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Making PDFs More Accessible

The Harper Web Team is working to reduce PDF documents across the site. Please avoid using PDFs and consider migrating the content to HTML, or uploading the original MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint or other files if possible.

When it comes to meeting WCAG 2.1 AA standards, PDFs can present significant challenges. Many PDFs, especially older PDFs, are not able to be read by screen readers. Many of the PDFs that are able to be read by screen readers are not "tagged" correctly and can result in a poor, confusing or incomplete experience for screen-reader users. Tagging PDFs correctly is possible, but it is can be a time-intensive and expensive process.

For this reason, it is best to avoid creating PDFs, if possible. Whenever a PDF is created, it should:

• Be reviewed for compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA 
• Be remediated for any accessibility issues
• Include a PDFs Validation Report to demonstrate compliance at the end of the document. If it's not possible to include the Validation Report within the document, please include a link to the Validation Report by adding a Custom Property (under Document Properties > Custom). The Validation Report should be uploaded to a public document location, such as a web server.

This process must be repeated each time a new version of the PDF is generated.

Remediating PDFs

All PDFs must follow accessibility guidelines. Here are some basic steps to remedy the most common accessibility issues with PDFs. Note: These instructions are valid for Adobe Acrobat Pro.

1. Set Structured Types

   • In Acrobat Pro, click on the Tools > Accessibility. This will open a menu at the right with a number of Accessibility options. Choose Reading Order. This will open the Reading Order window. In the lower half of that window, there is an option to toggle between "Page Content Order" and "Structured Types"…choose "Structured Types".
   • If the PDF is newer, hopefully its elements are highlighted as paragraphs, headings, figures, tables, etc. In many cases, you will need to identify or revise the structure. To that, draw a box around a block of text so that Acrobat selects the text, then click on the correct button to label it.
     
     Note: The first heading should always be Heading 1, and there should always be a Heading 1 for every PDF.

2. Set Page Content Order

   In the Reading Order window, toggle to Page Content Order. This will display (in numerical order) the order in which all the elements will be read on a screen reader. Then click the Show Order Panel button. The Order Panel on the left shows a list of elements in the order in which they will be read. To change the order, you can drag an element up and down on the list in the Order Panel. Put all the elements in an order that would make the most sense to someone experiencing the document verbally through a screen reader.

3. Set Alternative Text

   For elements that are Figures (including images, illustrations, logos) you may need to set alternative text if the figure is meaningful and important to the understanding of messages within the document.

4. Set the Title and Language

   • Open your PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro. Go to File > Properties
   • In the Description tab, type in a Title for the PDF document. The Author can be the department that is responsible for the content. If you're not sure, you can set the author as Harper College.
   • Next, click the Advanced tab in the Properties window, and find the dropdown box for Language, and set it to English (or the appropriate language).
   • When you're done, click OK, the click the Save icon (looks like a floppy disc).

5. Include Custom Properties

   To communicate to administrators that the PDF has already been remediated, go to File > Properties > Custom and add these properties:

   This table shows the custom properties that should be created for PDF validation reports. Each property consists of two parts: the Name of the property and its Value.

   Name	Value
   Remediator Name	{{your name}}
   Remediation Date	{{date you remediated the file}}
   Remediation Report	{{URL for remediation report, if the remediation report is not included within the document. Should point to a folder on harpercollege.edu}}

6. Save and Upload

   After you are done, Save and upload your document to Modern Campus CMS. If you are replacing an existing PDF:

   • Give the new file the exact same filename as the one you are replacing
   • In the pdfs folder, check the box next to the file you are replacing and click Upload
   • In the dialog box, check the box next to "Overwrite Existing"
   • Add your file, then click Upload
   • Publish the file
   • Open a new browser window and visit a page that links to your file. Test the link to make sure the new file opens.
   • Upload the PDF validation report, if necessary.

Frequently asked questions