Overview
When you create PDF documents, there are simple steps you can take to ensure that readers using assistive technologies such as screen readers can access the information in your documents. In this guide, we review important methods for incorporating accessibility in your PDFs.
Adobe Acrobat is required to create accessible PDFs
You will need access to Adobe Acrobat in order to edit PDF documents. There are two options for obtaining Acrobat access:
Adobe Reader, unlike Adobe Acrobat, is a view-only application and does not have the ability to edit accessibility information.
A note about the Acrobat menu
If you are using the latest Adobe Acrobat version but your menu does not look like the screenshots below, you may need to disable "new Acrobat":
- Acrobat on Windows: Click Menu and select Disable new Acrobat. Acrobat will restart.
- Acrobat on Mac: Click View and select Disable new Acrobat. Acrobat will restart.
Setting up document properties
Quick guide
- Click the File menu and select Properties.
- Verify the following properties:
-
Description tab > Title should not be blank. Tagged PDF: Yes. If Tagged PDF is set to No, you will be able to correct this later by following our instructions for tagging the PDF.
-
Security tab > Content Copying for Accessibility: Allowed.
-
Initial View tab > Show: Document Title.
-
Advanced tab > Language should not be blank.
- Click OK.
- Save the PDF.
Detailed guide (with screenshots)
- Click the File menu and select Properties.
- Verify the following properties:
- In the Description tab, fill in the Title field and verify that Tagged PDF is set to Yes. If Tagged PDF is set to No, you will be able to correct this later by following our instructions for tagging the PDF.
- In the Security tab, verify that Content Copying for Accessibility is Allowed. Otherwise, you must change the Security Method field.
- In the Initial View tab, verify that Show is set to Document Title. You may need to change this from the default, File Name.
- In the Advanced tab, verify that the Language is set correctly.
- Click OK.
- Save the PDF.
Adding autotagging
Some applications such as Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign will automatically tag their documents when converting them to PDFs, while other applications such as Google Docs will not apply tagging.
If your PDF is untagged, use Acrobat's autotagging feature:
Quick guide
- Click the View menu. Select Show/Hide > Navigation Panes > Accessibility tags.
- The Accessibility tags pane appears in the left panel. If you see the message No tags available, you will need to autotag the PDF.
- Click the Options
icon and select Autotag document.
- If you are prompted, click Not now to opt out of cloud-based tagging.
- Once tagging is complete, the Accessibility tags pane is populated.
- Save the PDF.
Detailed guide (with screenshots)
- Click the View menu. Select Show/Hide > Navigation Panes > Accessibility tags.
- The Accessibility tags pane appears in the left panel. If you see the message No tags available, you will need to autotag the PDF.
- Click the Options icon and select Autotag document.
- If you are prompted, click Not now to opt out of cloud-based tagging.
- Once tagging is complete, the Accessibility tags pane is populated.
- Save the PDF.
Adding alternative text to images
Images are indicated in tagged PDFs by the <figure> tag, and they require alternative text to be accessible for readers with low vision or those using screen readers.
Alt text should describe the appearance or function of an image on a page. It should be a very concise sentence or two, as the most popular screen readers will stop reading alt text aloud after 125 characters. You do not need to include “Image of” or “Photo of” in the alt text as a screen reader will announce an image. Make sure to start the sentence with a capital first letter and end it with a period.
Use the Accessibility tags pane to locate images and add alternative text:
Quick guide
- Open the Accessibility tags pane.
- Locate the first tag that is labeled <figure>. Right-click the tag and select Properties.
- If the Alternative Text for Images field is blank, fill it in.
- Click Close.
- Repeat steps 2–4 until you have added alternative text to all <figure> tags in the Accessibility tags pane.
- Save the PDF.
Detailed guide (with screenshots)
- Open the Accessibility tags pane.
- Locate the first tag that is labeled <figure>. Right-click the tag and select Properties.
- If the Alternative Text for Images field is blank, fill it in.
- Click Close.
- Repeat steps 2–4 until you have added alternative text to all <figure> tags in the Accessibility tags pane.
- Save the PDF.
Using Accessibility Full Check
You can use Acrobat's Accessibility Full Check feature to automatically check your PDF for issues:
Quick guide
- Click the Tools tab.
- Locate the Accessibility option (you may need to scroll down). Click Open, or click Add and then click Open.
- Click Accessibility Check.
- Click Select All to select all checkboxes, and click Start Checking.
- In the left panel, the Accessibility Checker pane opens. Click the Expand
icon to show details.
- Right-click each issue and click Fix.
- After you correct each issue, right-click the error again and click Check Again.
- Once all issues are fixed, save the PDF.
Detailed guide (with screenshots)
- Click the Tools tab.
- Locate the Accessibility option (you may need to scroll down). Click Open, or click Add and then click Open.
- Click Accessibility Check.
- Click Select All to select all checkboxes, and click Start Checking.
- In the left panel, the Accessibility Checker pane opens. Click the Expand icon to show details.
- Right-click each issue and click Fix.
- After you correct each issue, right-click the issue and click Check Again.
- Once all issues are fixed, save the PDF.
References
For this guide, the following resources were consulted: