Accessibility Smackdown: Answering Your Accessibility Questions | Episode 2

The Accessibility Smackdown Series explores practical techniques for making digital documents accessible to all users, especially those relying on assistive technologies like screen readers. This episode covers essential PDF editing skills like setting document titles, extracting and editing pages, and ensuring table accessibility using Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Video Guide

The Role of Document Titles

Document titles in file properties are essential for enhancing navigation with screen readers. While screen readers identify closed files by their file names, they use the document title to distinguish between open files. This feature is especially helpful when working with multiple documents simultaneously, as it enables efficient navigation across tabs.

To set a document title, open the document properties in Adobe Acrobat Pro, input a clear and descriptive title in the “Title” field, and save the changes. This ensures compatibility with screen readers and improves accessibility.

Extracting and Editing Pages in Adobe Acrobat

The Organize Pages tool in Adobe Acrobat allows you to extract specific pages and create new documents. However, it’s important to ensure the accessibility of the document after making edits.

To extract pages, open the Organize Pages tool, select the desired page thumbnail, and choose Extract Pages. You can enable the “Delete after extracting” option to remove the page from the original file. After extracting a page, edit the text using the Edit tool. Be aware that editing text in a PDF often strips accessibility features, so always re-check and restore accessibility afterward.

Improving Table Accessibility

Tables in PDFs often require careful adjustments to ensure they are readable by screen readers. This is particularly true for complex layouts or foreign language tables.

To make tables accessible, tag header cells (<TH>) and assign attributes like scope to define whether the header applies to rows, columns, or both. If attributes like colspan or rowspan are incorrect, adjust them manually in the Object Properties menu. These steps ensure that screen readers can interpret the table structure accurately.

Adjusting Tag Properties for Complex Tables

If a table is not recognized correctly by accessibility tools, manually adjust the tag properties. Right-click on the table header, select Properties, and open the Edit Tag menu. Use the dictionary settings to replace incorrect attributes (e.g., “layout”) with the appropriate “table” tag. These adjustments help maintain the table’s accessibility and usability.

Rechecking Accessibility After Edits

After editing content or modifying tables, verify your PDF accessibility to ensure it remains compliant. Use the Accessibility Checker in Adobe Acrobat to identify and address issues. Re-tag elements and validate the document with a screen reader to confirm proper functionality.

Practical Techniques in Action

The outlined steps provide a hands-on approach to enhancing accessibility. By using tools like the Organize Pages feature and manually adjusting tags, you can ensure that documents meet accessibility standards. Testing the final document with assistive technologies verifies that all changes support inclusivity.

Making digital documents accessible requires attention to detail and thoughtful use of available tools. Properly setting document titles, carefully editing and extracting pages, and addressing table accessibility ensure inclusive content for all users. Applying these best practices helps create documents that meet accessibility standards and enhance usability for individuals relying on assistive technologies.

Let me be your champion for inclusion. I offer tailored solutions (and self-paced courses!) to ensure your documents meet and exceed compliance expectations. For more detailed insights, tutorials, and in-depth discussions on accessibility and related topics, don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel: The Accessibility Guy on YouTube. Subscribe for regular updates!