Accessible PDF Documents with Adobe Acrobat 8

1. Accessible PDF Documents with Adobe Acrobat 8 Sean Keegan Web Accessibility Specialist skeegan@gmail.com CSU Summer Accessibility Institute 2007

2. Overview • Working in MS Word • Headings, Tables, and Images (oh my) • Working in Adobe Acrobat • Adding Tags • Repairing and Evaluating Text Content • Working with Tables

3. Create A Logical Structure • Apply Headings where appropriate in the document • Headings will be translated into PDF Bookmarks during the transformation process

4. Utilize MS Word Layout Tools • Use the tools within MS Word to customize columns and layout • Avoid using text boxes, tables or tabs to visually format your document

5. Add Table Header Information • From the menu bar, choose Table > Insert Table • To designate the column headers • Select the appropriate cells • Open the Table Properties menu for the selected cells • In the Row tab, select the checkbox “Repeat as header row at the top of each page”

6. Include Text Descriptions • Select the image and choose Format from the menu bar • Choose “Picture” • In the Web tab, add a text description only if necessary for the image

7. Convert from MS Office • Apply styles and formatting • Design data tables usingTable menu options • Add text descriptions • Create PDF by selecting Adobe PDF on the menu bar

8. Using Adobe Acrobat Pro • Find original file, re-author, and export using PDFMaker (not Distiller!) OR • Add tags to the PDF document • Evaluate reading order • Make repairs and evaluate…again

9. Adding Tags to a PDF • Tags provide a structure in which to manipulate the accessibility of the content • To add tags to a PDF document: • Select Advanced on the menu bar • Choose Accessibility and Add Tags to Document • Even with tags, there can still be errors in reading order, figures, form fields, etc.

10. Evaluating Reading Order • The best method is to read the PDF using assistive technologies • Export the file as Text (Accessible) • Provides a rough simulation as to the reading order used by assistive technologies • Use the Read Out Loud feature in Acrobat • Can be time-consuming to perform

11. Manipulating PDF Tags • The TouchUp Reading Order tool provides the easiest method to improve PDF accessibility • Choose Advanced on themenu bar • Select Accessibility and then “TouchUp Reading Order tool” • Information can be either added or removed with the TURO tool

12. When selecting content to repair, draw the zone region larger than the actual content space Review Figures and Tables after adding tags to the PDF file - they may get misidentified Zone content as “Background” to remove from the reading order of the document Use the Table Inspector to add a table summary and row and column header information Using the TURO Tool

13. Adobe Resources • Adobe Accessibility Websitehttp://www.adobe.com/accessibility • Adobe Accessibility Bloghttp://blogs.adobe.com/accessibility/ • Adobe Online PDF Conversion Toolhttp://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/access_onlinetools.html

14. Other Resources • Planet PDF • http://www.planetpdf.com/enterprise/article.asp?ContentID=6066 • Additional “How-to” Manuals • http://www.wac.ohio-state.edu/pdf/index.html • http://www.htctu.net/trainings/manuals/tutmain.htm

15. www.calstate.edu/accessibility