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Portable document format (PDF) is one of the most common file formats for documents on the web. Unfortunately, they are also some of the most difficult for screen reader users to access. In addition, they can be extremely difficult to make accessible. If you're primarily using the PDF format to protect your document, please note that:
If you must use the PDF format, follow the instructions below to create, test, and repair accessible PDFs.
If you are creating a document from scratch, use MS Word (or PowerPoint for a slide deck). Then follow the instructions below.
Is there an Acrobat tab on your MS Word or PowerPoint toolbar?
MS Word
PowerPoint
Before you begin, make sure you have Acrobat tab for the Adobe Acrobat PDF maker. If not, acquire or upgrade to Adobe Acrobat DC or 2017 (not Acrobat Reader or Acrobat Standard) and to (at least) Microsoft Office 2016.
How to acquire or upgrade this software:
Follow the instructions in the "MS Word Files" or "PowerPoint" articles to make an accessible document or slide deck.
When your MS Word or PowerPoint document is ready, use the Acrobat PDF maker to create a PDF. Make sure to select the Acrobat tab, then "Create PDF." (Do not use "Print to PDF" or "Save As" PDF to create PDFs because they strip the hidden tags and alt text you added and will make the document inaccessible.)
Word
PowerPoint
Make sure you are using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC or 2017 (not Acrobat Reader or Acrobat Standard).
The easiest way to fix an inaccessible text-based PDF is to make the corrections in MS Office or PowerPoint.
Note: If you don't have access to the original Word or PowerPoint document, export the PDF as a Word or PowerPoint file:
For more complex documents, refer to:
If you're working with a scanned image of text, you will need to either (i) acquire a text-based version or (ii) convert the scanned image into actual text.
If your PDF is of a journal article, search for the article using Library One Search and download the full-text PDF. These PDFs are often text-based, which are easier to make fully accessible than image-based PDFs. Next, follow the instructions in step #2 (above), "Check if existing PDFs are accessible."
If you only have access to the scanned image-based PDF, use the OCR software in Acrobat to convert the scanned document to a text-based document.
- Open a PDF file containing a scanned image in Acrobat.
- Click on the Edit PDF tool in the right pane. Acrobat automatically applies optical character recognition (OCR) to your document and converts it to a fully editable copy of your PDF.
- Click the text element you wish to edit and start typing. New text matches the look of the original fonts in your scanned image.
- Choose File > Save As and save as an MS Word document.
Learn more about editing scanned documents
(From Adobe.)
Good PDF repair firms include CommonLook, Equidox and SensusAccess. Typically, remediation of regular PDFs ranges from $8-$15 per page depending on their complexity. PDF forms and scanned pages can be as much as $50 to $100 or more per page, depending on their quality and how extensive they are.
ASU Career EDGE offers two LinkedIn courses free to ASU affiliates. For anyone who regularly works with PDFs, we recommend taking these self-enrolled, self-paced courses.
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