TODD WEISSENBERGERWEB ACCESSIBILITY COORDINATOR

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

Creating Good PDFs/ Avoiding Bad PDFs

Good PDFs vs. Bad PDFs

Good PDFs… Bad PDFs…

Good PDFS …come from good source

documents …are tagged for structure …include text alternatives

for pictures, charts, and other non-text elements

…are easy to navigate by using headings and bookmarks

Bad PDFS …are flat images, often

from a scanner …lack tags and structure …present important non-

text elements without any text equivalents

…are hard to navigate because they have no headings or bookmarks

Good PDFs vs. Bad PDFs

Common mistakes in PDF

Publishing flat, image-only files Acrobat OCR can expose the underlying text

Designing difficult navigability Add tags, headings and bookmarks

Neglecting ALT text Alternative text adds context to your graphics

Publishing the wrong reading order Check your reading order, and clean it up as necessary

Downgrading accessibility Using PDF in lieu of a more accessible file format

option

Other limitations of PDF

Mobile viewing Documents may not resize or reflow correctly for

mobile usersMultimedia

Multimedia elements are not captioned or keyboard-operable

Combined documents may present barriers Keep elements separate where possible:

content/interactive/media

Check your source

WordExcelPowerPointInDesignHTMLServer/run-time

The more accessible the source document, the better the PDF.

Tagged documents

Tags provide semantic and structural definition for document elements (list, links, headings, tables)

Tags can carry over from source documents—build ‘em in

Tags may be applied retroactively (e.g., in Acrobat)

ALT Text

ALT text should reflect the content and the purpose of the content it replaces

For complex graphics (e.g., graphs and charts), ALT text may point to a longer description at another location

ALT text may be addressed in the source document, but Acrobat also has tools to provide ALT text

PDF Forms (if you must…)

Avoid if at all possible Qualtrics, UI Workflow, HTML forms Cross-platform issues Ease of use on mobile devices

Start with a tagged base document, and add form fields in Acrobat Add meaningful labels Group related form controls, such as radio buttons Make sure tab order reflects form structure

, back of envelope

Multimedia

Utterly inaccessibleAvoid at all costsNo closed captioning optionNo keyboard operable playerAvoid at all costsUtterly inaccessible

Demos

PDF from external source: Journal Scan

External PDFs may be flat, and thus inaccessible

Check with website, JSTOR, library for text version

Beware of “text” PDFs from third-party sources

What about government/non-editable PDF?

Demo: Search e-Journals via UI Libraries InfoLink

PDF from source document: Word

PDF from source document: Excel

Forms: Go Qualtrics!

More control typesPreset control groupsResults and reportingBranchingAccessible options

Bottom Line

SemanticsHeadingsAlternative TextTables, Lists, LinksNo formsExternal options when necessaryReading Order

Questions?