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\uD83D\uDCD8 Instructions

Section 2.1: Saving as a Tagged PDF

When you create a document with accessibility in mind, you can convert it to a tagged PDF. This is considered a type of automatic tagging because you have already applied accessibility features in the document. The features will carry over during conversion. Using this type of automatic tagging is good and will make your life easier.

To save your Word Document as a Tagged PDF,

1. Click on the File Tab and click Save as Adobe PDF.

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2. In the Save As box, go to the Options Box at the bottom.

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3. In the Acrobat PDFMaker, check Enable Accessibility and Reflow with tagged Adobe PDF and Convert Word Headings to Bookmarks.

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Section 2.2: Creating Tags Automatically

Now you have to tag your document to allow screen readers to read it properly. There are two ways to tag your document, you can tag it automatically or do it yourself. To Tag Automatically,

1. Go to the Tools Tab.

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2. Find the “Accessibility” Tool, and click Add.

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3. With the Accessibility Tool open, click Autotag Document

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4. The Accessibility Tags will appear on the left side of your screen. Remember, the software can make mistakes. So be sure to check every tag to be sure it is labeled correctly. Also be sure it is in the correct spot, and does not disrupt the reading order. You can see in our example that we do have tags created and many of them are correct. However, they are not in the correct order. To fix this issue, you can click on each tag and place them inside their “parent” tags. For example, place everything that belongs in your heading 2 tags inside the heading 2 tag. Then, place all of the heading 2 tags into the heading 1 tag. Examples on how to do this will be demonstrated in other sections of this course.

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Section 2.3: Tagging in Adobe Acrobat

Tags are used to identify a contents value in a document so it can be read by assistive technology. By tagging an object, we are assigning a hierarchical value to an element. For example: An <H1> tag is used for Headings Style 1 or the main heading for a section or chapter. <H2> is used for Heading Style 2, most commonly used for subsections. In a hierarchy, <H2> must be parented under <H1>. Paragraphs or <p>, but be parented under <H2> or in necessary order. Headings must always be higher than paragraphs.

1. To create a tag, click the Tag Icon  

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2. Right Click No Tags Available and click Create Tag Root. Now your first tag will appear.

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3. Click on the Options Menu and click New Tag.

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4. In our example we will tag Part 1: Introduction as a heading level 2. Click the Menu Button and Click New Tag, under type, select Heading Level 2. You may also include a title or name of what the tag is called. (This may help you keep track of what the tags are for)

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5. A new tag has been created, but nothing is inside yet. With your text still highlighted, right click the <H2> tag and click on “Create Tag from Selection”.

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Section 2.4: Beware Untagged PDF Conversions

There are many ways to save as a PDF that produce inaccessible, untagged results. Some ways include,

• Scanning a document produces a single image with no real, searchable text.

• Using Print, Save as PDF on a web page or within an authoring software program produces real text. However, it does not produce tags.

• Various options within Acrobat produce untagged PDFs. Examples include create PDF from Scanner, Screenshot, Web Page, and Clipboard.

Starting with one of these options is okay. But keep in mind it will take a lot more time and effort to then produce an accessible result.

Section 2.5: OCR/Scanned PDFs

PDF documents that are created by scanning a paper document are often completely inaccessible to people using screen readers. This is because they do not contain any searchable text. To make a scanned document an accessible PDF, we need to use an Optical Character Recognition tool or OCR. This will convert the image of text to actual, searchable text that can be read by assistive technologies.

Acrobat Pro DC has a built-in OCR Text Recognition tool.

1. Go to the Tools Tab.

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2. Click Add Scan & OCR.

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3. Click Recognize Text, then In this file., then click the Recognize Button.

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After you do this, do the standard tagging process and adjust the Reading Order and Tab Order as needed.

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Instructions

Step 3: Tagging the Document

Now that our project is in Adobe Acrobat, we need to start tagging it. In our example, the tags will be created in this order.

1. Coastal Comforts Employee Handbook

2. Table of Contents

3. The sections of the document and the sections

4. Create form fields on page 7 and tag them

5. Images

Step 4: Form Fields

We only have a couple of form fields to add in our project.

Now that we are in Acrobat with our file, we need to create our form fields for each of the line. Acrobat can create these fields for you and place them on the lines. To add the form fields,

1. Go to the All Tools pane on the left side of the screen and click on the Prepare a Form Tool.

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2. The Choose an Option to Create a Form page will open. Be sure that you are on the Select a File option. Select your untagged PDF, and leave the option for This Document Requires Signatures unchecked. We will add a signature line ourselves later on.

3. The option for Form Field Auto Detection should be left as on.

4. Click the blue Create Form button.

5. Now your tool has added form fields to your entire PDF document. Field Names and Tooltips are also added, but you should check those to be sure they are accurate.

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This tool will automatically add form fields to your document and your PDF will be open in Form Editing Mode. One thing to keep in mind is that the tool will only create text box form fields. If you only use form fields for typing in text, that is okay, but if you need to create check boxes, or dates, or other complex form fields, you will need to make those manually. Field Names and Tooltips are also added automatically, but you may want to edit them.

4a: Replacing Form Fields

Now that your form fields have been created, you need to check them all. All of our form fields are text fields. This means that you can type in letters and numbers in the boxes. The issue is that a text field is not necessary for every field. On the left side of the screen, the Prepare a Form Tool is open, there are 10 different form field options including,

1. Text Box

2. Check Box

3. Radio Buttons

4. List of Choices

5. Dropdown List

6. Action Button

7. Image Field

8. Date Field

9. Signature Field

10. Barcode Field

When you are looking at your form fields, ask yourself: Does it make sense to have this type of form field for this question? In our example, Full Name has a text field, this makes sense. However, Position Applied For also has a text field. While you could use a text field for this, it is better to use a dropdown menu field. This is because having a dropdown menu can allow you give people options of different positions to choose from instead of users typing in a job that is not available.

1. You can delete your form field by right clicking on the field and clicking the Delete button in the expansion menu.

2. To replace your field, click on the Dropdown List button. Then click by your line to create your box.

3. Finally, click and drag your field to make the box go from one end of the line to the other.

4. Repeat this process for the rest of the fields you want replaced. In our example, the following forms were changed.

4b: Tab Order

Now that all of your form fields have been completed, you need to test the tab order of your PDF. A user may not be able to use the mouse to click from one form field to another. A good alternative to access the form fields is by using the Tab Key. To test your PDF, click the Preview Button and hit the Tab Key several times. What should happen is that the first form field at the top of the PDF should be highlighted first. Then by clicking the Tab Key again, the form next to or underneath the first form field will be highlighted. If a form field is skipped, that means the Tab Order is out of order.

Step 5: Accessibility Checker

You have now reached the last step of our process before testing with a screen reader. We need to use Adobe’s Accessibility Checker. The accessibility checker will scan our entire document, from the tags, to the font used, to the color contrast, and many other accessibility attributes. After it is done checking, the accessibility checker will give us a notification on what issues need to be fixed and what fulfills accessibility requirements.

Keep in mind though, that while accessibility checkers are very good, they should not be completely depended on. Think of them as a first step for testing accessibility. If you want to see if your document is completely accessible, it is recommended to test it with a screen reader. When you have all of the issues fixed in Acrobat’s Accessibility Checker, feel free to double check it using PAC 2021 and compare the results.

Step 6: Testing with a Screen Reader

Use NVDA or another screen reader to test your PDF. Everything in your PDF should be read by the screen reader in order. If anything is skipped, be sure to fix the reading order or tab order or any additional issues you may run into. Once you are done, the PDF should be fully accessible, and you can share it with your student, or other faculty that need it.

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