n\r\nPDFs are popular but may not always be the best choice of file. PDFs are an antiquated format that are extremely time consuming to make accessible. Consider providing HTML, Word, or PowerPoint (most documents can have editing restricted) first. If readers prefer PDF, they can convert your file to PDF.\r\n\r\nThe best way to use PDFs is sparingly.\r\n\r\n<strong>On this page:<\/strong>\r\n<ul class=\"navbar\">\r\n \t<li class=\"navitem\"><a href=\"#export\">PDF Source Documents<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"navitem\"><a href=\"#a11ypdf\">Making Accessible PDFs<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"navitem\"><a href=\"#readingorder\">Reading Order<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"navitem\"><a href=\"#checka11y\">Check Accessibility<\/a><\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"navitem\"><a href=\"#links\">Further Reading<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><a id=\"export\"><\/a>PDF Source Documents<\/h2>\r\nThe majority of PDF documents will be converted from a Word or PowerPoint document. Refer to previous chapters for best practices to create accessible documents in those formats and ensure you properly export the file to PDF.\r\n<h3>Office Software with Acrobat Installed<\/h3>\r\n<div id=\"h5p-panel-content-0-0\" class=\"h5p-panel-content h5p-advanced-text\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"h5p-panel-link-0-0\" aria-hidden=\"false\">\r\n\r\nIn Word or PowerPoint:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Select the\u00a0<strong>Acrobat\u00a0<\/strong>tab<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Choose\u00a0<strong>Create PDF<\/strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Options<\/strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Ensure the following are checked:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li><strong>Enable Accessibility and Reflow with tagged Adobe PDF<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Create Bookmarks<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Convert Word Headings to Bookmarks<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Click<strong>\u00a0Ok<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Save<\/strong>\u00a0file.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<h3>Office Software without Acrobat Installed<\/h3>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Click\u00a0<strong>File<\/strong>\u00a0&gt;\u00a0<strong>Save As<\/strong>\u00a0and enter file name and select save location.\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>(Windows) Select\u00a0<strong>PDF<\/strong>\u00a0in\u00a0<strong>Save as type<\/strong>\u00a0list.\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Choose\u00a0<strong>Options<\/strong>\u00a0and select\u00a0<strong>Document structure tags for accessibility<\/strong>\u00a0check box.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Ok.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>(MacOS) Select\u00a0<strong>PDF<\/strong>\u00a0from\u00a0<strong>File format<\/strong>\u00a0drop down.\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Best for electronic distribution and accessibility (uses Microsoft online service<\/strong>) radio button.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Save<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nDo not use\u00a0<strong>Print<\/strong>\u00a0&gt;\u00a0<strong>Save as PDF<\/strong>\u00a0as that will not retain any document structure and will make you repeat your efforts to make your PDF accessible.\r\n<h3>Using Adobe Acrobat<\/h3>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li><strong>File<\/strong>\u00a0&gt;\u00a0<strong>Create<\/strong>\u00a0&gt;\u00a0<strong>PDF from File...\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Select file from dialog.\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>On Mac:\u00a0Check\u00a0<strong>Use Adobe Create PDF cloud service.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Open.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.adobe.com\/ca\/acrobat\/how-to\/create-pdf.html\">Adobe guide to creating PDFs<\/a>\u00a0from multiple formats.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3>Scanned PDFs<\/h3>\r\nPDFs are a common output format for scanned documents. A scanned document will be a 'flat' PDF\u2014essentially an image of the scan. PDFs creating this way are untagged and not accessible.\r\n\r\nBefore scanning a document or book, consider looking for an existing accessible electronic version of your resource. However, when scanning a document to PDF:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Set scanner settings to at least 300 DPI (dots per inch).\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Higher number is better but increases the size of the scanned file.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Scan in black and white or 24-bit colour.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Consider that information should not be conveyed by colour alone.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Some scanners have built-in Optical Character Recognition.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>You can tell if your scanner has this feature if you see terms like \u201cSearchable PDF\u201d or \u201cText PDF\u201d in the scanner file output settings.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Push the spine of a book as flat as possible to eliminate gutter distortion and missing text.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Keep each scanned page to its own electronic page.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Do not scan two pages of a book at once.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nEnsure scans are free from:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Cut off text.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Crooked pages.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Shadows from the curvature of a book\u2019s spine, dark gutters between pages.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Poor contrast.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Pages rotated 90 degrees or upside down.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Handwriting, highlighting, underlining, watermarks or stains.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Blurring.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nUse Optical Character Recognition:\r\n\r\nRun OCR on scanned documents as a first step toward creating accessible PDFs. To do so in Acrobat Pro:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Open scanned PDF in Acrobat.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Scan &amp; OCR<\/strong> from Tools.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Enhance Text.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Recognize Text<\/strong> to amend the document or repair any text not automatically detected.\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Tools<\/strong>\u00a0&gt;\u00a0<strong>Edit PDF.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Select text elements and edit text as appropriate.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<h3>From Webpage<\/h3>\r\n<div class=\"textbox--disclaimer\">\r\n<div class=\"imgcontainer\">\r\n\r\n<img class=\"noborder alignleft wp-image-6958\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2024\/02\/Untitled-design-5-254x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"76\" height=\"89\" \/>\r\n<div class=\"imgtext\">When wanting to save a permanent copy of a website, do not use\u00a0<strong>Print to PDF\u00a0<\/strong>or\u00a0<strong>Print &gt;<\/strong> <strong>Save to PDF.<\/strong><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nTo save a permanent copy of a webpage, use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.getsinglefile.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SingleFile<\/a> to save complete webpages (including styles and images) as a single HTML file. Download the <a href=\"https:\/\/addons.mozilla.org\/en-US\/firefox\/addon\/single-file\/?utm_source=addons.mozilla.org&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=search\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SingleFile Firefox Add-on<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/chromewebstore.google.com\/detail\/singlefile\/mpiodijhokgodhhofbcjdecpffjipkle?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SingleFile extension<\/a> for Chrome and Edge, or <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/singlefile-for-safari\/id6444322545?platform=mac\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Safari extension<\/a>. Anyone can open the saved file in any web browser.\r\n\r\nAnother alternative to saving a PDF of a webpage is to use the <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/\">Internet Archive's Wayback Machine<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/\">Archive Today<\/a> to create permanent copies of a webpage as it appears at the time of saving. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zotero.org\/support\/adding_items_to_zotero#saving_webpages\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Zotero also saves a permanent copy of webpages<\/a> when possible and allows for sharing, although readers need Zotero installed on their device.\r\n\r\nIf you absolutely must save a copy of a webpage as a PDF, use PrintFriendly as it creates tagged PDF files when exporting a webpage to PDF. To use PrintFriendly, install the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.printfriendly.com\/extensions\/\">browser extension<\/a> or paste the URL in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.printfriendly.com\/\">PrintFriendly web interface<\/a>, then select <strong>PDF<\/strong>. This will download a PDF copy of the webpage to your device. The PDF copy will still need to be evaluated and remediated to ensure it is accessible.\r\n<h2><a id=\"a11ypdf\"><\/a>Making Accessible PDFs<\/h2>\r\nUse the following resources to make PDFs accessible.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/mediaspace.langara.ca\/media\/t\/0_n8nomxqj\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>If starting from a scanned document, use the <strong>Scan and OCR<\/strong> tool.\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Select R<strong>ecognize text and choose in this file.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Open the <strong>File<\/strong> menu, choose <strong>Properties<\/strong>.\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Navigate to the <strong>Description<\/strong> tab.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Enter a descriptive title.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Move to the initial view tab and select <strong>Document title <\/strong>in the <strong>Show<\/strong> menu.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>In the <strong>Advanced<\/strong> tab, choose a language for the document.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Open the <strong>Tags<\/strong> pane and arrow through the tags tree.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Select the <strong>Reading order pane<\/strong> to show an overlay number on each object.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Select the <strong>Page thumbnails pane<\/strong>, select all pages, right click and select <strong>Page properties.<\/strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Ensure <strong>Use document structure<\/strong> is selected under tab order. Click <strong>OK.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Place your cursor at the beginning of the document and press <strong>Tab<\/strong> to verify tab order.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Run the <strong>Accessibility checker<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<div class=\"postbox h5p-sidebar\">\r\n<div class=\"h5p-action-bar-settings h5p-panel\"><code>[h5p id=\"163\"]<\/code><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nRemediating PDFs can be difficult and time-consuming. Some people do this work full-time and still encounter difficulty. Please contact assistivetech@langara.ca for more information about remediating PDFs.\r\n<h2><a id=\"readingorder\"><\/a>Reading Order<\/h2>\r\nOne of the most important elements requiring manual checks is the [pb_glossary id=\"1301\"]reading order[\/pb_glossary] of your document.\r\n\r\nSave your file before making any changes to the <strong>Order, Content, <\/strong>or <strong>Tags<\/strong> panes. Verify changes to the <strong>Order<\/strong> pane visually and on the <strong>Tags<\/strong> pane. Be aware that when changing the reading order of items in the <strong>Order<\/strong> pane, some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KJkexeN10-U\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">content may \"disappear\" (YouTube video, opens in new tab)<\/a> behind other content.\r\n\r\nTo solve this issue:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Open the\u00a0<strong>Content Pane\u00a0<\/strong>(<strong>View\u00a0<\/strong>&gt;\u00a0<strong>Show\/Hide\u00a0<\/strong>&gt;\u00a0<strong>Navigation Panes\u00a0<\/strong>&gt;\u00a0<strong>Content<\/strong>).<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The top of the list is the bottom visual layer of the document.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Selecting an element in the Content pane highlights the item in the document.\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>So, if text disappears behind a textbox for example, locate both the text and textbox.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Click and drag--or cut and paste--the offending item to the top of the list.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>This should return the visual order to normal.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nVerify Reading Order:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Open the\u00a0<strong>Tags Pane\u00a0<\/strong>(<strong>View\u00a0<\/strong>&gt;\u00a0<strong>Show\/Hide\u00a0<\/strong>&gt;\u00a0<strong>Navigation Panes\u00a0<\/strong>&gt;\u00a0<strong>Tags<\/strong>).<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Select the first tag at the top of the list.\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Use the down arrow to move through the list.\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>You will see a visual highlight in the document when selecting each tag.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>If you need to re-order the reading order, cut and paste the tag (we find clicking and dragging can be difficult in longer documents).<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Navigate to the\u00a0<strong>Order Pane.<\/strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Options.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Show Reading Order Panel.<\/strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>This displays a number on each page element representing it's reading order.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Open the<strong> Content Pane.<\/strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Arrow from top to bottom of content list.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Verify that the visual order matches the reading order.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<div class=\"textbox\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Reading Order<\/strong> determines the order of items when the document is read aloud by assistive technology. Reading Order also affects how the document will reflow, such as when zoomed or viewed on a mobile device. Changing the reading order may affect the <strong>Content<\/strong> hierarchy and <strong>Tags<\/strong> order. Any changes to reading order must be checked in <strong>Content<\/strong>\u00a0and <strong>Tags<\/strong> panes.\r\n\r\nThe\u00a0<strong>Content <\/strong>pane is a hierarchical view of the visual items within a PDF. Changing the order of content can alter the visual appearance of the document as well as the reading order of content.\r\n\r\nThe <strong>Tags<\/strong> tree is a hierarchical view of the code that determines the structure of the document. The order of tags affects the reading order for assistive technology, such as screen readers. But can also influence the order in which users tab through links or form fields. Changing the order of tags does not alter visual appearance of document.\r\n\r\nThese additional concerns contribute significantly to the amount of time and expertise needed to make full accessible PDFs.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2><a id=\"checka11y\"><\/a>Check Accessibility<\/h2>\r\nAfter you remediate your PDF, run the\u00a0<strong>Accessibility Check<\/strong> tool again:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Open PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Expand the\u00a0<strong>Tools Pane<\/strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>If you do not see the\u00a0<strong>Tools Pane<\/strong>, select\u00a0<strong>View &gt; Show\/Hide<\/strong>\u00a0and click\u00a0<strong>Tools Pane<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Click\u00a0<strong>Accessibility<\/strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>If you do not see\u00a0<strong>Accessibility<\/strong>, select\u00a0<strong>More Tools<\/strong>, scroll down and select\u00a0<strong>Accessibility<\/strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Recommend to open menu and select\u00a0<strong>Add Shortcut<\/strong>\u00a0for future use<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>You can also search for tools at the top of the\u00a0<strong>Tools Pane<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Click\u00a0<strong>Accessibility Check<\/strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Click\u00a0<strong>Start Checking<\/strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>The\u00a0<strong>Accessibility Pane\u00a0<\/strong>will open and show accessibility issues. Right-click to see further explanation and\/or fix the issue directly<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nVideo demo:\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/mediaspace.langara.ca\/media\/t\/0_t51ipnh3\r\n\r\nUse <strong>Reflow\u00a0<\/strong>or\u00a0<strong>Export to <\/strong><strong>Text<\/strong> export to verify accessible reading order.\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Select <strong>View &gt; Zoom<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>&gt; Reflow,<\/strong>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>As you zoom in, content should reflow into a vertical column with no need for horizontal scrolling,<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Many PDFs will not reflow. Check the order of text via <strong>File<\/strong> (<strong>Acrobat<\/strong> on macOS) menu and select\u00a0<strong>Export To &gt; Text (Accessible).\u00a0<\/strong>Save the file and view what text content is exported and how it is ordered. That is what and how assistive technology will read to a user (absent any interactives such as forms and image alternate text).<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nUse Preflight tools to correct remaining tagging issues:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Navigate to <strong>Tools &gt;<\/strong> <strong>Print Production &gt; Preflight,<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Select <strong>PDF Profiles,<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Expand <strong>PDF\/UA,<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Select <strong>Fix problems in PDF tagging structure,<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Click <strong>Analyze and Fix,<\/strong><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Save new copy.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nFor advanced accessibility checks, use <a href=\"https:\/\/pave-pdf.org\/pave\/index.html\">PAVE<\/a> (online) or <a href=\"https:\/\/pdfua.foundation\/en\/pdf-accessibility-checker-pac\/\">PAC 2021<\/a> (Windows only).\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--key-takeaways\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\"><a id=\"links\"><\/a>Further Reading<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n\r\nCreativePro's <a href=\"https:\/\/creativepro.com\/10-steps-to-accessible-pdf\/\">10 steps to accessible PDFs.<\/a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/helpx.adobe.com\/acrobat\/using\/create-verify-pdf-accessibility.html?trackingid=KACNN#fix_accessibility_issues\">Adobe guide to making accessible PDFs in Acrobat Pro.<\/a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/helpx.adobe.com\/acrobat\/using\/create-verify-pdf-accessibility.html?trackingid=KACNN#check_accessibility_of_PDFs\">Adobe guide to Acrobat Pro Accessibility Check<\/a>.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.adobe.com\/accessibility\/products\/acrobat\/training.html\">List of Adobe Acrobat DC accessibility training guides.<\/a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/helpx.adobe.com\/ca\/acrobat\/using\/edit-scanned-pdfs.html?set=acrobat--fundamentals--edit-pdf\">Adobe guide to OCR and editing scanned PDFs.<\/a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/support.microsoft.com\/en-us\/topic\/create-accessible-pdfs-064625e0-56ea-4e16-ad71-3aa33bb4b7ed?correlationid=9b8d28cf-aa96-4816-9536-b4aea195b51c&amp;ui=en-us&amp;rs=en-gb&amp;ad=gb&amp;ocmsassetid=ha102478227\">Microsoft guide to exporting documents to PDF<\/a>.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLtSVUgxIo6KrxMh-wNhSG7MuZ2gfPf7co\">Microsoft video guides to PDF accessibility.<\/a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/webaim.org\/techniques\/acrobat\/\">Web Accessibility in Mind Guide to PDF Accessibility<\/a>.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.georgebrown.ca\/about\/aoda\/accessibility\/accessible-information-communication\">George Brown College in-depth videos of Adobe accessibility.<\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img.chapter noborder alignright wp-image-4065\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0em\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2022\/08\/PDF_file_icon.svg_-244x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"103\" height=\"127\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2022\/08\/PDF_file_icon.svg_-244x300.png 244w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2022\/08\/PDF_file_icon.svg_-834x1024.png 834w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2022\/08\/PDF_file_icon.svg_-768x944.png 768w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2022\/08\/PDF_file_icon.svg_-1250x1536.png 1250w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2022\/08\/PDF_file_icon.svg_-65x80.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2022\/08\/PDF_file_icon.svg_-225x276.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2022\/08\/PDF_file_icon.svg_-350x430.png 350w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2022\/08\/PDF_file_icon.svg_.png 1667w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 103px) 100vw, 103px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In addition to adhering to best practices for plain language, font, colour, and other <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/chapter\/accessibility-essentials\/\">accessibility essentials<\/a>, an accessible PDF is <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_37_1347\">tagged<\/a>. PDF tags are code that provides structure for assistive technology.<\/p>\n<p>To create accessible PDFs, ensure you have Acrobat Pro DC installed on your device. Acrobat Reader lacks the necessary features to make PDFs accessible. PDFs can be generated in software such as Adobe Acrobat, but the most common method is to take an existing Word document or PowerPoint presentation and export it to PDF. Ensure that you start with an accessible document before exporting to PDF.<\/p>\n<p>PDFs are popular but may not always be the best choice of file. PDFs are an antiquated format that are extremely time consuming to make accessible. Consider providing HTML, Word, or PowerPoint (most documents can have editing restricted) first. If readers prefer PDF, they can convert your file to PDF.<\/p>\n<p>The best way to use PDFs is sparingly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>On this page:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"navbar\">\n<li class=\"navitem\"><a href=\"#export\">PDF Source Documents<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"navitem\"><a href=\"#a11ypdf\">Making Accessible PDFs<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"navitem\"><a href=\"#readingorder\">Reading Order<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"navitem\"><a href=\"#checka11y\">Check Accessibility<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"navitem\"><a href=\"#links\">Further Reading<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><a id=\"export\"><\/a>PDF Source Documents<\/h2>\n<p>The majority of PDF documents will be converted from a Word or PowerPoint document. Refer to previous chapters for best practices to create accessible documents in those formats and ensure you properly export the file to PDF.<\/p>\n<h3>Office Software with Acrobat Installed<\/h3>\n<div id=\"h5p-panel-content-0-0\" class=\"h5p-panel-content h5p-advanced-text\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"h5p-panel-link-0-0\" aria-hidden=\"false\">\n<p>In Word or PowerPoint:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Select the\u00a0<strong>Acrobat\u00a0<\/strong>tab<\/li>\n<li>Choose\u00a0<strong>Create PDF<\/strong>\n<ol>\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Options<\/strong>\n<ol>\n<li>Ensure the following are checked:\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Enable Accessibility and Reflow with tagged Adobe PDF<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Create Bookmarks<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Convert Word Headings to Bookmarks<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Click<strong>\u00a0Ok<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Save<\/strong>\u00a0file.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>Office Software without Acrobat Installed<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Click\u00a0<strong>File<\/strong>\u00a0&gt;\u00a0<strong>Save As<\/strong>\u00a0and enter file name and select save location.\n<ol>\n<li>(Windows) Select\u00a0<strong>PDF<\/strong>\u00a0in\u00a0<strong>Save as type<\/strong>\u00a0list.\n<ol>\n<li>Choose\u00a0<strong>Options<\/strong>\u00a0and select\u00a0<strong>Document structure tags for accessibility<\/strong>\u00a0check box.<\/li>\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Ok.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>(MacOS) Select\u00a0<strong>PDF<\/strong>\u00a0from\u00a0<strong>File format<\/strong>\u00a0drop down.\n<ol>\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Best for electronic distribution and accessibility (uses Microsoft online service<\/strong>) radio button.<\/li>\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Save<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Do not use\u00a0<strong>Print<\/strong>\u00a0&gt;\u00a0<strong>Save as PDF<\/strong>\u00a0as that will not retain any document structure and will make you repeat your efforts to make your PDF accessible.<\/p>\n<h3>Using Adobe Acrobat<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>File<\/strong>\u00a0&gt;\u00a0<strong>Create<\/strong>\u00a0&gt;\u00a0<strong>PDF from File&#8230;\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Select file from dialog.\n<ol>\n<li>On Mac:\u00a0Check\u00a0<strong>Use Adobe Create PDF cloud service.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Open.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.adobe.com\/ca\/acrobat\/how-to\/create-pdf.html\">Adobe guide to creating PDFs<\/a>\u00a0from multiple formats.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Scanned PDFs<\/h3>\n<p>PDFs are a common output format for scanned documents. A scanned document will be a &#8216;flat&#8217; PDF\u2014essentially an image of the scan. PDFs creating this way are untagged and not accessible.<\/p>\n<p>Before scanning a document or book, consider looking for an existing accessible electronic version of your resource. However, when scanning a document to PDF:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Set scanner settings to at least 300 DPI (dots per inch).\n<ul>\n<li>Higher number is better but increases the size of the scanned file.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Scan in black and white or 24-bit colour.\n<ul>\n<li>Consider that information should not be conveyed by colour alone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Some scanners have built-in Optical Character Recognition.\n<ul>\n<li>You can tell if your scanner has this feature if you see terms like \u201cSearchable PDF\u201d or \u201cText PDF\u201d in the scanner file output settings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Push the spine of a book as flat as possible to eliminate gutter distortion and missing text.<\/li>\n<li>Keep each scanned page to its own electronic page.\n<ul>\n<li>Do not scan two pages of a book at once.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ensure scans are free from:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cut off text.<\/li>\n<li>Crooked pages.<\/li>\n<li>Shadows from the curvature of a book\u2019s spine, dark gutters between pages.<\/li>\n<li>Poor contrast.<\/li>\n<li>Pages rotated 90 degrees or upside down.<\/li>\n<li>Handwriting, highlighting, underlining, watermarks or stains.<\/li>\n<li>Blurring.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Use Optical Character Recognition:<\/p>\n<p>Run OCR on scanned documents as a first step toward creating accessible PDFs. To do so in Acrobat Pro:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Open scanned PDF in Acrobat.<\/li>\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Scan &amp; OCR<\/strong> from Tools.<\/li>\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Enhance Text.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Recognize Text<\/strong> to amend the document or repair any text not automatically detected.\n<ol>\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Tools<\/strong>\u00a0&gt;\u00a0<strong>Edit PDF.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Select text elements and edit text as appropriate.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>From Webpage<\/h3>\n<div class=\"textbox--disclaimer\">\n<div class=\"imgcontainer\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"noborder alignleft wp-image-6958\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2024\/02\/Untitled-design-5-254x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"76\" height=\"89\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2024\/02\/Untitled-design-5-254x300.png 254w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2024\/02\/Untitled-design-5-867x1024.png 867w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2024\/02\/Untitled-design-5-768x907.png 768w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2024\/02\/Untitled-design-5-65x77.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2024\/02\/Untitled-design-5-225x266.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2024\/02\/Untitled-design-5-350x414.png 350w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1155\/2024\/02\/Untitled-design-5.png 914w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 76px) 100vw, 76px\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtext\">When wanting to save a permanent copy of a website, do not use\u00a0<strong>Print to PDF\u00a0<\/strong>or\u00a0<strong>Print &gt;<\/strong> <strong>Save to PDF.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>To save a permanent copy of a webpage, use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.getsinglefile.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SingleFile<\/a> to save complete webpages (including styles and images) as a single HTML file. Download the <a href=\"https:\/\/addons.mozilla.org\/en-US\/firefox\/addon\/single-file\/?utm_source=addons.mozilla.org&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=search\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SingleFile Firefox Add-on<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/chromewebstore.google.com\/detail\/singlefile\/mpiodijhokgodhhofbcjdecpffjipkle?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SingleFile extension<\/a> for Chrome and Edge, or <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/singlefile-for-safari\/id6444322545?platform=mac\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Safari extension<\/a>. Anyone can open the saved file in any web browser.<\/p>\n<p>Another alternative to saving a PDF of a webpage is to use the <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/\">Internet Archive&#8217;s Wayback Machine<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/\">Archive Today<\/a> to create permanent copies of a webpage as it appears at the time of saving. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zotero.org\/support\/adding_items_to_zotero#saving_webpages\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Zotero also saves a permanent copy of webpages<\/a> when possible and allows for sharing, although readers need Zotero installed on their device.<\/p>\n<p>If you absolutely must save a copy of a webpage as a PDF, use PrintFriendly as it creates tagged PDF files when exporting a webpage to PDF. To use PrintFriendly, install the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.printfriendly.com\/extensions\/\">browser extension<\/a> or paste the URL in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.printfriendly.com\/\">PrintFriendly web interface<\/a>, then select <strong>PDF<\/strong>. This will download a PDF copy of the webpage to your device. The PDF copy will still need to be evaluated and remediated to ensure it is accessible.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"a11ypdf\"><\/a>Making Accessible PDFs<\/h2>\n<p>Use the following resources to make PDFs accessible.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"kaltura_player\" title=\"Accessible PDF Workflow\" src=\"https:\/\/api.ca.kaltura.com\/p\/138\/embedPlaykitJs\/uiconf_id\/23450656?iframeembed=true&amp;entry_id=0_n8nomxqj&amp;config%5Bprovider%5D=%7B%22widgetId%22%3A%220_m4jtrmgj%22%7D&amp;config%5Bplayback%5D=%7B%22startTime%22%3A0%7D\" style=\"width: 400px;height: 285px;border: 0;\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" sandbox=\"allow-downloads allow-forms allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-top-navigation allow-pointer-lock allow-popups allow-modals allow-orientation-lock allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-presentation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>If starting from a scanned document, use the <strong>Scan and OCR<\/strong> tool.\n<ol>\n<li>Select R<strong>ecognize text and choose in this file.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Open the <strong>File<\/strong> menu, choose <strong>Properties<\/strong>.\n<ol>\n<li>Navigate to the <strong>Description<\/strong> tab.<\/li>\n<li>Enter a descriptive title.<\/li>\n<li>Move to the initial view tab and select <strong>Document title <\/strong>in the <strong>Show<\/strong> menu.<\/li>\n<li>In the <strong>Advanced<\/strong> tab, choose a language for the document.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Open the <strong>Tags<\/strong> pane and arrow through the tags tree.<\/li>\n<li>Select the <strong>Reading order pane<\/strong> to show an overlay number on each object.<\/li>\n<li>Select the <strong>Page thumbnails pane<\/strong>, select all pages, right click and select <strong>Page properties.<\/strong>\n<ol>\n<li>Ensure <strong>Use document structure<\/strong> is selected under tab order. Click <strong>OK.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Place your cursor at the beginning of the document and press <strong>Tab<\/strong> to verify tab order.<\/li>\n<li>Run the <strong>Accessibility checker<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"postbox h5p-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"h5p-action-bar-settings h5p-panel\"><code><\/p>\n<div id=\"h5p-163\">\n<div class=\"h5p-iframe-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"h5p-iframe-163\" class=\"h5p-iframe\" data-content-id=\"163\" style=\"height:1px\" src=\"about:blank\" frameBorder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"Accessible PDF Workflow\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/code><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Remediating PDFs can be difficult and time-consuming. Some people do this work full-time and still encounter difficulty. Please contact assistivetech@langara.ca for more information about remediating PDFs.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"readingorder\"><\/a>Reading Order<\/h2>\n<p>One of the most important elements requiring manual checks is the <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_37_1301\">reading order<\/a> of your document.<\/p>\n<p>Save your file before making any changes to the <strong>Order, Content, <\/strong>or <strong>Tags<\/strong> panes. Verify changes to the <strong>Order<\/strong> pane visually and on the <strong>Tags<\/strong> pane. Be aware that when changing the reading order of items in the <strong>Order<\/strong> pane, some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KJkexeN10-U\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">content may &#8220;disappear&#8221; (YouTube video, opens in new tab)<\/a> behind other content.<\/p>\n<p>To solve this issue:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Open the\u00a0<strong>Content Pane\u00a0<\/strong>(<strong>View\u00a0<\/strong>&gt;\u00a0<strong>Show\/Hide\u00a0<\/strong>&gt;\u00a0<strong>Navigation Panes\u00a0<\/strong>&gt;\u00a0<strong>Content<\/strong>).<\/li>\n<li>The top of the list is the bottom visual layer of the document.<\/li>\n<li>Selecting an element in the Content pane highlights the item in the document.\n<ol>\n<li>So, if text disappears behind a textbox for example, locate both the text and textbox.<\/li>\n<li>Click and drag&#8211;or cut and paste&#8211;the offending item to the top of the list.<\/li>\n<li>This should return the visual order to normal.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Verify Reading Order:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Open the\u00a0<strong>Tags Pane\u00a0<\/strong>(<strong>View\u00a0<\/strong>&gt;\u00a0<strong>Show\/Hide\u00a0<\/strong>&gt;\u00a0<strong>Navigation Panes\u00a0<\/strong>&gt;\u00a0<strong>Tags<\/strong>).<\/li>\n<li>Select the first tag at the top of the list.\n<ol>\n<li>Use the down arrow to move through the list.\n<ol>\n<li>You will see a visual highlight in the document when selecting each tag.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>If you need to re-order the reading order, cut and paste the tag (we find clicking and dragging can be difficult in longer documents).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Navigate to the\u00a0<strong>Order Pane.<\/strong>\n<ol>\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Options.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Select\u00a0<strong>Show Reading Order Panel.<\/strong>\n<ol>\n<li>This displays a number on each page element representing it&#8217;s reading order.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Open the<strong> Content Pane.<\/strong>\n<ol>\n<li>Arrow from top to bottom of content list.<\/li>\n<li>Verify that the visual order matches the reading order.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"textbox\">\n<p><strong>Reading Order<\/strong> determines the order of items when the document is read aloud by assistive technology. Reading Order also affects how the document will reflow, such as when zoomed or viewed on a mobile device. Changing the reading order may affect the <strong>Content<\/strong> hierarchy and <strong>Tags<\/strong> order. Any changes to reading order must be checked in <strong>Content<\/strong>\u00a0and <strong>Tags<\/strong> panes.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<strong>Content <\/strong>pane is a hierarchical view of the visual items within a PDF. Changing the order of content can alter the visual appearance of the document as well as the reading order of content.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>Tags<\/strong> tree is a hierarchical view of the code that determines the structure of the document. The order of tags affects the reading order for assistive technology, such as screen readers. But can also influence the order in which users tab through links or form fields. Changing the order of tags does not alter visual appearance of document.<\/p>\n<p>These additional concerns contribute significantly to the amount of time and expertise needed to make full accessible PDFs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2><a id=\"checka11y\"><\/a>Check Accessibility<\/h2>\n<p>After you remediate your PDF, run the\u00a0<strong>Accessibility Check<\/strong> tool again:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Open PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC<\/li>\n<li>Expand the\u00a0<strong>Tools Pane<\/strong>\n<ol>\n<li>If you do not see the\u00a0<strong>Tools Pane<\/strong>, select\u00a0<strong>View &gt; Show\/Hide<\/strong>\u00a0and click\u00a0<strong>Tools Pane<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Click\u00a0<strong>Accessibility<\/strong>\n<ol>\n<li>If you do not see\u00a0<strong>Accessibility<\/strong>, select\u00a0<strong>More Tools<\/strong>, scroll down and select\u00a0<strong>Accessibility<\/strong>\n<ol>\n<li>Recommend to open menu and select\u00a0<strong>Add Shortcut<\/strong>\u00a0for future use<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>You can also search for tools at the top of the\u00a0<strong>Tools Pane<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Click\u00a0<strong>Accessibility Check<\/strong>\n<ol>\n<li>Click\u00a0<strong>Start Checking<\/strong>\n<ol>\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>Accessibility Pane\u00a0<\/strong>will open and show accessibility issues. Right-click to see further explanation and\/or fix the issue directly<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Video demo:<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"kaltura_player\" title=\"Open the Adobe Acrobat Accessibility Check Tool\" src=\"https:\/\/api.ca.kaltura.com\/p\/138\/embedPlaykitJs\/uiconf_id\/23450656?iframeembed=true&amp;entry_id=0_t51ipnh3&amp;config%5Bprovider%5D=%7B%22widgetId%22%3A%220_m78782qp%22%7D&amp;config%5Bplayback%5D=%7B%22startTime%22%3A0%7D\" style=\"width: 400px;height: 285px;border: 0;\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" sandbox=\"allow-downloads allow-forms allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-top-navigation allow-pointer-lock allow-popups allow-modals allow-orientation-lock allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-presentation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Use <strong>Reflow\u00a0<\/strong>or\u00a0<strong>Export to <\/strong><strong>Text<\/strong> export to verify accessible reading order.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Select <strong>View &gt; Zoom<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>&gt; Reflow,<\/strong>\n<ol>\n<li>As you zoom in, content should reflow into a vertical column with no need for horizontal scrolling,<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Many PDFs will not reflow. Check the order of text via <strong>File<\/strong> (<strong>Acrobat<\/strong> on macOS) menu and select\u00a0<strong>Export To &gt; Text (Accessible).\u00a0<\/strong>Save the file and view what text content is exported and how it is ordered. That is what and how assistive technology will read to a user (absent any interactives such as forms and image alternate text).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Use Preflight tools to correct remaining tagging issues:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Navigate to <strong>Tools &gt;<\/strong> <strong>Print Production &gt; Preflight,<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Select <strong>PDF Profiles,<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Expand <strong>PDF\/UA,<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Select <strong>Fix problems in PDF tagging structure,<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Click <strong>Analyze and Fix,<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Save new copy.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>For advanced accessibility checks, use <a href=\"https:\/\/pave-pdf.org\/pave\/index.html\">PAVE<\/a> (online) or <a href=\"https:\/\/pdfua.foundation\/en\/pdf-accessibility-checker-pac\/\">PAC 2021<\/a> (Windows only).<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--key-takeaways\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\"><a id=\"links\"><\/a>Further Reading<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p>CreativePro&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/creativepro.com\/10-steps-to-accessible-pdf\/\">10 steps to accessible PDFs.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/helpx.adobe.com\/acrobat\/using\/create-verify-pdf-accessibility.html?trackingid=KACNN#fix_accessibility_issues\">Adobe guide to making accessible PDFs in Acrobat Pro.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/helpx.adobe.com\/acrobat\/using\/create-verify-pdf-accessibility.html?trackingid=KACNN#check_accessibility_of_PDFs\">Adobe guide to Acrobat Pro Accessibility Check<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.adobe.com\/accessibility\/products\/acrobat\/training.html\">List of Adobe Acrobat DC accessibility training guides.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/helpx.adobe.com\/ca\/acrobat\/using\/edit-scanned-pdfs.html?set=acrobat--fundamentals--edit-pdf\">Adobe guide to OCR and editing scanned PDFs.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/support.microsoft.com\/en-us\/topic\/create-accessible-pdfs-064625e0-56ea-4e16-ad71-3aa33bb4b7ed?correlationid=9b8d28cf-aa96-4816-9536-b4aea195b51c&amp;ui=en-us&amp;rs=en-gb&amp;ad=gb&amp;ocmsassetid=ha102478227\">Microsoft guide to exporting documents to PDF<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLtSVUgxIo6KrxMh-wNhSG7MuZ2gfPf7co\">Microsoft video guides to PDF accessibility.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/webaim.org\/techniques\/acrobat\/\">Web Accessibility in Mind Guide to PDF Accessibility<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.georgebrown.ca\/about\/aoda\/accessibility\/accessible-information-communication\">George Brown College in-depth videos of Adobe accessibility.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"glossary\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\" id=\"definition\">definition<\/span><template id=\"term_37_1347\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_37_1347\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>A tagged PDF includes semantic information and structure to create an accessible document. This is done by adding tags to the document in Adobe Acrobat.<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_37_1301\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_37_1301\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>The order in which a screen reader reads content on a page. This should match visual order. Reading order also refers to how a PDF will reflow when zoomed.<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><\/div>","protected":false},"author":190,"menu_order":2,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-37","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":1597,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/37","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/37\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10344,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/37\/revisions\/10344"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/1597"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/37\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=37"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=37"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}