Adobe Acrobat Pro DC – Introduction to Accessible PDFs Rob Haverty, Senior Product Manager, Document Cloud Accessibility Revised November 2017

Agenda Session 1 – Getting Ready in Acrobat Pro DC Session 2 – The Basics of PDF Accessibility Session 3 – Fixing Inaccessible PDF Documents GOALS: It is possible for a PDF document to be accessible Understanding what people need to know to make PDF documents accessible There is always more to learn 

Session 1 – Getting Ready in Acrobat Pro DC

Acrobat Accessibility Setup Tools Pane Tools Tab > Select Add Tool > Organize Tools Pane Action Wizard Accessibility Navigation Pane Use B1 - Basics Demo Doc - Intro to Accessible PDF View > Show/Hide > Navigation Panes Tags Panel Content Panel Order Panel

Keyboard Navigation Standard Navigation (Tab & Arrow Keys) Keyboard Shortcuts F6 F2 Ctrl + D – Document Properties

Table Editor Set up Table Editor Access via Tag Tree and TURO Set display Enhancements Click anywhere Select cell

Touch Up Reading Order (TURO) Tool Access via Order Panel Set up Display Editing Tags in TURO

Session 2 – The Basics of PDF Accessibility

The Source Document is Supreme Things to consider when creating the source document: Does the authoring tool of the source document allow the author to create an accessible document. For Example: Word has an Accessibility Checker to help the author make the document more accessible. Does the author know how to create an accessible document For Example: In Word, are Styles used to apply Headings or are headings “created” by changing the font size and making the font bold? REMEMBER: It is almost always easier to remediate the source document then the converted PDF document.

Let’s Talk About PDF/UA ISO 14289-1 (in process of revising) is a subset of and references ISO 32000 Electronic document file format enhancement for accessibility Designed to identify the semantic information necessary for assistive technologies to access the information in the document such as text, structure, and organization of the content. Shall vs. May e.g., lists – Individual list items shall be specified by <LI> tags. <Lbl> and <LBody> tags may be included. Organizations define their own specific rules e.g., HHS requires <Lbl> and <LBody> tags for compliance Conventions <Document> tag should be the first tag in the tree structure (not required by PDF/UA) Artifact images with captions (no alternative text - AltText)

Hierarchy of Tasks (Here There Be Monsters) Is the PDF created from a scanned image? If yes – perform text recognition Is the PDF a form with fillable form fields? If yes – add the form fields Does the PDF document or form contain links? If yes – add the links Does the PDF have multimedia? If yes – add the multimedia (make sure it is accessible with captions and video descriptions) Now – tag the document After or during tagging have you edited the document If yes, at the very least you will need to remove all tags and re-tag the document or form, it may be necessary to remove all tags, multimedia, links, and form fields and return to step 2

Converting to a PDF from a Source Document Multiple Methods Acrobat Plug-in Application Save As Export Print to PDF Other conversion tools or plug-ins Varying Results Tables and Lists may be inaccurately tagged Resulting PDF may be untagged Custom tags may be created

PDF Conversion Process Converting an Accessible Word Document – Use 2 - Basic Demo Doc Acrobat Plug-in (Office Ribbon) Print to PDF

PDF Maker vs. Make Accessible (Autotagging) PDF Maker uses the semantic information of the source document to tag the PDF Make Accessible attempts to imply the structure of the document PDF Maker > < Make Accessible

Document Properties (Ctrl + D)

Session 3 – Fixing Inaccessible PDF Documents

Fixing Tags Content Shall be Tagged in the Logical Reading Order Common areas for review: Tables Figures Artifacts Lists Unique considerations depending on the source document and means of conversion: Scanned Document Role Mapping Links Form Fields PDFMaker vs. Make Accessible (previously shown)

Editing in the Tag Tree – The Basics Covered in specific exercises later. New Tag Select where you want the new tag inserted in the Tag Tree (inserts below selected tag) Right click to open the Context Menu Select “New Tag” and the tag type Move Tags “Drag and Drop” or “Cut and Paste” Change Tag F2

List Basics According to the PDF/UA ISO standard, a list must have the List <L> tag and List Item <LI> tags. They may also have the Label <Lbl> and List Body <LBody> tags. Open document 3 - Word Document with Errors and convert to PDF Open Tag Tree Find mis-tagged list items (usually will have a <P> tag) Create <L> tag Change list items <P> tags to <LI> tags and make them children of the <L> Tag

Table Basics Column and Row Headers need to be tagged with the <TH> tag and data cells with the <TD> tag Using the PDF version of 3 - Word Document with Errors Open Table Editor (context menu in Tag Tree or TURO tool) Select and change <TH> tags to <TD> tags and add Scope Demo with Screen Reader

Tables with Merged Cells Use document 3 - Word Document with Errors Add scope and span to Merged Cells

Artifacts An artifact is content that does not provide meaningful information such as decorative images or line spaces. Artifacts should not be present in the Tag Tree. See the blog on Tagging Content as an Artifact. Continue using document 3 - Word Document with Errors Open document in Acrobat Open the Tag Tree (this step is not necessary but for illustration only) Note the empty <P> tags, we will come back and check for them after creating the artifact tags Open Order Panel Select “Show Reading Order Panel” (TURO) Select item number for content to be artifacted Select “Background” from TURO Return to the tag tree and note that the previous empty <P> tag is now gone. (again, this step is unnecessary and only for illustratation)

Images Use document 3 - Word Document with Errors Figures with Captions (Artifact?) Without Captions (Alternative Text) Accessibility Tool

Links Convert 4 - Links with PDF Maker delete tags and re-add tags (can work for forms – see hierarchy) Convert 4 - Links with Print and Add links (similar to scanned doc). Only need short URL

Contacts Rob Haverty Haverty@Adobe.com Adobe Accessibility Website www.Adobe.com/Accessibility Adobe Blogs Document Cloud Blog blogs.adobe.com/documentcloud/ (search for PDF or Accessibility) Accessibility Blog blogs.adobe.com/accessibility/ Follow us on Twitter @AdobeAccess

Adobe – Make it an Experience