Accessibility of PDF Files

1
Accessibility of PDF Files

• Andrew Downie
• Centre for Learning Innovation
• NSW Department of Education Training

2
What we will cover

• Brief overview of screen readers etc
• History of PDF accessibility
• Different forms of PDFs
• Creating widely accessible PDFs
• Benefits of properly structured PDFs
• Repairing PDFs
• Creating PDF forms

3
Adaptive Technology Overview

• Screen readers
• Synthetic speech and/or electronic Braille output
• Essentially limited to reading text
• Sophisticated facilities for displaying visual
  presentation
• Text/graphics enlargement software
• Many magnification and colour selection options
• Optional augmentation with synthetic speech
• Learning/reading difficulties
• Inexpensive speech output products
• Sophisticated reading assistance incorporating
  synthetic speech

4
History of PDF Accessibility

• Initially completely inaccessible
• Acrobat V4.5 introduced a plugin text but no
  formatting
• Acrobat V5 introduced tagging (structure)
• MSAA (Microsoft Active Accessibility) utilised
• The reader must choose single page or whole
  document display
• Adobe and adaptive technology developers continue
  to refine access
• Many (probably most) PDFs are still created
  without structure
• PDFs still viewed negatively by advocates
• Partly based on historical inaccessibility
• Partly due to low standards compliance

5
Image Only PDF Files

• What is it?
• Paper document scanned into Acrobat as a picture
• Problems
• Cannot adjust colour
• Cannot search for text
• Cannot be read with screen readers etc
• Some work-arounds
• Acrobat has OCR capability and preserves page
  structure
• Can use other OCR software
• Print to Microsoft Office Document Imaging from
  Adobe Reader
• Not equitable access

6
Unstructured PDF Files

• May or may not be accessible
• Acrobat and Adobe Reader report to adaptive
  technology
• Changing reading order may help
• Automatic tagging with Acrobat may help
• Manual tagging an option
• Protected files
• Structure cannot be corrected without password
• Cannot be saved to accessible formats

7
Structured PDF Files

• Positives
• Text should be fully accessible
• Basic data tables should read well
• Page numbers essentially correct
• Internal and external links fully operable
• Bookmarks a great feature if present
• Alt text on images accessible if present
• Protected files are accessible
• Negatives
• Paragraph location problematical but improving
• Most screen readers do not yet support font
  attribute information
• Complex tables not yet supported by screen readers

8
Accessibility Setup

• Shortcut to Acrobat/Reader Preferences ctrl-k
• Colours set under Accessibility
• Settings for screen readers under Reading
• Reading order
• Setting for number of pages in a large document
• Read out loud options page or file

9
Easy Structured File Creation with MS Office

• Use formal document styles
• Formal hierarchical heading styles
• List styles for lists
• Paragraph styles for paragraphs
• Alt text on images
• Right click the image
• Select Size
• Select the alt text tab
• Replace the filename with meaningful text
• Do not
• Use text boxes
• Use tables for layout
• Split table rows across pages

10
Microsoft Word to PDF

• Acrobat adds menu item to Word
• Default settings will create tagged PDF file
• Free Microsoft plugin will create PDF
• In Options be sure to check Tags for Accessibility

11
Repairing PDF Files in Acrobat Professional

• Automatic tagging of untagged file
• Advanced menu Accessibility Add tags to
  document
• Produces a report take with a grain of salt
• Manual tagging tools
• Tag tree
• View Menu Navigation Panels
• Order
• View Menu Navigation panels
• Touch up Reading Order
• Advanced Menu Accessibility

12
Creating PDF Forms

• Forms Menu to create form
• Can use Acrobat or Live Cycle Designer
• Can use MS Word, RTF file etc as template
• If using an existing PDF, should initially be
  untagged
• Most fields should be recognised automatically
• In Live Cycle Designer click Accessibility tab
• Add tool tip to fields
• In Acrobat use Field Properties under Forms menu
  to add tool tip
• Extend features in Adobe Reader under Advanced
  menu

13
Some Screen Readers

• VoiceOver Built in to all new Apple Macintoshes
• NVDA Free from http//www.nvda-project.org/
• System Access To Go Free while connected to
  www.satogo.com
• Window-Eyes (free 30-minute demo) from
  www.gwmicro.com
• JAWS (free 30-minute demo) from
  www.freedomscientific.com

14
Resources

• Karen McCalls publications available through
  IRTI (http//www.irti-cat.peachhost.com/ct_CGtutor
  ials_booksandeducationalmaterial.htm)
• Logical Document Structure handbook Word 2003,
  ISBN 0-9738370-3-9 teaches how to make an
  accessible Word document that can be repurposed
  to create a tagged PDF and to make for easier
  Braille conversion
• Accessible and Usable PDF Documents Techniques
  for Document Authors, ISBN 0-9738246-1-1 walks
  document author or repair technician through what
  can go wrong and how to fix it in either a tagged
  or untagged PDF file
• http//www.karlencommunications.com/PDF-resources.
  htm for accessible PDF resources
• http//adobe.com/accessibility for information on
  creating accessible PDFs
• http//www.adobe.com/accessibility/products/reader
  / for PDF on Adobe Reader and screen readers
• NetCentric at www.net-centric.com for creating
  Section 508-compliant PDFs
• Save as PDF or XPS plug-in for Office 2007
  http//www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?Fa
  milyID4d951911-3e7e-4ae6-b059-a2e79ed87041displa
  ylangen
• comments by Joe Clark on PDF usage at
  http//www.alistapart.com/articles/pdf_accessibili
  ty
• Accessibility Support Documentation for PDF at
  http//www.w3.org/WAI/GL/WCAG20/implementation-rep
  ort/PDF_accessibility_support_statement

15
Contacting Andrew

• Phone [phone]
• Email andrew.downie_at_det.nsw.edu.au
• News and Reviews
• http//www.cli.nsw.edu.au/cli/e-learning/adaptive_
  technologies/adapt_tech_reviews.shtm