Accessible PDFs are PDF files that can be read and used by everyone. They have machine-readable text, good document structure, and descriptions for images.
PDFs can easily be made accessible when created from a source document such as Microsoft Word. Existing PDFs, from scanned files or other sources, can be more difficult to make accessible.
PDFs are not recommended for fillable forms or interactive content. In many cases, a document (DOCX, Google Doc, PPT) or a web page is a more accessible solution than a PDF.
- Learn more in PDF Accessibility Basic Training (U-M Canvas)
Best Practices
The best practices below apply to PDFs in general. More information about how to achieve them is provided in PDF training resources.
Text and Reading Order
- Include “machine readable text” that can be read out loud by assistive technology tools
- For PDFs created from scans, use OCR (optical character recognition) to turn text into machine-readable text
- Make sure text elements are in the right order
- Use headings to identify document sections
Tagged PDF
- Make sure the PDF has tags
- Use tags correctly to identify headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, and images
Title
- Make sure the PDF has a meaningful title
Alternative Text
- Describe images in alt text
Tables
- Use tags correctly in tables to identify table headers
Color Contrast
- Use font colors that have enough contrast to background color (dark text on light background)
Create PDFs from Documents
When you create an accessible Word Document, simply save as PDF with correct settings to preserve the accessibility features in the PDF.
When you create an accessible Google Document, download as Microsoft Word (docx), then open in Word to save as PDF with correct settings to preserve the accessibility features in the PDF.
Make Existing PDFs Accessible
Making existing PDFs accessible can be a complex process. We recommend the following options:
- Test and improve accessibility using Adobe Acrobat Pro
- For untagged PDFs, add tags using Adobe Accessibility Auto-Tag
- Upload your file to Acrobat Auto-Tag API Demo
- Get professional support to remediate PDFs
More information on these options is available in the training pathways:
- Creating Accessible PDFs (LinkedIn Learning)
- Advanced Accessible PDFs (LinkedIn Learning)
- How to Test and Remediate PDFs for Accessibility Using Adobe Acrobat DC (Section508.gov)
- InDesign Accessibility (Deque account required)