PDF Accessibility: Practical Insights

Welcome to episode eight on community college PDF accessibility. Today, we focus on Fresno City College’s form for Biomedical Equipment Technicians.

Video Guide

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 9, Episode 10, Episode 11, Episode 12, Episode 13, Episode 14, Episode 15, Episode 16, Episode 17 in our PDF Accessibility Community College Series.

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Key Takeaways from This Episode

This episode reveals common issues with PDF accessibility, highlighting the need for meticulous attention in document creation to ensure full accessibility for individuals using assistive technology.

Simply Document Structure: Implement a clear structure with simple navigation. Use standard tags for text and tables, ensuring they are not overly nested.
Auto-tagger limitations: The auto-tagger places the form fields into the PDF, but doesn’t necessarily tag each form field. The Adding Form Fields tool also has its limitations. In the end, you may have to manually tag each form field.
Avoid Unnecessary Tags and Blank Spaces: Remove or convert unnecessary elements to artifacts.
Appropriate Use of Table Headers: Correctly label table headers and data cells to provide context for the data presented. Select incorrectly labeled cells, right-click, select Properties, and choose the option you wish.

Properly label table cells so readers understand the purpose of each field.

Form Field Accessibility: Write clear and descriptive labels and tooltips so users understand each field’s purpose. Ensure they are informative but not overwhelmingly long. Use the Prepare a Form tool to go through cells quickly.

Updating tooltips for each data cell so readers understand the field's purpose.

Making PDFs accessible requires a trial-and-error approach to resolve errors. Regularly consult the accessibility checker and make necessary adjustments. Also, be prepared to deal with tool inconsistencies, making manual adjustments when needed.

Download the Free Section 508 Checklist for PDF Accessibility:

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!