Accessible PDFs
To make an existing PDF accessible using Acrobat Pro:
Open the PDF in Acrobat pro.
Click on the Tools tab (upper right screen).
Select the Action Wizard menu.
Click Make Accessible.
Click on the Start button. A series of steps will appear in separate pop-up windows.
Description: ensure that the document has a Title. Subject and Keywords are optional. Author is automatically filled in with the name or WatIAM of the original creator of the document. This field is locked by default but can be changed. Click OK.
Recognize Text – General Settings: Set the Primary OCR Language, the language of the document. Click OK.
Detect form fields: Acrobat will offer to scan the document for form fields and insert them where it detects to be appropriate. If this is a form, select Yes, Detect Form Fields, otherwise select No, Skip this Step the next step will appear. If Yes, Detect Form Fields is selected, blue form fields will populate the document. These can be edited later.
Set Reading Language: Set the reading language to that appearing in the document. Click OK.
Scan figures: Acrobat will offer to scan the document for images. Click OK to begin the scan.
If no images are detected this notification will appear. Click OK to proceed with the steps.
If images are present, the Set Alternate Text window will appear and the corresponding image will be highlighted in blue on the document. Insert the alt text for that image.
Notice that the window displays the total number of images in the document. There are also right and left arrows available. Clicking the right and left arrows will allow you to scroll through all of the images in the document and insert alt text for each.
Also notice that there is an option for Decorative figure. If the figure is purely decorative and does not add to the written context (ie. Corner decorations or background images) check this box instead of adding alt text and continue).
Once alt text has been added for each image, click Save & Close.
Accessibility Checker Options: Acrobat will now scan the document for any remaining Accessibility errors and create a full accessibility report which can be viewed if desired. Click Start Checking to begin the scan.
A new sidebar will appear to the left of the screen listing the areas checked by the Accessibility Checker in dropdown menus. Click on the plus sign beside each category to expand and view the list of issues. If a plus sign appears beside an issue, click that to view a list of the problems specific to the document. Clicking on each problem will highlight the area within the document.
If a plus sign appears beside an issue, click that to view a list of the problems specific to the document. Clicking on each problem will highlight the area within the document.
For more information on each issue or specific problem, right-click overtop of the item. A dropdown menu will appear. Select Explain to open a new Internet Explorer window with information about the issue and suggestions for fixing it.
To manually set tags:
Click on the Order icon at the far left of the screen. This will open up a list of all of the current tags in the document and the order in which the tags appear. If the tags are not visible, click on the plus sign to the left of the page name to expand the list of tags on each page.
If you do not see this icon on the left bar, right-click on the bar and select Order from the dropdown menu.
Right-click on any tag on the list and select Show reading order panel. This will open up a pop-up window that allows you to add tags to your document.
Click and drag overtop of the item you wish to tag. A rectangle should appear around it.
Once selected, blue boxes should appear around the selected text/image/form field. The buttons in the pop up window will now become clickable.
Select the tag you wish to add to that highlighted item from the reading order panel. Notice that the tag will now appear in the Order list.
Once manual tagging is complete, run the Accessibility Checker again to ensure that the tags were placed properly.
To add alt text to images (without full accessibility scan):
Make sure the image has been tagged with the Figure tag (Order list from left sidebar).
From the Accessibility drop down menu in the Tools sidebar click the Set Alternate Text button. This will scan the document for images and let you set alt text for each.
Note: If you do not see the Accessibility drop down menu in the Tools sidebar, see step 1 of the If the PDF is a form: Tagging form fields automatically section.
When prompted, insert the desired alternate text.
If the PDF is a form:
Tagging form fields automatically:
To tag form fields automatically click on View and from the main navigation bar and select Tools then Accessibility. A new collapsible menu should appear on the Tools sidebar.
If you are unable to select the “Accessibility” option that may mean you have previous window open in the sidebar that needs to be closed. Go back to your sidebar and close any open windows.
From the Accessibility menu (now appearing as a drop down in the Tools sidebar) select the Run Form Field Recognition button. Acrobat will then scan the document, guess where the form fields are based on text and format, and automatically insert form fields with custom names.
The form editing window should now appear where the added form fields can be edited or deleted. The form fields will appear as blue boxes and will be named according to the text around it. This form is asking for the applicants first and last names, so the form field is named “Last name First name”
A list of Fields will appear in the form editing window on the sidebar as well as editing Tasks. From the Tasks list you can add or edit the placement of the form fields as needed.
From the form Fields list, you can sort through the tags and edit each. To edit the name or descriptive text for a field, right click on its name in the list (or on the blue field box itself) and select Properties… from the drop down menu. Edit the information as desired.
To delete a field:
Click on the blue field box (the edge colour will change from black to blue to indicate selection) and either hit the delete key or right-click and select delete from the dropdown menu.
Deletions can also be made by right-clicking on the name of the field in the Fields list and selecting delete.
To add a field manually:
Under Tasks, click Add New Field and from the dropdown menu select the type of form field you wish to insert to your document.
Your cursor will turn in to a pale see through version of the field you wish to add. Dotted lines will stem outwards from the top left corner of the field to help align it. Click to place your field where you want it.
Once the field has been placed, a yellow box will appear allowing you to edit the field name and quickly mark it as a required field. Once the field is placed, it can be re-sized by clicking and dragging the edges of the box.
To edit the field properties( such as descriptive text, multi-line entry, spellcheck, appearance, etc.), right click on the field and from the drop down menu select Properties… .
You can also edit properties by right clicking on the name of the field appearing in the Fields list and selecting Properties…
Tagging form fields manually:
To tag form fields manually, tag the field name as Text and the field itself (blue rectangle) as Form Field according to the above instructions.
To add descriptive text to the fields:
From the Tools menu, click on Forms.
Select the Edit option. A list of the Fields should appear.
Right-click on the field you wish to edit, and from the menu, select Properties.
A pop-up window should appear. From the General tab, you can edit the Name of the field as well as the Tooltip. Edit the Tooltip to add a description of the field.
To create a new accessible PDF (in Microsoft Word 2010):
Open and create a Microsoft Word document.
Use the appropriate text Styles for the document created, this will mimic adding a tag to the document.
If you have Acrobat Pro on your computer, go to the Acrobat tab and select Preferences. If you do not have Acrobat Pro, skip to step 8.
Ensure that the Create Bookmarks and Enable Accessibility and Reflow with Tagged Adobe PDF checkboxes are selected. Click OK.
Save the document as a word file first.
Go to File then select the Save as Adobe PDF option.
Check the saved document again for accessibility errors, as stated above, and fix any that arise.
If you do not have Acrobat, go to File, click Save as then from the Save as type drop down menu select the PDF option.