Part 1: Check if your PDFs are accessible already
Part 1 Video: Check if your PDFs are accessible
To check if your PDF has accessible tags already:
- Open the PDF up in Adobe
- Use the search icon in the upper right corner, to type in “Reading Order,” and click on the suggested tool “Reading Order”
- In the window that opens for Reading Order, click on the button that says: “Show Reading Order.”
- In the column on the side (either on the left or right side), Click the tag icon:
- Look in the column outline. See if there are many tags on the document, for example: P (paragraphs), H1 (title), and other tags that make sense to label the parts of your document.
- Check to make sure your PDF’s images and formulas are labeled correctly. Images and formulas need to be tagged as images with alternate text that describes them so that a blind person can visualize exactly what the formula is, or what the image shows.
- If all this is good, your PDF may already be tagged and accessible. If you’re not sure, contact us.
- You can also contact us if you get stuck.
Part 2: If your PDF(s) are not accessible, use SensusAccess
Part 2 Video: If your PDF(s) are not accessible, use SensusAccess:
- Visit the SensusAccess Tool and select as many PDF files as you want to make accessible.
- Click the button to “Upload” the files.
- Next, scroll down the page and select “Accessibility conversion.”
- Select “PDF – tagged PDF (image over text).”
- Enter your email address and submit request.
- It will take 20 minutes to several hours per PDF.
- You will receive one email per PDF. Each PDF will now be a little more accessible for the blind, but you will still need to do the next parts.
Part 3: Label your images.
Transcript of video:
The authors or subject matter experts who worked on the document, are the best people to label their images with alternative text.
- They need to label the images so that a blind person can get just as much understanding and information as a sighted person.
- Do not just say: “A graph on inflation” but describe what the graph shows about inflation, pointing out any key numbers.
How to label your images
- Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat
- Click the search icon and search for the tool ‘Set Alternate Text’.
- This tool will take you through all things that are tagged as an image.
- Label each image describing the image as if one could not see it.
- Save the PDF.
Part 4: Tag your equations/formulas.
Part 4 Video: How to tag equations in PDFs (video version)
Transcript from video:
Okay, so you have a tagged document, you ran it through auto tag, or you’ve tagged it yourself, or you run it through SensusAccess Tool, as mentioned earlier on this page and it’s tagged.
Click over on the search icon and type in “reading order.” When you type it in, you can’t just type in reading order and hit enter, or it will search the document for the words “reading order.” You have to actually click on the “reading order” suggestion below the word, with the word “Tools” above it.
Click on the little pop-up window, on the button: “show order panel.” That opens the outline of the tags throughout the document. Now you’re seeing things are tagged, on the column on the side, like H1, H2, et cetera. Move the window pop-up a little bit out of the way, but don’t close it. You’re going to look for a formula in your document.
Likely it will be included in another tag that isn’t correct. Click on the tag name on the item, release the mouse button, and then right click on the tag name on the item, and click “delete item structure” to remove that tag.
Then you can draw a rectangle around this area and click to label it “figure,” which makes it into an image. Then click on the word “figure,” and then right click on the word “figure” and select “edit alternate text.” That is where you’re going to type out how this equation would sound. For example, if it was X=3π, you would write X equals three pi. Just be explicit in case it’s not pronouncing a character correctly.
See video version at the top of this section for visual help.
Part 5: Once the PDF is tagged
Part 5: Here’s how to put a PDF or file on your website (video)
Transcript from video:
When you’re logged in to WordPress, you’re going to go on the left hand bar to click on this media. It’s about maybe four items down on the column, but can depend based on what you have uploaded. Click on add new media file button.
Now we can drop many files or just one file into this place.
Maximum upload file size is 50 megabytes. Should be good for most files. Select files.
Drag and drop OR hit the select files button.
For example, when I select the file “design based on data,” I click on the left column in WordPress under for Pages or Posts to add to a Page or a Post. Pages and posts are very similar. It’s going to be the same thing, whether you’re putting it on a post or a page.
I click on posts, and I find my post “Article: Design based on data,” which is the post I’m going to add the PDF to.
On the article it says “read a PDF of this article design based on data”.
It’s important to select enough words here to explain what it is, and I select: “PDF of designing based on data.” I’m going to click the link icon to add the link.
And then I type in: “design” to pull up that PDF. I have several things related to design suggested. The one I’m looking for should say “attachment” if it’s a PDF. So I’m going to click on that one. And that automatically links the text to that PDF I uploaded.
And then I will update or publish the page.
Tagging unusual PDFs or Documents
Perhaps you have a document that conveys a lot of information visually or with it’s format. For example, large empty tables that need to be filled in from a prompt. Or text in venn diagrams. In this case, please watch the video below.
Create your document as a Web Page or a Microsoft Word doc instead of PDF whenever possible!
Accessible Word Docs
Why? Because HTML or Microsoft allow you to easily make accessibility changes. You will still need to add:
- headings and subheadings the correct level (Heading 1- 6),
- alternate text to images,
- tables with headers,
- lists as proper lists (where it auto-formats it to be indented),
- all other accessibility requirements covered in the video below.
It’s easier for you or assistants to edit the accessibility if you make a mistake. PDFs are EXTREMELY hard to edit the accessibility of, beyond what is covered in AI or labeling images.
- Tip: Additionally, you can right click on any image in Word and select “View Alt text.” Then you can edit that alt text, and save the document.
Accessible Microsoft Word Docs (written instructions): This is more complex than the video above.
Advanced PDF accessibility
A government’s guide to making PDF’s accessible (video): This video is very complex.