Accessible PDFs and Other Documents

The first step in remediating documents is to reduce the number of documents in the first place. We highly recommend taking inventory of all documents on your website and determining if each document is needed.

In many cases, a document can be replaced with a web form or a webpage, both of which are inherently more accessible than a nonremediated document.

For PDFs that are simply providing information, you can almost always replace them by creating a webpage. You don’t necessarily need to remake the content on a given PDF into a webpage as written; instead, make sure that the information provided in that document is available on the website in logical places.

For PDFs used for business processes, Texas A&M provides a few options for web forms that you may consider using to replace PDF forms:

Once you have reduced the number of files on your website, you will need to make the remaining documents accessible.

You have two options for doing this:

1. Remediate existing documents using Adobe Acrobat Pro.
2. Remake the document using Microsoft Word, Google Docs or Adobe InDesign using accessibility tools. You will still need to use Adobe Acrobat Pro for a few steps to make the document fully accessible.

In the long term, it can be a better use of time to remake documents using accessibility tools instead of remediating the existing PDF. This is because if you need to make any changes to the file (such as updating dates and deadlines), you will need to go through the remediation process again.

It is possible to hire a vendor to make existing PDFs accessible. Most services base their pricing on the number of pages and complexity. We have not used or vetted any of these vendors, but here are a few options to explore:

After you have remediated the documents needed on your website, be sure to remove the old versions that are not accessible.

Documents should use structured, hierarchical headings to indicate the structure of the document to people using assistive technology.

Using accessible headings in a document does not mean simply changing the way text looks — you have to use the tools in the software to apply the appropriate “tags” to the text. These tags correspond to the six heading levels used in HTML websites.

Images that provide content or serve a function need equivalent alternative text. This text will be read aloud to a person using a screen reader to tell them what is in the image.

Tables should only be used to present related information in a series of columns and rows. People using assistive technology rely on correctly structured and configured data tables to be able to perceive and understand the information in a table.

Just as on webpages, link text in documents should be written in a way that indicates what will happen or where users will go if they click on the link.

When choosing colors to use in a document, it is important to consider the contrast, especially between text color and its background.

Some people can’t distinguish between certain colors or may be using assistive technology to perceive your content. For these cases, it is important not to use color alone to convey meaning. A common example is using red to denote something is an error or otherwise incorrect. Instead of using only color to show this, use words to label the error.

In most cases, 11 point font is the minimum recommended font size for body text in a document. Some font families designed to be legible at smaller sizes (such as Open Sans) can be appropriate at 10 points for body copy and 9 points for footnotes.

It is also recommended to set line spacing (or leading) to 1.5 times the font size for increased legibility. This means if your body copy is set to 11 points, you should set the line spacing to at least 16 points.

Just like headings, lists get labeled in a special way for assistive technology when used appropriately. In documents, this typically means using the list feature instead of manually typing in a character to visually indicate a list.

• Use bulleted lists to list out a group of items that do not have or need a specific order or hierarchy.
• Use numbered lists to present a group of items where the order matters, such as in instructions.