PDF inaccessibility presents significant challenges and access barriers for people with disabilities. To address this, it’s vital to understand and apply the accessibility principles described on this website when preparing digital files or source documents for sharing or uploading online. These principles include using proper heading levels, ensuring adequate color contrast, and providing clear, concise alternative text for informative images. Adhering to the applicable Web Content Accessibility Guidelines ensures the creation of accessible and user-friendly PDF files, complemented by these additional tips:
- Not all applications are capable of creating accessible PDFs.
- Before you create a digital document that will be shared or uploaded to a website, reference WebAIM’s Tags Structure Quality chart to determine which applications support good tag structures that enhance the accessibility and usability of digital documents.
- Accessibility for PDFs begins with the creation of a new document or digital source file. If you are using Microsoft 365, you can improve accessibility by using the built-in Accessibility Checker.
- Refer to WebAIM’s step-by-step PDF instructions for converting your source document to PDF using Adobe Acrobat Professional or the Microsoft PDF option.
- If you don’t have Adobe Acrobat Pro, visit the Division of IT Adobe Software pricing page.
- DO NOT use the “Print to PDF” or Scan to PDF options to convert files to PDF.
- Before uploading a PDF file to your website, always check your final PDF document for accessibility to ensure it is properly tagged to support accessibility.
- Older PDFs are often inaccessible and should be recreated to ensure accessibility. If you only have the PDF version, consider creating a new source document.
- Refer to the PDF Techniques for WCAG 2.0 for further information.
Need help?
To request manual accessibility testing of your PDF document by trained specialists or for more information on PDF accessibility, please contact the IT Accessibility Center at itaccessibility@missouri.edu.
For faculty seeking information on tools to assist with creating accessible course materials, please visit the Missouri Online website.