PDF Documents

Remove underlined blank space for student responses.

Using a form field will indicate to both sighted and non-sighted users that an answer should be written in.

Underlined blanks, used to indicate to sighted students that an answer should be written in, should be:

• Removed and created using proper form fields in Microsoft Word.
  or

• Removed and replaced with a few blank rows in which students can type response(s).

Use the Prepare Form tool to create form fields:

• Select the Prepare Form tool.
• Select Start when prompted.
  
• Acrobat will scan the document and insert form fields and apply names to them where it can.

To manually add form fields using the Prepare Form tool:

1. Select the type of field you would like from the top of the screen.
2. Select where you would like the field.
3. Give it a unique name.
4. Double-click on the field and enter the unique name in the Tooltip field.

This will allow users of assistive technology to understand what they are expected to put into each field.

Make sure to double check the tab order when you are done. If something reads out of order, you can adjust it by dragging the field to the correct order in the Fields portion of the Prepare Form menu.

The tab order and read order are logical and intuitive.

Movement through a form should follow logical order. Those who are navigating by keyboard expect to move sequentially from left to right and top to bottom through the elements on the page.

To check Tab order:

1. Click on the first form field.
2. Select the Tab key.
3. Observe the order as each field is selected.

If the tab order is incorrect, you can fix it by selecting the Prepare Form tool and dragging form fields into the correct order in the Fields section of the Prepare Form pane.

To check Reading order using the Reading Order Tool:

1. Select Tools.
2. Select Accessibility.
3. Select Reading Order.
4. Check the Page content order radio button.
5. Uncheck box by Display like elements in a single block checkbox is unchecked.

Each element will have a number in the top left corner; this is the reading order.

If the reading order is incorrect, click on Show Order Panel from the Reading Order window and drag elements into the correct order.

If text is not recognized as an element, you can manually select it by left-clicking and dragging over the text and selecting the proper element type from the Reading Order window.

Form fields within a document have appropriately coded tags with the correct labels, markup and prompts.

Since those using screen readers do not have access to the same visual cues that the sighted follow, labels and prompts must be accurate and explicitly associated with form field within the code or script.

To add labels to a form field, use the Prepare Form tool. Start by clicking on Tools > Prepare Form to enter the editing interface. Double-click on the form field and make sure that the text in the Tooltip field is unique and descriptive. Text should tell the user in just a few words what information they are expected to enter into that field.

Document uses headings, and follows a logical structure.

Sighted users rely on text size and bold to identify different sections, properly coding those as headings allows screen reading users to do the same.

Headings are important as they provide structure to a document, especially those that consist of many pages. When proper headings are used, the document becomes much easier to understand and navigate for all users.

Headings should be hierarchical, starting at heading level 1 for the title of the document, then heading level 2 for the sections of the document, then heading level 3 for subsections, and so on. Heading levels should not be skipped.

A Table of Contents is recommended for documents 20 pages or longer.

If you have the source file: Use Word to fix the headings. In Word, click through the headings of the document to uncover any skipped heading levels (e.g. going from heading level 2 to heading level 4).

If you do not have the source file, you will need Adobe Acrobat Pro to alter the document tags.

1. In Adobe Acrobat Pro, open the Tags Pane by selecting View, Show/Hide menu, Navigation Panes menu, Tags.
2. Review the tag tree and check the heading levels (H1 = heading level 1, H2 = heading level 2, etc.). You can double-click on the tag to change the heading.

Example Tag Structure for PDFs:

<H1>
<P>
<H2>
<P>
<H4> (change to H3)
<P>

Normal body text should be tagged with <P>.

The headings begin at level 1.

Document headings should always begin with Heading 1 or Level 1. For most documents, the title of the document should be Heading 1 or Level 1. Documents should only have one Heading 1 identified.

To review or identify headings:

Using the Tags pane:

1. Opening the Tags Pane by selecting View.
2. Select Show/Hide menu.
3. Select Navigation Panes menu.
4. Select Accessibility Tags.

Using the Reading Order Tool:

1. Select Tools.
2. Select Accessibility.
3. Select Reading Order.
4. Check the Show page content groups checkbox if it is not checked.
5. Select the Structure types option just below it.

This will show all the individual elements in the document and how they are tagged (H1 for Heading 1, P for Text/Paragraph, etc.).

To change the heading level of an element:

1. Double-click to select it.
2. Change to the correct heading using the buttons on the Reading Order window.

The heading structure is six levels or less.

When heading elements are correctly applied, they provide the same type of efficient navigation to individuals with visual disabilities. Proper heading elements allow screen reading technologies to quickly identify the headings on the page. In general, headings should not go beyond six levels.

To review heading levels:

Using the Tags pane:

1. Opening the Tags Pane by selecting View.
2. Select Show/Hide menu.
3. Select Navigation Panes menu.
4. Select Accessibility Tags.

Using the Reading Order Tool:

1. Select Tools.
2. Select Accessibility.
3. Select Reading Order.
4. Check the Show page content groups checkbox if it is not checked.
5. Select the Structure types option just below it.

This will show all the individual elements in the document and how they are tagged (H1 for Heading 1, P for Text/Paragraph, etc.).

For the vast majority of documents, headings beyond level three are not necessary. Make sure to use H1 for the title, H2 for each major section, and H3 for subsections within major sections.

Alternative text (alt text) is provided for all non-text content, including Images, Drawings, Elements (arrows, lines, etc.), or Charts.

Alternative text is a textual alternative for an image that makes it easier to connect the image to its context and allows users with visual impairments to perceive the image.

Screen readers speak the alternative text to describe images and other non-text content that users cannot see. Based on alt text, users can understand the purpose and meaning of the described content.

Decorative images should be identified as decorative. Images identified as decorative will be skipped over by screen readers so be purposeful when identifying images as decorative.

If you have the source document, use Word to add alternative text to the document images.

1. Right-click on the image (Shift + F10).
2. Select Format Picture, under Layout and Properties open the Alt Text pane.
3. Enter text in the Description field (not the Title field).

If you do not have the source document, you will need Adobe Acrobat Pro to add alt text to the images.

1. In Acrobat Pro, go to Tools.
2. Select Accessibility.
3. From the Accessibility toolbar, select Set Alternate Text. You will be taken from image to image and can add alt text or mark the image as decorative.

Images do not have contrast issues.

Images that contain text with low contrast between the text and its background can cause the text to be difficult to read, especially for those with low vision, poor eyesight or color blindness.

If you have access to an editing program, such as Photoshop: Upload the image into a program to increase the contrast.

If you do not have access to an image editing program:

1. Open PowerPoint.
2. Insert the image to a slide.
3. Under the Picture Format tab, adjust the contrast of the image in the Corrections dropdown menu.
4. Right-click on the image to save it as a picture.

Table layouts are structured for easy navigation and proper reading order.

Users rely on the table layout to navigate through the content. It must be ordered logically for users to understand and navigate the content.

It is important to ensure that the reading order of the table makes sense. Screen reader technologies read tables from left to right, top to bottom, one cell at a time (no repeats).

To specify column header information: In Adobe Acrobat Pro, use the Reading Order tool (Tools > Accessibility > Reading Order) to ensure that the table is tagged as a table and includes all information.

1. Right-click on the table element and select Table Editor.
2. Right-click on the cell you would like to designate as a header and select Table Cell Properties.
3. In the Table Cell Properties window, select Header Cell from the type menu and Column from the Scope menu.
4. Repeat for all cells in the header row.

Tables specify column header information.

Users rely on the table headings to understand the content that is subsequently read by the screen reader. Also, screen reading technologies often use the table header row to help convey to the user the current cursor location in the table and to provide information that enables the user to navigate the table.

Tables should not be used for layout purposes. If a table does not need headings (the top row or first column does not serve as a label for the data/info underneath/beside) then do not use a table.

To specify column header information:

In Adobe Acrobat Pro, use the Reading Order Tool (Tools > Accessibility > Reading Order) to ensure that the table is tagged as a table and includes all information.

1. Right-click on the table element and select Table Editor.
2. Right-click on the cell you would like to designate as a header and select Table Cell Properties.
3. In the Table Cell Properties window, select Header Cell from the type menu and Column from the Scope menu.
4. Repeat for all cells in the header row.

Table has a simple structure.

Tables should be built using the table tool with no split cells, merged cells, or nesting (table within another table). Users navigate tables via keyboard shortcuts and screen reading technologies, which rely on simple table structures.

Blank spaces in tables to allow for completion are okay as long as the table is formatted as a table with headers.

To remove split Cells, merged cells: Return to the source document to eliminate split, merged, and nested cells.

Restructure nested items by: Reformatting the content into a simple format- bulleted list, numbered list, etc.