How to create an accessible PDF from Word

Transcript

Thanks for joining us today to learn how to create an accessible PDF file from Microsoft Word.

Today I am covering the following topics. How to set up the workspace. How to add structure with headings and lists. How to add alternative text to graphics. How to create accessible tables. How to set the title and language. Font and color considerations. How to check accessibility. And last, how to convert to PDF.

Start by turning on Show all formatting marks under options, then select Display. This helps you see potential issues before you even create a PDF. Next, make sure you have PDF Maker installed and enabled in the Word ribbon on Windows. PDF Maker is automatically added to Microsoft programs like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel when you install Acrobat. Starting with a well-structured Word file can make a world of difference when creating an accessible PDF. First, make sure you use heading styles to create a clear document hierarchy. This allows screen readers to navigate the document structure. Open the styles dialog to see what’s tagged. The first two headings are properly tagged, but the rest are not. Avoid using a hard return between paragraphs, which is this left-pointing symbol at the end of this heading. Also, use headings in a logical order and don’t skip heading levels, like going from Heading 1 to Heading 3. Avoid inserting empty paragraphs, like this one. This is when having the formatting marks turned on is handy. Utilize bulleted or numbered lists for easy digestion of information, particularly for screen reader users. You can see this list has been tagged with bullets in the toolbar.

Next, add descriptive alternative text, or alt text, to images, charts, and other visual elements. To add alt text, right-click on the image and select View Alt Text. You can also ask Word to generate it for you. Alt text is read by screen readers, conveying the meaning and context of the visual to users who cannot see it. Remember to add alt text to header and footer graphics as well. It was automatically added to this logo, but the description is wrong, so I’ll correct it. If an image is purely decorative like this banner and doesn’t convey any information, you can mark it as decorative in the alt text pane. Next, let’s talk about tables. Keep the structure simple. Avoid merged or split cells and nested tables, which can cause confusion for screen readers.

To apply a header row, select the header row and under Table Design Check Header Row, applying a header row to your tables allows screen readers to properly interpret the data. To make sure the document has a title for screen readers, select View and then Properties. You need to make sure a title is added under the title tag. Next, under the Review menu, make sure you have a default language set. A couple of things to consider about fonts and color. Using a Sans Serif font improves readability as well as using larger fonts and adequate line spacing. Choosing text and background colors with sufficient contrast also improves readability. One way to check this is to open the color picker for a font that is colored and hover over the color. Word tells you if it’s a good contrast. Next, run the built-in accessibility check found under the Review menu. This will uncover anything you might have missed. Now, there are a lot of different ways to export a PDF from Word, but the best way is to use the PDF Maker add-on for Windows. Avoid printing to PDF using the print command as this creates an untagged PDF, completely voiding all the effort that you’ve done. Before you create a PDF, select Preferences in the Acrobat ribbon and make sure Convert Document Information, Create Bookmarks, Links, and Enable Accessibility and Reflow with a tagged Adobe PDF is checked. Make sure that Enable Text Access for Screen Reader Devices for the Visually Impaired is checked if you have any security set.

Then select Create PDF. The resulting PDF automatically opens in Acrobat, where you can see that the file has structure and is tagged. Following these simple steps when creating a PDF from Word will go a long way toward making your PDF file accessible. Here’s a quick check-in on creating an accessible PDF from Word. Making text bold and large is enough to create accessible headings in Word. True or false? This is false. You need to use heading styles in Word so screen readers can understand the document structure. And that’s it! Now you’re ready to make PDF files accessible from Word.