How to Make PDFs Accessible | Episode 10: Clovis Community College

Welcome to episode 10 on community college PDF accessibility. Today, we focus on two documents from Clovis Community College. The first was already accessible, while the second required complex fixes.

Video Guide

If you’re interested in the real-life practice and nuances of document remediation, here are Episode 1, Episode 2,  Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 11, Episode 12, Episode 13, Episode 14, Episode 15, Episode 16, and Episode 17 in our PDF Accessibility Community College Series.

Common PDF Accessibility Challenges

The key takeaway from this episode is the importance of applying accessibility best practices from the start to minimize rework and ensure PDF/UA compliance.

• Images: Ensure all images, like logos, have alt texts. Clovis Community College did a great job by tagging their logo with an alt text.
• Document Structure: Use appropriate tags. The document had a good structure, starting with a ‘document’ tag. Also, avoid unnecessary tags like ‘part’ or ‘section’ if they don’t add value.
• Heading Levels: Maintain a clear hierarchy. This document correctly used heading levels (H1, H2) and paragraph tags, ensuring easy navigation for screen readers.
• Decorative Elements: Artifact decorative images. The college did well by not tagging these, preventing screen readers from reading irrelevant information.
• Links: Tag all links. This PDF had its links appropriately tagged, enhancing accessibility.
• List Item Mismanagement: Use list tags for list items. Clovis Community College’s use of H2 followed by list items was commendable.
• Metadata: Include detailed author, subject, and keywords in the file properties. While not perfect, the college’s effort was notable.
• Compliance with Standards: Ensure PDF/UA and WCAG compliance. Surprisingly, the document met these standards.

Advanced Strategies for PDF Accessibility

Another PDF from Madera Community College highlighted several accessibility issues:

• Poor Tagging of Complex Content: Properly tag and structure complex content like tables. This document was riddled with ‘P’ tags, causing readability issues.
• Screen Reader Incompatibility: To guarantee that content is screen-reader-friendly, consider how the formatting will be interpreted when read aloud. For example, refrain from using an excessive amount of dots or similar repetitive symbols. These elements can significantly disrupt the reading flow for screen reader users. Specifically, in the Madera Community College document, the presence of these dots was not only disruptive but also annoyingly pronounced by the screen reader.
• Inefficient Tagging for Complex Layouts: In cases of complex layouts, it may be faster to recreate the document in Microsoft Word, removing unnecessary elements like dots, and then re-exporting to PDF. This method can simplify the tagging process.

Download the Free Section 508 Checklist for PDF Accessibility:

A Diversion: Microsoft Word Accessibility

• Inadequate Heading Structure: Adjust the heading levels to make them more logical. For instance, making ‘Clovis Community College’ a heading level one and subsequent important sections as heading level two.
• Misuse of Text Boxes: Text boxes are often not read by screen readers. They were removed from the Word document and replaced with standard text for better accessibility.
• Inconsistent Font Usage and Color: Standardize fonts and colors for consistency and readability. Changing fonts back to a standard color like black enhances legibility.
• Inefficient Formatting of Contact Information: Replace the dot-based layout with a table format. This approach not only eliminates the annoying dots but also organizes information more logically for screen reader users.

• Redundant Content: Remove unnecessary repeated content to simplify the document. This makes the document more concise and easier to navigate.
• Complex Conversion Processes: Sometimes, simplifying a document may involve a tedious process of copying and pasting into new formats. While time-consuming, this ensures better accessibility.
• Ensuring Proper PDF Creation from Word: Use built-in Acrobat toolbar in Word to convert documents to PDF. This preserves formatting and ensures proper tagging.

Back to PDF Accessibility

• Correcting Tagging Issues in PDF: Manually adjust tags in Acrobat, like changing inappropriate H6 tags to P tags or correcting blank P tags. This step is crucial for proper document structure.
• Table Accessibility: Run an accessibility check in Acrobat to identify issues like missing table summaries or tab order failures.

• Role Mapping Failures: Check the role map in Acrobat to ensure it doesn’t contain unnecessary roles. Delete extraneous roles that might cause compliance issues.
• Annotation and Metadata Errors: Use the preflight tool in Acrobat to fix annotation and metadata errors. Specific fixes include creating content entries for link annotations and setting the PDF/UA-1 entry, ensuring that the document meets necessary accessibility standards.

Conclusion

In summary, Clovis Community College’s document was a rare find in terms of accessibility, scoring a perfect 10. However, the second document from Madera Community College showed common pitfalls, especially with complex tables and inconsistent tagging. It scored only 2 out of 10 on the Accessibility Guy scale, highlighting significant room for improvement.

PDF accessibility necessitates a combination of manual intervention, a thorough grasp of accessibility standards, and the deployment of specialized tools. Initially, automated checkers offer a fundamental starting point. However, they frequently fall short in detecting all issues, thereby highlighting the necessity for expert review and manual refinements. Consequently, the ultimate objective is to develop documents that are not merely compliant but also truly accessible to all users.

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!