Are you planning to create a pdf with accessibility features? Well, you are at the right place at the right time. In this guide, you will get to know about the accessibility features of pdf and also the methods to create accessible pdfs. Stick to the guide till the end.
In this article
Part 1. What Are Accessibility Features of PDF
PDF is one of the most utilized formats all over the globe. It is all because of its amazing features. Here are some of the most prominent accessibility features of PDF.
Scannable
The best part about a pdf document is that it is scannable. Not every format has this astonishing feature. It is one of the most significant accessibility features of pdf. Suppose you create pdf files; you would surely want it to be scannable.
Searchable
The most cherished feature of accessible pdfs is that it is searchable. It gets highly irritating and stiff to access the document which has scanned images. Tools are unable to read or extract the words properly. However, you can use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to convert the scanned images of text to searchable text. Searchable pdf makes it easier to deal with it.
Readable
In order to read the text of the document and present it in a decent way, screen readers demand structured document. The document structured tags in a pdf define the reading order. It makes it more facile to read pdf or scan pdf.
Legible
An accessible pdf is legible. A document which isnt capable of being read can never be considered legible. However, accessible pdf is clear enough to read.
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Part 2. How to Create Accessible PDFs
Now that we are aware of the accessibility features of pdf. Here are two of the finest methods to create it.
Word
Ever imagined that Microsoft Word could be used to create accessible pdfs. Well, you can use both Mac and Windows to create it. Heres the method to create accessible pdfs using Microsoft Word on Windows operating system.
(Windows)
Step 1: The first method is to go to File Save As and select the PDF from the options given to you. By this method, by default a pdf is produced that also preserves the accessibility features.
Step 2: Moving on, you need to choose Options and make sure that the document structured tags for accessibility is check. However, this is checked by default, but you still need to make sure.
Step 3: In case you use Minimize Size to reduce the size of your PDF, you need to repeat the preceding step. As this option might uncheck the Document structure tags for accessibility checkbox.
(Mac)
Users of Mac can also create a pdf with accessibility features with the help of Microsoft Word using facile and quick steps. Here are the steps to do so.
Step 1: The first step is here is also same. You need to go to File and select the PDF from the options available. Same as in Windows, by default this produces a PDF that preserves the documents accessibility features efficiently.
Step 2: Here things become different, you need to make sure that the radio button named Best for electronic distribution and accessibility is selected. However, the whole procedure also depends upon the version of Microsoft Word that youre using. Until Office 2011, Word did not include accessibility features a lot on Mac.
PDFelement
It is one of the top-class software available in the market. PDFelement has unnumbered capabilities when it comes to dealing with pdfs. It is all-in-one power pack for the users who deal with pdfs. It offers you a wide range of tools to work with pdfs. Using PDFelement, you can also enhance the accessibility and security of your document. Word document has its own limitations, but Portable Document Format (PDF) works beyond them. It is accessible on any device without the need of specialized applications. Here are the steps you can use to create accessible pdfs.
Step 1: The first step is to download and install PDFelement on your system. Once youve opened the software, click on Create PDF option. Moving on, you can browse the word file youre willing to turn into pdf file. Once youve selected the file, you can click on Open option.
Step 2: In this step, PDFelement will automatically convert the file and open it for you to edit. Without any hurdles, you can edit the elements available on the pdf file. Lastly, you need to select File and select Save As to save the amendments.
Part 3. How to Improve the Accessibility of a New PDF File
There is no doubt that pdf is a destination format as pdf files begin in other applications like word processing programs and desktop publishing. When talking about scanned documents, they will begin as a TIFF file. You can maximize the accessibility in the source document before even outputting as a pdf file. Here are the tips to improve accessibility of a new pdf file.
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Utilize tools and technique that are efficient in giving you an accessible pdf document.
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If available, you must use the facilities in the authoring application to add suitable alternative text to any graphics.
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You can use the design packages inbuilt table editor or word processor for tabular information.<
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Suppose youre creating a pdf by scanning a paper document, you should submit the content to Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and then you can add the required accessibility components before distributing the pdf document.
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If you are planning to use the PDF file as an interactive document, you should add short descriptions along with from fields and other controls.
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You must also avoid bolding and changing the font and size of the text to create visual appearance of heading levels.
Part 4. How to improve the accessibility of an Existing PDF File
If a pdf is already created without the usage of accessibility guidelines, you can use these tricks to improve the accessibility of an existing pdf file.
PDFs created by scanning a printed page
You can perform Optical Character Recognition (OCR) on documents produced by scanning a document.
Interactive documents or forms
Use appropriate short descriptions and add form fields along with other controls.
Tagging
It is one of the most significant tricks. Your pdf must have a structure by being tagged. However, if it is not tagged, you must add tags to the file. To specify logical read order, tags play a significant role. They also provide hooks for other accessibility elements. It also includes alternative text description for graphics.
Graphics
Once the pdf is tagged, you can add alternative text to graphics. Moreover, you should also add short descriptions to any form fields and interactive controls.
Conclusion
PDF is highly recommended format all over the world. It is used for a wide range of purposes. Yet, it is always better to learn about the hidden features of the format that youre using. Moreover, to deal with pdf files, there is no software better than PDFelement, as it has top quality features to manage pdf files.
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