Steps for Accessible PDFs Created Excel files

Owned by Miriam Rusu
Last updated: Sept 27, 2022 by Joan Gabrielle Basa
6 min read

Option

  • Keep as excel and follow below

  • Move to word (?)

  • Move to wcms tables (?)

Resources

Instructions

In Excel

Add alternative text to images and objects

Alternative text, also known as alt text or Alt Text, appears when you move your cursor over a picture or object, and helps people that use screen readers to understand the content of images in your file. For many readers, this is the only information they will have about the images and objects in your file. Alt text should be included for any of the following objects in your workbook:

  • Pictures

  • Clip art

  • Charts

  • Tables

  • Shapes (that don’t contain text and are not in groups)

  • SmartArt graphics

  • Groups (all objects in this list, with the exception of shapes, should also have alt text when in groups)

  • Embedded objects

  • Ink

  • Video and audio files 

Complete the following to add alt text:

  1. Right-click the image or object, and click Format.

For tables, click Tables.

2. Click Alt Text.

3. Type a description of the image or object into the Title and Description text boxes.

Use clear, but concise descriptions. For example, “a red Ferrari” tells the reader more about the image than “a car.”

4. Click Close.

Specify column header information in Excel tables 

In addition to adding alt text that describes the table, having clear column headings can help provide context and assist navigation of the table’s contents. 

Complete the following to specify a header row in a block of cells marked as a table:

  1. Click anywhere in the table.

  2. On the Table Tools Design tab, in the Table Style Options group, select the Header Row check box.

  3. Add your header information.

  4. To specify a header row in a new block of cells you are marking as table, do the following:

    1. Highlight the cells you want to include in the table.

    2. On the Insert tab, in the Tables group, click Table.

    3. Select the My table has headers check box.

    4. Click OK.

Use hyperlink text that is meaningful

Hyperlink text should provide a clear description of the link destination, rather than only providing the URL. For example, Mike’s Auto Shop is more meaningful than http://www.mikefixescarsforyou.com 

  1. Place the cursor in the cell where you want to add the hyperlink.

  2. On the Insert tab, in the Links group, click Hyperlink to open the Insert hyperlink dialog box.

  3. In the Text to display box, type the name or phrase that will briefly describe the link destination.

  4. In the Address box, type the link URL.

  5. Click OK.

Complete the following to change the text of a hyperlink:

  1. Select the link, and then, on the Insert tab, in the Links group, click Hyperlink to open the Insert hyperlink dialog box.

  2. In the Text to display box, make any necessary changes to the text.

  3. Click OK.

  4. Additionally, you can include ScreenTip text that appears when your cursor hovers over a hyperlink, and can be used in a similar way to alt text. To add ScreenTip text, complete the following:

    1. Place your cursor in the hyperlink you want to add ScreenTip text to.

    2. On the Insert tab, in the Links group, click Hyperlink to open the Hyperlink dialog box.

    3. Click ScreenTip.

    4. Type in your text in the ScreenTip text box.

    5. Click OK.

Avoid using blank cells, rows, or columns for formatting

Blank cells, rows, or columns could mislead someone using a screen reader into thinking that there is nothing more in the table.

  1. You can fix this by removing unnecessary blank cells, rows, or columns.

  2. If appropriate, fill them in with phrases like ‘not applicable’, ‘to be determined’ in Excel.

Give all sheet tabs unique names

Sheet names should provide information about what is found on the worksheet, making it easier to navigate through a workbook. Any blank sheets in a workbook should be removed.

Complete the following to rename a sheet:

  1. Right-click the sheet tab, and then click Rename.

  2. Type a brief, unique name that is descriptive of the sheet contents.

Complete the following to delete a sheet:

 Right-click the sheet tab, and then click Delete.

Check the colour contrast:

  1. This page gives guidelines on colour contrast.

See Contrast Analyser for Windows and Mac.

Check for accessibility in Excel

  1. Select File/Info.

  2. Click Check for issues/Check Accessibility.

  3. In right pane you can see all the issues and at the bottom right you will see how to fix the issues.

Set the File Properties

  1. File/Info

  2. Properties/Advanced Properties

  3. Select each tab and add details about the whole file (if you like, you can change this before creating each PDF from each tab)

Create the PDF from excel with the appropriate options

  1. One PDF file per tab.

  2. File/Save as

  3. Choose PDF from list

  4. Click Options and choose:

Check Accessibility of PDF

PAC software

  1. Check for accessibility using PDF-Accessibility-Checker (PAC). 

  2. PAC (http://www.access-for-all.ch/en/pdf-lab/pdf-accessibility-checker-pac.html)

    1. Free download

    2. Recommended by World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

    3. 14/23 WCAG 2.0 checks

    4. Gives text of what a blind person would hear

    5. Easy to install and use

    6. Windows and Mac versions available

  3. Download and install PAC from its website (you do not need to be an administrator to do this)

  4. To run PAC, double click on pac.exe from where it is installed

  5. In PAC:

    1. Click Browse and browse to the PDF file you would like to check; select the file and click Open

  6. Click Start Check.

  7. Click Report.

  8. Beside any issues found, click the text of the issue for more information.

    1. You can ignore any issues related to Correct Syntax of Tags / Rolls

    2. Some issues may require some investigating as PAC doesn’t provide as much detail as Word on issues

    3. Issues related to Consistent Heading Structure or Logical Reading Order are often related to an issue such as a Heading 1 followed by a Heading 3 (instead of Heading 1 followed by Heading 2 followed by Heading 3)

Adobe Acrobat

  1. Open Adobe Acrobat Pro (these notes are based on Adobe Acrobat XI (version 11).

  2. Open the newly created PDF file.

  3. View/Tools/Accessibility, click Full Check on the right.

  4. Under Checking Options, check all the checkboxes and click Start Checking.

  5. View the report in the left pane. It will include links to the issues as well as links to instructions on how to fix the problems.

    1. For example, for any bolded items in the list on the left under Accessibility Checker:

      1. Click the + sign beside (e.g.) Document (## issue) and read the information displayed for each issue to learn how to fix it.

    2. If there are issues, it is often easiest to fix them in Excel and then re-create the PDF file.

      1. OR, see Edit an existing tag to fix it in Adobe Acrobat

  6. Adobe should do the following for you but you can manually check as well:

    1. Paragraphs

      1. Check that any text outside of a table/chart is tagged as paragraph text or a heading and not a table cell.

    2. Tables:

      1. Double-check that the alt text/table summary and header rows are carried over.

      2. Set any header column(s).

      3. For table headers that apply to multiple rows or columns set the ‘span’.  For example, see the table exercise from the SEW course.

      4. Check that the tab/reading order is correct.

Edit an existing tag

Move a tag

  1. In the Tags tab, expand the Tags root to view all tags.

  2. Select the Tag icon of the element that you want to move.

  3. Do one of the following:

    1. Drag the tag to the location you want. As you drag, a line appears at viable locations.

    2. Right-click and choose Cut. Select the tag that appears above the location you want to paste the cut tag. Right-click and choose Paste to move the tag to the same level as the selected tag, or choose Paste Child to move the tag within the selected tag.

Change the element type

  1. In the Tags tab, expand the section of the logical structure that you want to change.

  2. Select an element, right-click and choose Properties.

  3. Choose a new element type from the Type menu, and then click Close.

To create a tag container (which you can nest other tags in):

  1. In the Tags tab, right-click on the parent tag and select New tag…

  2. In the Type: field select the element type.

  3. Click OK.

If content is not tagged:

  1. In the Order tab, right-click on the document and select Show reading order panel.

  2. Drag through the content you want to tag.

  3. Right-click and select how you want to tag the text (e.g. tag as text).

  4. A numbered item for this content will appear in the Order tab. Drag it to the correct location in the reading order.

  5. A tagged item will appear in the Tab order(sometimes nested within other tags). Use the steps above to move it to the correct place in the structure.