Why PDF Accessibility Should Be a Priority

Portable Document Format (PDF) was introduced by Adobe Systems in 1993. The main purpose is to make the sharing of documents easier. A PDF document would always look identical to everyone who will open it, whether it is any computer or any kind of device. The margins, layouts, and graphics would always display in the same way.

The Problems of People with Disabilities can be Spelled using PDFs

PDF documents may be popular, but they are not usable for people with disabilities. Thus, it is necessary to ensure that the PDF accessibility should be given top-most priority while creating or distributing the documents.

Like the look of a PDF document is generally locked in, so this format has many advantages. It is useful for legal or certified documents like publications such as e-books, or contracts, because the contents cannot be easily changed.

PDFs are the popular format for documents that contain a lot of design elements, such as flyers or restaurant menus, because they will always display in the same way no matter where and how they’re opened. Since PDFs are universal, it can be shared among a Window user and a Mac user, and they can be downloaded from websites.

PDF Barriers Coming with the Package

When a PDF is not created to be accessible to everyone, various kinds of barriers are sometimes automatically included. The person could not read the document in a proper order if the parts of the document are not set in proper sequence. It could not be read by assistive technology if an area of the text was scanned since it is an image instead of words.

There occur many situations in which people with disabilities can be challenged with inaccessible PDFs. It could happen that they must have downloaded a user manual which they could not read with their screen reader, or can’t fill using a keyboard. Maybe they are not able to access a phone bill, events calendar, bank statement, and train schedule. It is a violation of the right, under the Americans with Disabilities (ADA), to no to be provided with the same level of customer service as everyone else.

Aiming for Accessibility is Needed

PDFs shared among different computer platforms and devices are useful whether the people are with a disability or not. Improvement in PDF accessibility not only enhance the experience of people with disabilities. Moreover, the content becomes more usable for the people with disabilities. If the document is structured in proper order, then the PDF would display correctly even if it is opened on a small-sized screen, such as a mobile phone.

Steps to Better PDFs

There are various standards for accessible PDFs. WCAG has issued various PDF techniques to make sure that the PDFs are fully accessible and should follow WCAG. Few tools are available for assisting with PDF accessibility. A software, Acrobat DC Pro, is used for manipulating PDF documents, it asks for action if there occur certain barriers like missing titles or images without alt-text.

Accessibility Checker feature helps you to scan your document for few features and issue a report, but sometimes it can generate false positives – it will flag those areas which are not problematic – and it won’t provide the guidance for manual checking items.

If you don’t have expertise in PDF accessibility, consult with a firm that can help. An expert can ensure that you have fully accessible documents which are accessible to people with disabilities.

An Innovative Solution

To help the organizations follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and maintain and achieve the compliance with standards and regulations, essential accessibility has developed an accessibility solution.