Making Accessible PDF Files Under
Section 508
Note:
I H S Web Team Account Managers can assist you in understanding what is necessary to create accessible PDF files. It is the responsibility of the Content Manager to provide a web-ready PDF for display on an I H S website. The web team's business does not include creating PDFs.
If you don't have the time or staff to create accessible PDFs, please contact your I H S Web Team Account Manager to determine what an alternative format may be acceptable.
(See the Development Assistance page for other Account Manager assistance options).
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Assistive technology is constantly being improved. The currently available methods for making PDFs accessible are not simple in many cases. Be prepared to read carefully and use the related resources found in the right-side navigation and the links to supplemental software and documentation.
If any PDFs created result in important content being represented only as a graphic, consult with your Account Manager before continuing the accessibility process. Other procedures may be recommended.
Making PDF documents accessible depends on two things:
- Authoring the original documents so that they contain not just content (such as the text in the document) but also information about the structure
of the content (such as how the text flows within the page and from page to
page).
- Using publishing tools such as Adobe Acrobat software and Adobe PDF technology
that can retain and encode both the content and the structure so that it can
be interpreted by assistive technology.
In order to do this:
- Authors need to be aware of the importance of writing with the intent
of creating accessible documents, and how to accomplish that.
Making PDF documents accessible necessitates the creation of tagged Adobe
PDF documents.
The results provide documents with:
- logical reading order
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alternate text descriptions for images
- scanned documents with accessible text
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Note: Don't miss the useful Related Links in the right-side menu.
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Software Requirements: To create a tagged (accessible) Adobe PDF documents you must have Adobe Acrobat 7.0 or higher. |
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Methods include both creating new PDF files and converting existing PDF files. |
- Create an Adobe PDF file directly from one or more Web pages.
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- Make Paper Documents Accessible, Scanning using OCR setting
or Adobe Capture
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Once you have a PDF file, make it accessible:
- From the menu, Choose Advanced>Accessibility>Add Tags to Document.
Once you have a PDF file, make it load quickly:
- Set "Fast Web View": Choose Edit>Preferences>General>Misc>Save As Optimizes For Fast Web View.
Remember: Electronic documents should be no larger than 500k. If your document is larger, break it into several documents and link them from an index page.
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