Web Development Documentation

Overview

This procedure describes how to find and resolve accessibility issues that may be present within PDF files.  All web content, including PDF files uploaded to websites, must be accessible to all users, including users with disabilities. 

Before remediating a PDF, consider whether it still needs to be hosted on your website.  It may be easier to remove old PDFs, and the links to those files, than it would be to complete the remediation process.

If the information in the PDF does need to remain on your website, consider converting the PDF to a Joomla! article, which will be much easier to remediate than the PDF would be. 

Procedure

Step 1) Back up your original PDF

Before proceeding, make a copy of your PDF file in case anything goes wrong during the remediation process. 

Step 2) Remediate original document (recommended if PDF document was originally created in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint)

For best results, we recommend remediating the original file (typically a Word document or PowerPoint presentation), then converting it to PDF and performing additional remediation within Acrobat. If your document was originally created using software other than Word or PowerPoint, skip this step.

If you have the original Word document or PowerPoint presentation, follow the appropriate documentation to remediate the original file:

• Remediating PowerPoint Presentations for Accessibility
• Remediating Word Documents for Accessibility

If you don't have the original Word document or PowerPoint presentation, you can export the PDF file to Word or PowerPoint as follows:

1. Open the presentation to be remediated using Adobe Acrobat. 
2. Under All tools to the left, select Export a PDF:
   
   
   
3. If the PDF is a syllabus, CV, or similar document in portrait layout, select Microsoft Word DOCX under "EXPORT PDF TO" and click Convert to DOCX:
   
   
   
4. If the PDF is a flyer, presentation slide, or similar file in landscape layout, select Microsoft PowerPoint PPTX under "EXPORT PDF TO" and click Convert to PPTX:
   
5. Select a location and file name for the converted file. The converted file will then open in Word or PowerPoint.
6. Close the original PDF file in Acrobat. 
7. Review the document to make sure it has been converted successfully.  If the text, images, or other elements are distorted or unreadable, close the converted Word or PowerPoint file and delete it.  Skip the rest of this section, and remediate the original PDF file following the steps under "Step 3) Remediate PDF file" below.
8. Follow the appropriate documentation to remediate the Word document or PowerPoint presentation:
   • Remediating PowerPoint Presentations for Accessibility
   • Remediating Word Documents for Accessibility
9. When all issues have been resolved, select the File menu:
   
   
   
10. Select Save to save your changes to the file.  Then consider the following two scenarios:
    • If the remediated file can remain as a PowerPoint or Word document, it may be more useful to your users than a PDF file.  In that case, upload the remediated PowerPoint or Word document to your website and stop here.
    • If there is a specific reason to keep the file in PDF format, continue following this procedure.
11. Select the File menu again.
12. Select Save as Adobe PDF:
    
    
    
13.  If asked, "Do you want PDFMaker to save the file and continue?" click Yes:
    
    
    
14. Save the Adobe PDF file to the appropriate location on your computer.  The PDF will open in Acrobat. 
15. Close the original Word or PowerPoint file.
16. Proceed to the next step, Remediate PDF File.

Step 3) Remediate PDF file

1. In Acrobat, under All tools, select View more:
   
   
   
2. Scroll down and select Prepare for accessibility:
   
   
   
3. Select Automatically tag PDF:
   
   
   
4. Click Confirm:
   
   
   The tagging progress will be shown to the upper right under Accessibility tags.  Wait for it to complete before proceeding to the next step.
   
   
5. Under Prepare for accessibility, select Fix reading order:
   
   
   
6. In the "Reading Order" dialog, click Show Order Panel:
   
   
   
7. In the Order sidebar to the right, select Page 1:
   
   
   
8. Ideally, Page 1 of your document will contain the title of the document. Mark the title as “Heading 1” as follows:
   •  Position the mouse cursor above and to the left of the box containing the page title:
     
     
     
   • Click and drag so that the mouse cursor creates an additional box around the page title. Then let go of the mouse button. The title text should now be selected:
     
     
     
   • Select the “Heading 1” button in the Reading Order dialog box:
     
     
     
   • Go back to the Reading Order by clicking Show Order Panel in the Reading Order dialog.
     
     
9. For each page in the document, drag and drop the numbered elements in the Order sidebar up and down until their numbered order matches the visual order of the elements (top to bottom and left to right).  For example, the uppermost element in the page should be numbered "[1]", the next element to the right of (or below) element "[1]" should be numbered "[2]", and so on.  In the following example, the numbering of the elements matches their visual order from top to bottom:
   
   
10.  Close the Reading Order dialog:
    
    
    
11. Under Prepare for accessibility, select Check for accessibility
    
    
    
12. In the Accessibility Checker Options dialog, click Start Checking:
    
    
    
13. The results of the check will be displayed under the Accessibility Checker sidebar to the right:
    
    
    
14. Use the arrows to the left to expand each category that displays a number of issues (see #1 below).  If the expanded categories have issues with sub-items, click their arrows to expand them as well (see #2 below).
    
    
    
15. Logical Reading Order - Needs manual check will always appear as an issue under Document. If you have already fixed the reading order, right-click on this issue and select Pass:
    
      
16. Color contrast - Needs manual check will always appear as an issue under Document. If you have already fixed color contrast issues in the original Word or PowerPoint file, or if there are no apparent color contrast issues, right-click on this issue and select Pass:
    
    If you are unsure if there is enough color contrast between the font colors and background colors, you can refer to the WebAIM Contrast Checker.
    
    We also recommend using only the colors listed at the Rutgers Color Contrast Look Up page at https://it.rutgers.edu/digital-accessibility/accessible-web-content/rutgers-branding-color-compatibility-tool/.  This page includes a color contrast widget that helps you determine which combinations of foreground color and background color pass the color contrast requirements in WCAG 2.1 AA.
    
    
17. To fix the issue Title – Failed follow these steps:
    
    • Right-click on Title – Failed in the Accessibility Checker sidebar, and select Fix::
      
      
      
    • In the Description dialog, clear the checkbox for “Leave As Is” under “Title” (see #1 below).
    • Enter the document title in the “Title” field (see #2 below).
    • Click the OK button in the Description dialog (see #3 below).
      
      
      
18. To fix the issue Figures alternate text - Failed under Alternate Text, follow these steps: 
    
    
    • Right click on the first "Figure" listed under Figured alternate text - Failed, and select Fix:
      
      
      
      
    • If the image is relevant to the content of the document, enter a short, accurate description of the image in the text area labelled "Alternate text:" (see #1 below).
    • If the image is strictly decorative and does not relate to the content of the document, check the box for "Decorative figure" (see #2 below). 
    • If there are more images to fix, click the right arrow (see #3 below).  For each additional image, either enter alternate text or mark the image as decorative. 
    • When you have entered alternate text for the last image (or marked it as decorative), click Save & Close (see #4 below):
      
19. To fix issues with table header cells, do the following:
    • Under Prepare for accessibility, select Fix reading order (see step (5) above)
    • Click somewhere inside the table, then click the Table Editor button in the Reading Order dialog:
      
      
      
    • Right-click inside each cell that should be marked up as a header cell, and select Table Cell Properties:
      
      
      
    • Make sure Type is set to "Header Cell" (see #1 below)
    • Set Scope to "Column" for a header cell at the top of a column, or to "Row" for a header cell at the beginning of a row (see #2 below)
    • Click OK (see #3 below)
      
    • Repeat the above steps for any other cells that should be marked up as table header cells.
    • Return to the list of accessibility issues by clicking the Accessibility Checker icon in the right sidebar:
      
      
      
20. Drill down to any other remaining issues, right click them and select Fix. Follow the tips in Acrobat to fix the issues. 
21. Check for any untagged elements as follows:
    1. Click the "Accessibility Tags" icon on the right-side menu in Acrobat:
       
       
       
    2. Click the "Options" icon to the right of "Accessibility tags:"
       
       
       
    3. Select Find from the Accessibility Options menu:
       
       
       
    4. In the Find Element dialog, leave "Artifacts" selected and select Search Document (see #1 below).  Then click Find (see #2 below):
       
       
       
    5.  For each element found, click Tag Element:
       
       
       
    6. In the New Tag dialog, select the "Type" list option that best matches the element that is highlighted on the current page:
       
       If unsure which "Type" option to select, follow these guidelines:
       
       • For an entire page, select "Division"
       • For an image, select "Figure"
       • For a section of the page larger than a paragraph, select "Section"
       • For a line of text smaller than a paragraph, select "Span"
    7. After making a selection for "Type:" click the OK button:
       
       
       
    8.  Repeat steps (e), (f), and (g) above to tag any remaining elements.
    9. When all elements have been tagged, click OK at the message Find Completed:
       
       
       
    10. In the Find Element dialog, change the "Find" selection to "Unmarked Comments" and repeat steps (e) through (i) above to tag any unmarked comments.
    11. In the Find Element dialog, change the "Find" selection to "Unmarked Links" and repeat steps (e) through (i) above to tag any unmarked comments.
    12. In the Find Element dialog, change the "Find" selection to "Unmarked Annotations" and repeat steps (e) through (i) above to tag any unmarked comments.
    13. In the Find Element dialog, change the "Find" selection to "Unmarked Content" and repeat steps (e) through (i) above to tag any unmarked comments.
    14. In the Find Element dialog, change the "Find" selection to "OCR Suspects" and repeat steps (e) through (i) above to tag any unmarked comments.
    15. After all elements have been found and tagged, click Close at the Find Element dialog:
        
        
        
22. If any untagged elements were found and tagged, it may be necessary to fix the reading order again. Refer to steps (5) through (10) above to check the reading order and fix it if necessary.
23. Check the document for accessibility again; see steps (11) through (13) above. 
24. Fix any additional issues that were found; see steps (14) through (20) above. 
25. After all issues have been resolved, save the PDF file. 

Step 4) Scan your document for issues using third-party software

The accessibility scanner in Adobe Acrobat does not always detect all issues.  It is necessary to re-scan the document using software that can determine whether a document meets the WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards.

For this step, you will need to download and install the free CommonLook PDF Validator, available from: https://allyant.com/free-pdf-accessibility-checker-validator/. (Please note that this software only runs on Windows.  Mac users can download PDFix Desktop Lite). 

To install this software on your office computer or RAD-managed computer, please do the following:

• Click the Windows Start icon
• In the Start Menu, click All to the right of Pinned
• Scroll down to the Rutgers SAS folder and click on it
• Click Install CommonLook PDF Validator:
  

WARNING: Please do not use CommonLook PDF Validator to check sensitive documents, such as documents containing PHI (Protected Health Information) or NPPI (Non-Public Personal Information).  These types of documents should not be posted on your website anyway, but if you do need to remediate these documents for any other purpose, do not check them with CommonLook PDF Validator since this software uploads the information to a third-party website. 

Once CommonLook PDF Validator has been installed, use it to check your document as follows:

1.  Select the Menu to the upper left in Adobe Acrobat, then select Plugins > CommonLook > CommonLook PDF Validator: 
   
   
2. In the Standards pane to the upper right, click the arrow to expand Standards (see #1 below).
3. Click the arrow to expand Accessibility (see #2 below).
4. Select WCAG 2.1 AA (see #3 below).
5. Click the Full button to the lower right of the Standards pane to run a full scan of your document (see #4 below).
   
   
   
6. The results will appear in a new pane below the preview of your document. Click the Results column to sort the results by type:
   
   
   
7. If there are no “Failed” entries in the Results column, your PDF file is compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA and can be uploaded to the website.
8. If there are one or more “Failed” entries in the Results column, your PDF file is not compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA and needs additional remediation before it can be uploaded to your website.
   
   

Step 5) Upload your document to the website

1. Upload the PDF file to the same location on the website where the original PDF was located, so that the new PDF replaces the old one.  If you are unsure how to upload the new document, follow the steps for Uploading a file using JCE File Browser.