Portable Document Format (PDF) files are one of the most common document formats in classrooms. As such it is important to make the creation of accessible PDF documents a priority. PDF files can be difficult to make accessible after the fact, and starting with an accessible Word document that you save as a PDF file is often the best way to create an accessible PDF.
Accessible PDFs Available through University Libraries
University Libraries can also provide accessible PDFs; any documents that are requested through the course resources system are accessible by default.
Convert Image-Only PDFs to Accessible PDFs with OrbitNote
If you are starting from a scanned PDF, you can use OrbitNote (available through BC) to make sure that the text of a PDF is recognizable and to otherwise increase access. You can contact your TC if you have any questions about working with OrbitNote.
How To Create Accessible PDF Documents in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC
- Run “Make Accessible” wizard (Tools sidebar>Action Wizard>Make Accessible>Start)
- Add a descriptive title
- Set open options to run automatically
- Recognize text to ensure all text is selectable and searchable
- Detect form fields if your page contains fillable forms
- Tag content properly to indicate a logical reading order
- Specify reading language
- Add alternative text to images, graphs, and figures
- Ensure color contrast is appropriate
- Run accessibility full check (Tools>Accessibility>Full Check>Start Checking)