Quick Reference Guide To Creating And Repairing Pdfs And Pdf

Transcript

Handout for Creating Accessible Documents 1 Accessible Documents The key issues in creating accessible documents are:  Text alternatives for non-text content (images, photos, graphic text)  Information, structure and relationships (i.e. headings and outline and reading order) When publishing information to the Web the number one question to ask is – what is the best format for delivering this information?  If your content is mainly information, with photos or images, then a Web page might be the best choice.  If the document is highly designed, such as a magazine or a newsletter, then a PDF might be your best option.  If the document contains math equations, then a Web page is the way to go.  If it’s a form with information that needs to be secure, then an interactive PDF might be the best choice.  If the form results could be emailed and the form is not complicated, then an online form may work best. Once you’ve made your choice, then these techniques come in to play. Remember that it is *not difficult* to create an accessible tagged PDF. PDF accessibility is a process, not a feature. You can make it part of your everyday document authoring workflow! To create an accessible PDF use an authoring tool that supports:  Creating documents with headings & subheadings  Adding alternative text to images  Exporting to a tagged PDF Authoring tools that can be used to create tagged PDFs include Microsoft Word, Adobe InDesign, WordPerfect, OpenOffice, Libre Office and Lotus Symphony. Handout: The next few pages are a handout which was distributed at a PDF training session offered by Purdue, West Lafayette. The instructor, Terrill Thompson, is a Purdue alum and currently works as an Accessibility Specialist for the University of Washington. They include an easy to follow workflow for making a PDF accessible from scratch, repairing PDFs and creating and repairing forms. 1/24/2012 Handout for Creating Accessible Documents 2 PDF Accessibility Key Points, Tips, & Resources Updated January 2012 by Terrill Thompson, [email protected] Making a PDF Accessible from Scratch Accessibility can be added to PDF documents in Adobe Acrobat Pro (see the next page). However, whenever possible it’s best to add accessibility within the original source document. That way, if the document is modified later, you won’t have to start over with accessibility. Key points:    Use authoring tools that support accessible tagged PDF (e.g., Word in Windows; Adobe InDesign) Follow best practices for authoring documents that are accessible Export to tagged PDF using a technique that preserves accessible markup General Best Practices: Microsoft Word  Use built-in styles for Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.  Use built-in features for bulleted and numbered lists  Add alt text to images (in Office 2010 and 2011 use Description field; not Title)  For data tables, explicitly identify the header row (in Word, do this in Table Properties)  To export to tagged PDF: o In Word 2003 and 2007 (Windows), use the Adobe PDFMaker Plugin (i.e., Adobe menu or toolbar, ships with Adobe Acrobat). o In Word 2010 (Windows), simply "Save As PDF". (NOTE: Word 2011 for Mac does not produce an accessible tagged PDF). o When saving, select Options and be sure that "Document structure tags for accessibility" is checked. (NOTE: This is checked by default, but will be unchecked if you select "Minimize Size" and will need to be re-checked. General Best Practices: Adobe InDesign  Map styles to PDF tags o In CS5.5, Paragraph Styles menu > “Edit all export tags” (can also define Export Tags when defining individual styles) o In earlier versions, Structure Pane > “Map styles to tags”  Add alt text to images o In CS5.5, select an object, then Object > “Object Export Options” > alt text o In earlier versions, Structure Pane > right click Figure, select “New Attribute”, add “Alt” attribute.  Assure proper read order o In CS5.5, use the Articles panel to structure and order content. o In earlier versions, use Structure Pane 1/24/2012 Handout for Creating Accessible Documents 3 PDF Accessibility Repair Workflow (using Adobe Acrobat Pro) NOTE: Modifying PDFs can have unpredictable results, and there is no “Undo”. Save often! (Saving multiple versions is recommended) 1. Does document have text? a. If no, covert to text (View > Tools > Recognize Text) 2. Is document tagged? (Ctrl+D, “Description” tab) a. If no, add tags (View > Tools > Accessibility > Add Tags To Document) 3. Does document need to be “touched up”? (View > Tools > Accessibility > Touch Up Reading Order) a. Click decorative or redundant images, then click “background” b. Add alt text to remaining images (right click on image, “Edit alt text”) c. Rearrange order if needed (click “Show order panel”, drag items) 4. Are headings marked up as headings at appropriate levels? a. Determine visually what the heading structure should be b. View > Show/Hide > Navigation Panes > Tags c. Use PDF text selector to highlight headings d. In Tag pane, select “Find Tag from Selection” e. To change tag, right click, select Properties, enter Alternate Text 5. Does other markup need to be fixed? a. Delete tag and start over from scratch???? 6. Are URLs encoded as links? a. If not, Tools > Document Processing > Create Links from URLs 7. Is the language of the document defined? a. File > Properties > Advanced > Language 8. Check for any lingering errors a. Tools > Accessibility > Full check 1/24/2012 Handout for Creating Accessible Documents 4 PDF Forms Accessibility Repair Workflow (using Adobe Acrobat Pro) 1. Is form interactive? a. If no, proceed to Creating Accessible PDF Forms using Acrobat Pro 2. Is tab order intuitive? a. If no, correct it (Tools > Forms > Edit, play with Tab Order; select “Close Form Editing” when finished) 3. Are all text fields appropriately labeled? How to tell: a. Tools > Forms > Edit; visible text is the label that screen readers read b. Tab through form using Read Out Loud (View > Read Out Loud > Activate Read Out Loud) 4. To fix labels on text fields: a. Right click on field; select Properties b. Enter a detailed, easy-to-understand prompt as Tooltip 5. Are radio buttons appropriately grouped and labeled? a. All radio buttons in a set should have the same name b. Tooltip is the overall prompt for the set (similar to legend in HTML) c. Labels for individual radio buttons within the set are defined using the Button Value field in the Options tab 6. Are checkboxes appropriately labeled? a. Checkboxes can’t be grouped like radio buttons. The workaround is to be sure the prompt for the overall set of checkboxes is clear within the tooltip for each option (for example, “Favorite Food: Tofu”, “Favorite Food: Steak”, “Favorite Food: Pizza”, etc.) 7. Finishing touches a. Tools > Document Processing > Create Links from URLs b. Tools > Accessibility > Add Tags To Document c. Repair tags as needed d. Tools > Accessibility > Full Check Creating Accessible PDF Forms using Adobe Acrobat Pro    Do not create an interactive form using the original authoring tools’ form features Do not create a tagged PDF Use Acrobat Pro to make form fields interactive o Automatically detect & markup form fields (Tools > Forms > Create) o Manually add/edit and form fields that weren’t correctly detected o Check tab order; repair if needed o Check all labels (tooltips); repair if needed o Check group labels and options for radio buttons; repair if needed o Check labels for checkboxes; repair if needed 1/24/2012 Handout for Creating Accessible Documents 5 Creating Accessible PDF Forms using Adobe LiveCycle Designer    Why use LiveCycle Designer? o Very easy and intuitive to create interactive forms o More robust than Adobe PDF forms – lots more features o Includes options for form validation and scripting based on user input Important Notes: o Tags in LiveCycle Designer forms cannot be edited using Adobe Acrobat Pro. o Accessibility Full Check does not work on LiveCycle Designer forms. o Do not use the built-in templates. They include untagged inaccessible content that cannot be corrected. The Basic Workflow o Start with a blank document o Drag form fields and other content as needed into the document o Be sure to include a tooltip for all fields  LiveCycle Designer additionally has an option for “Custom Screen Reader Text”. Screen readers won’t read both this text and the tooltip, so if you use both be sure they stand alone o Save as PDF JAWS 12 Commands for Acrobat/Reader Description Command Forms Mode ENTER Virtual Cursor On NUM PAD PLUS Virtual Find CTRL+INSERT+F Links List INSERT+F7 Next Page CTRL+PAGE DOWN Previous Page CTRL+PAGE UP Go to Page CTRL+SHIFT+N Say All INSERT+DOWN ARROW 1/24/2012 Handout for Creating Accessible Documents 6 PDF Accessibility Resources      Adobe Accessibility http://adobe.com/accessibility WebAIM on PDF Accessibility http://www.webaim.org/techniques/acrobat/ California State University PDF Tutorials http://tinyurl.com/y2dnyl2 Karen McCall’s book http://www.karlencommunications.com/products.htm WebAIM Discussion List http://webaim.org/discussion/ 1/24/2012