Accessible PDFs from Word
This guide will enable you to adapt your PDF creation practices so that your PDFs can be fully used by people with disabilities in the future.
We recommend that you follow the process below when creating your next PDF documents and are confident that, with the necessary awareness, by then you will have adapted your habits so that soon you can hardly imagine ever having produced inaccessible PDFs.
If you still need help or would like to clarify any unanswered questions, we welcome your registration for one of our "PDFs from Word" courses.
In a nutshell
- Use style sheets for headings / Avoid empty paragraphs
- Provide images with alternative text
- Set document title and check document language
- Option / checkbox "Enable accessibility with enclosing by creating PDF with tags".
- Check your PDF with PAC Screenreader Preview
For basics and background on the how-tos presented here, see e-Accessibility Basics and our Moodle course.
Style sheets are important for a clean semantic structure of content. Read more about the importance of semantics and semantic structure for digital accessibility here.
Heading structure
Structure your content with meaningful headings. Each heading briefly and accurately describes the content that follows.
To do this, use the format templates for headings in Word: Home Tab > Styles
Tips for efficient formatting
Keep track of your heading structure as you write: [Ctrl] + [F] > Headings
Format your headings at top speed
Depending on your settings in Word, you can place the cursor in the heading (levels 1 - 3) and press [Alt] + [1-3].
Control all spacing between text elements using style sheets. Do not control empty paragraphs by pressing the Enter key multiple times. Screen readers output every single blank paragraph as "blank".
Display the empty paragraphs via Home Tab > Paragraph > "Show Paragraph Marks" icon.
Control spacing using style sheets
Spacing can be easily adjusted using style sheets:
Home Tab > Icon (bottom right of style sheets) > "Down Arrow" icon > Modify...
Format > Paragraph > Adjust spacing
Tables can be very helpful for people who use assistive technologies. However, complex tables also harbor great risks for good machine readability. Please note the following:
- Make sure that data tables always have column and row headings. In Word, this can only be controlled for the first row and first column: Checkboxes for "Header row" and "First column" under "Table design".
- Avoid merged cells in tables. They often lead to the entire table logic being distorted so that it can no longer be interpreted by assistive technologies.
- Avoid complex tables. Very often, complex tables can be split into several simpler tables relatively easily.
People with severe visual impairments, including blindness, depend on relevant information that is conveyed purely visually, i.e. via images and illustrations, being recorded in writing.
Content aspects for good text alternatives are discussed on Text descriptions for images (decorative, linked, complex, ...). The technical implementation of embedded alternative texts (analogous to the alt-attibut in HTML) for Word and PDF is very simple:
Right-click on the graphic > View Alt text....
The text field for entering a short alternative text appears on the right side. Note: Since the written step-by-step instructions are included in the continuous text here, it is sufficient to indicate that this is the corresponding screenshot. Purely decorative graphic elements must be explicitly marked as such using the "Mark as decorative" checkbox.
One of the requirements for accessible PDFs is that documents have a meaningful document title and correct language declarations. (See Info & Semantics).
Document title
Navigate to File Tab > Info
Good document titles inform about the content of the document as well as about their origin (e.g. ETH Zurich).
Note: Optimally, the following setting is made in the exported PDF (in Adobe Acrobat): File > Properties > View on Open > then under Window Options: Show: Document title
Document language
Make sure your Word document is associated with the correct language throughout. In multilingual documents, different sections can be associated with different languages.
Select the whole document ([Alt] + [A]). Click on the language declaration in the Word "footer" > Select the correct language > Confirm with OK.
If your Word document is semantically well-structured and the graphics have meaningful alternative texts, you have the best prerequisites for exporting it to an accessible PDF document. The second half is decided solely by an activated checkbox, which decides whether all the semantic information (the so-called tags) will find their way into the PDF.
The way presented here requires Adobe Acrobat to be installed on the computer. There are at least two ways to activate the Wundercheckbox:
1. Acrobat Tab > Preferences > checkbox "Enable accessibility and reflow with tagged Adobe PDF".
2. (alternatively) File Tab > Save as Adobe PDF > Options > Check "Enable accessibility and reflow with tagged Adobe PDF" checkbox.
3. (alternatively) If no Adobe is available: Menu bar > File > Save as > More options...
Change the data type to PDF. Choose Options > checkbox "Document structure tags for accessibility"
To quickly and efficiently check if the above measures have successfully found their way into the PDF, the software PAC is a good choice.
Move the downloaded zip file to any location on your Windows computer and unzip the zip archive.
Start PAC by double clicking on PAC.exe in the unzipped folder. PAC will be started.
Drag your PDF file into PAC
PAC checks your PDF file according to the PDF/UA standard. Even optimally accessible PDFs can lead to the display of errors in PAC. Do not let this irritate you. Important in the standard view is that your PDFs
- are tagged.
- have a document title, and
- have a correct language declaration
The other aspects can best be assessed in the screen reader preview view of the PAC.
To do this, click on Screen reader preview. A clear representation of the semantic structure of your PDF appears. With heading levels, lists, tables, alternative texts, links, etc. It is important to check the semantic structure for content logic and sense. Something that algorithms and AI do not (yet?) do today.
Online PDF accessibility checker
Alternatively, for example because you don't have a Windows PC available, you can check your PDF online.
external page axesCheck - Online PDF Accessibility Checker
Unfortunately, the online checker does not come with the screen reader preview, the most valueable feature of PAC.
Consider, anyway, that uploading documents is always a risk. See webiste text below:
"By using axesCheck, you confirm and expressly agree that you want and are allowed to transfer the uploaded document and the information and personal data contained therein to axes4 GmbH for processing, and that you bear the exclusive responsibility and liability for this transfer of processing towards axes4 GmbH and third parties. axes4 may temporarily store and analyze your documents solely for the purpose of troubleshooting and technical improvement. By using axesCheck you accept our external page privacy policy."
As with all digital formats and technologies, the following general aspects need to be considered in PDF:
- Alt texts and good text alternatives
- Handling colours and contrasts
- Captions and integrated descriptions in videos