PDF accessibility on websites

PDFs are a major focus area in web accessibility. PDFs have some of the same challenges as typical text errors, such as the inability for screen readers to navigate headings, tables, and lists unless these elements are specifically tagged when the PDF is generated.

Avoid using PDFs on your website if possible, as they generally provide a poor user experience on mobile devices due to scaling issues. Users will need to zoom and scroll horizontally to read a PDF file on a mobile phone. However, there may be cases where creating a PDF makes sense. When you publish a PDF on your website, there are several tools you should be aware of.

Use Siteimprove to get an overview

Siteimprove provides a clear overview of the current PDFs on your site that have accessibility issues. In the tool's Accessibility module, you get a summary of PDFs with problems, the number of issues, and the types of problems encountered. Go to Siteimprove's overview of problematic PDF's on your website.

Guide to improving PDF Accessibility

You can check and improve accessibility in the PDFs you create using either Office Word or Adobe Acrobat Pro. All AU staff have access to or can obtain these programs. The following content provides guides for accessibility checks in both programs.

Check accessibility in new PDFs

When there's a need to create new PDFs, you can use the accessibility tool in Word. First, ensure that you have the latest version of Word on your computer, as older versions do not support accessibility features. Start by checking that your version of Word is Office 365. Once you've confirmed this, you can open the document you wish to check for potential accessibility issues and convert into a PDF.

Give the document a title

Give the document a title by clicking on the File tab in Word. Here, select the Info option, where you can fill in the document's title.

Word's Properties feature, where the user can enter a title. — The Title field is completed and saved.

Specify which language the text is written in.

Specify the document's language by clicking the language button in the horizontal process bar at the bottom of Word. Choose the language that the text in the document is written in.

[Translate to English:] Den nederste proceslinje i Word, hvor brugeren kan klikke på sprog i proceslinjen og ændre sproget til eksempelvis dansk

Check Accessibility

Now select the Review tab and the Check Accessibility button, and follow the original Microsoft guide from step 3 to complete the accessibility check. You should now address the errors listed under Inspection Results.

[Translate to English:] Det lille ikon med teksten Kontroller Tilgængelighed i word.

Create the PDF correctly

When you have corrected the accessibility issues or confirmed that there are no accessibility issues, you are ready to export your document. If you want to export the document as a PDF, it is important not to use the Print to PDF function. Print to PDF is intended for printing, and the structural tags that make the document accessible will be removed. Export the PDF by selecting the Acrobat tab and clicking on the Create PDF button.

You can also choose the Create PDF button and run the action if you want to perform an additional accessibility check in Adobe Acrobat Pro. Clicking this button will automatically open Adobe Acrobat Pro.

The Create PDF icon in Word is located under the Acrobat tab.

Check the accessibility of existing PDFs

There may be situations where you don't have the original document that the PDF is based on and thus cannot create an accessible version of the PDF. In the Adobe Acrobat Pro tool, which all AU employees have access to, you can test the PDF for accessibility and make changes to the document directly within the tool. Start by opening the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro that you want to test for accessibility issues.

Select the Accessibility tool

Select the Tools tab. Once you find Tools, scroll down and locate the Accessibility icon. Click on Open under the Accessibility icon.

[Translate to English:] Adobes Accessibility-ikon, som er en lilla knap med en tændstiksfigur indeni

Perform Accessibility check

The Accessibility tool now opens to the right of the document. Select the Accessibility check button. A dialog box will appear on your screen. Click the Start checking button.

[Translate to English:] Knappen Start Checking, placeret ved siden af cancel i dialogboksen.

Review the list of accessibility errors

When the check is complete, you will receive a list of accessibility errors found in the PDF. The list appears in a panel on the left side of the program. Continue the accessibility check and follow the guidance for resolving issues from Adobe's original guide starting at step 6.

Once you have resolved the errors and addressed any issues requiring manual review, you are ready to save the PDF with corrections and finish the accessibility check. If you are unsure about how to handle a particular error, you can consult Adobes guide.

Bullet-point list of identified accessibility errors in a PDF. Errors marked in bold, such as an image missing alternative text, need to be addressed. — An example of an accessibility error in a PDF. Here, an image is missing alternative text, so screen reader users cannot have the image's content read aloud.

More tips and tricks for Adobe's accessibility tool

Here is a suggestion for short, quick start videos that show you how to easily add a title to your PDF or alternative text to an image. The videos are found on YouTube:

Do I need to make all PDFs accessible?

PDFs published before September 23, 2018, only need to be made accessible if they are 'necessary for active administrative processes.' An example is guides that assist users in an administrative process. In Siteimprove, you can use a filter to see which PDFs were published after this date. Additionally, you should assess which PDFs on your site are most important to address first. Prioritize those that are used by the most people.

Revised 07.11.2024

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