University of Utah TLT Accessibility Guidelines

Welcome to the TLT Guide to Accessible PDFs! This course is designed to assist in publishing accessible files in online courses.

Objectives

Promote awareness of accessibility issues in online course materials
Improve accessibility of PDFs in online courses
Provide readily available resources and need-related training for
- scanning accessible learning materials
- converting accessible learning materials
- creating, editing & saving accessible files

Choose from the headings below to find information, tutorials, and guides that will assist you as you scan and convert PDF files.

Designing Courses for Accessibility

Designing an online course for accessibility means making the website, application, materials, and assignments available to all users, including those with disabilities. "Although the Web is fundamentally designed to work for everyone, web sites, online courses, and other digital platforms often exclude potential users and visitors who have disabilities."1 It is critical for the online courses offered at the University of Utah to be accessible to all users. Here are three reasons why it is important to use accessibility best practices while designing our online courses.

It helps everyone: Just as all travelers benefit from a well-placed elevator or a widened doorway in the airport, all students can benefit from closed captioning, screen-reading technology, and reading materials that are available to everyone. Using accessibility techniques in the design of an online course, assists both users with and without disabilities.
It is the right thing to do: The University of Utah has a reputation for excellence and online courses are under scrutiny. "Accessibility is essential for organizations that want to create high quality websites, and not exclude people from using the services." 2 TLT must provide courses that will adhere to the standards of academic excellence on campus and in the world.
It is the law: Applicable laws in the United States, include The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Sections 504 and Section 508)." 3 In addition, "the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes access to information and communications technologies, including the Web, as a basic human right.

It is relatively easy to make an online course accessible. Techniques and Failures for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 - W3C has guidelines for accessibility best practices. This tutorial will focus on specific techniques for scanning and converting documents (.docs) and portable document format (PDF) files into accessible files.

References

Why Designing for Accessibility Helps Everyone - David Abrams
World Wide Web Consortium Accessibility Standard - W3C
Web Accessibility in Mind - WebAIM
Workshop: Accessibility Foundations for Higher Ed - UEN

Scanning for Accessibility

An accessible PDF starts with a high quality scan. It is easy for everyone to read, one that can be read by those with low vision abilities and those who use screen readers or other technology to read text electronically.

High quality scans should be free from:

Text that is cut off
Crooked pages
Dark gutters (the margins where shadows occur from curvature in the book's spine)
Poor contrast
Pages that are rotated 90 or 180 degrees
Handwriting
Highlighting
Underlining
Watermarks/stains
Poor contrast
Excessive use of script or italic fonts
Blurry pictures or text

Examples of Poor Image Quality

Image is picking up gray background & items in the columns	Image has cut off the text in the left-hand margin
Examples of Quality Images

Image is clean and free from distractions	Image shows complete text around all borders

Scanning Cheat Sheets

Before scanning, change the settings to get a high-quality scanned image. Before you begin, check and change the following settings:

Check the DPI (dots per inch) are set between 300 and 400. Documents scanned at low resolution will not be recognized by conversion software. Scanning documents at 600 dpi might be necessary for certain STEM content or other highly formatted documents.
Scan the document in black/white or 24-bit color depending on (a) whether the color of the original is important, and (b) whether your choice of color will have an effect on contrast.
Check if the scanner has built-in Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capabilities. OCR turns images of text into text that is copy and paste-able. Often, this option is identified as saving a document as a Searchable PDF.
Set the scanning table for an open book. It will solve many problems later.
Center the book over the scanning area (use the red line) and set the scan for two page scanning. This will create scanned images that are automatically straightened and cropped.
Consider removing the binding of the book if the gutter is small or tightly bound. This allows for high speed scanning. The book can then be re-bound with spiral binding for low cost at a local copy shop.

While Scanning

Scanning books with a spine – A book with a spine will not naturally lie flat on a scanner which means text on the edges of the page will be distorted. Please push the spine of the book down while scanning to insure that all the text is copied in a clear manner.
Don’t combine pages – Limit each print page to one electronic page will improve reading on mobile platforms. This also helps to speed up the conversion process using OCR software.
Name documents consistently
- Avoid strings of numbers
- Include more than one identifier in the title. An identifier can include the course name, course instructor, author, name of document, date, organization, year published, etc.

References

University of Washington - Accessible Technology "Creating High Quality Scans"
Adobe Acrobat User Guide > Creating PDFs "Scan a paper document to PDF"

Converting Scanned PDFs to Accessible PDFs

Acrobat Pro Accessibility Repair Workflow

Examine the PDF document
Add document properties and interactive features to the PDF such as links and bookmarks and set the document open settings and security so that it does not interfere with assistive technology
Identify scanned text and repair. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) using the OCR Text Recognition command in Adobe Acrobat DC allows text to be searchable and read by assistive technologies.
Add form fields and buttons with labels and accessible names if the PDF is intended to be an interactive document. Set the tab order for the form fields, provide instructions, ensure proper keyboard focus, and ensure any error handling is accessible.
Set the document’s language.
Add tags to the PDF file if it has not been tagged. Tagging should be performed at this step in the workflow to ensure that any elements that were added during steps 1 through 4 are included in the document’s structure.
Determine if the PDF file has been properly tagged. Verify tagged elements are properly sequenced and applied. For example, is a first-level heading tagged as an H1 and not an H3? See Accessibility, Tags & Reflow
Add Alternative Text. Add informative and concise alternative text and descriptions for all non-text elements.
Check the document with the Acrobat Accessibility Checker. Refer to the results of the Accessibility Checker and Report and use the recommendations to make any necessary changes. Repeat this process until the checker indicates no problems are found in the document.

Creating Accessible PDF Documents in Acrobat XI - Make Accessible Wizard & Touch-up Reading Order Tools

To be used with NCDAE Cheat Sheet: Creating Accessible PDF Documents in Acrobat XI - HTML version or PDF version

Tables

Links

References

GOALSatNCDAE - Published on May 12, 2014

Adding Alt Tags

Tags are keywords that are searchable and help users find specific content in a document or file. Tags can be added through

The Backstage view
Advanced properties
The "Save As" function

This video demonstrates

These three ways to add tags
Deleting tags
Searching for unknown tags

Using Alt Tags for Accessibility

Improve Accessibility with Alt Tags (Microsoft)

Editing Scanned PDFs

This article explains how to edit scanned PDFs in Acrobat DC.

Edit text in a PDF
- Video tutorial: edit text and mages in a PDF using Acrobat
- Format text in a PDF
- Add or edit a numbered or bulleted list
- Add new text to a PDF
- Move, rotate, or resize a text box
- Add, edit, or move text on non-interactive forms or when signing
Edit scanned PDFs
- Video tutorial: edit scanned documents
- Edit text in a scanned document
- Options for editing scanned documents
- Turn off or disable automatic OCR for scanned doc
- Turn off or disable automatic OCR for scanned documents
Edit images or objects in a PDF
- Video tutorial: edit text and images in a PDF using Acrobat
- Place an image or object into a PDF
- Move or resize an image or object
- Rotate, flip, crop (clip), or replace an image
- Move an image or object in front or behind other elements
- Align images or objects
- Edit an image outside Acrobat
- Export images in a PDF to another format
Edit secured PDFs
- Edit password-protected PDFs
- Edit signed or certified PDFs
Edit PDF forms created in LiveCycle Designer
- Edit XFA forms
- Workaround 1: Save the form as an Encapsulated PostScript file
- Workaround 2: Print the form to Adobe PDF printer
Unable to edit PDF files in Acrobat DC
- Problem: Unable to edit PDFs in Acrobat
- Solutions
  - Solution 1: Ensure Acrobat DC is installed on your computer
  - Solution 2: Make Acrobat DC the default PDF owner on your computer

Editing Tables

Making Tables Accessible

Accessible U Tutorials - Tables in Documents

Create Accessible Tables in Word

Making PDF Tables More Accessible

Tagging Complex Tables

Tagged PDF - Table Header not Tagged

Using Ally in Canvas

Supporting Diverse 21st Century Learners through Universal Design for Leaning (UDL)

Introduction Accessibility, UDL, & Inclusive Design

Overview of Alternative Formats

Diverse Forms of Engagement & Overview of Student Experiences

Importance of Using Alternate Content & Assessments

Tips for Making Content More Inclusive

Making Your Canvas Course More Accessible

References

UtahState University
Dr. John Scott - John Scott is a Product Manager for Blackboard Ally. Prior to joining the Blackboard Ally team, John completed his PhD in Learning Sciences and New Media at the University of California Berkeley, where he designed, taught, and researched online learning courses focused on collaborative learning, multimodal literacy, and Universal Design for Learning. He spent 4 years as a literacy and arts teacher in New York City public schools, earning a Master’s Degree in Special Education, and specializing in technology-mediated literacy and learning. He has published and presented at professional research conferences on digital literacies, networked learning, and global education. He is passionate about working with instructors in adopting new technologies in the classroom through research-backed pedagogy and critical design.

Creating & Converting Accessible Microsoft Products

Overview - Office Accessibility Center

Create Accessible Tables in Word

Check Document Accessibility in Word

Improve Accessibility with Alt Text

Improve Accessibility with Heading Styles

Create Accessible Links in Word

Create Accessible File Names

Create Accessible Documents

Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible

Creating Accessible PowerPointPresentations 2016 (Windows)

Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations 2016 (Mac)

Word 2016 (Windows), added January 2018

Word 2016 (Mac), added January 2018

Customizing Heading Styles in Word

Microsoft Heading Formatting

Excel 2010/13 (Windows) & 2011 (Mac), added September 2014

PDF Conversion in Word

Adding Links

Making Links Accessible

Creating Accessible Links in Word

UEN Resources

Utah Inclusion and Accessibility

Other Accessibility Resources

Other NCDAE Cheat Sheets

HHS Government - Making Accessible PDFs

Captioning YouTube Videos

Glossary

ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act): A federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in everyday activities sometimes known as Title IV.
Alternative Text (alt-text): Identifying text, assigned to an image, that can be read by a screen reader.
Headings: Labels that provide solid structure to the webpage (e.g., table, heading, paragraph, etc.)
PDF (Portable Document Format): Files that are available digitally, and are independent of software, hardware, or operating system.
Tag: Hidden labels that clarify the structure of the document and make it searchable.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Providing flexible curriculum, materials, and learning opportunities for all learners.

More Resources

Videos - Duly Accessible Documents

Part 1 - Alternative Text (Images)
Part 2 - Hyperlinks, Color (Contrast), Content Structure, and Captioning

Alt Tags / Links / Tables