Creating accessible Adobe PDF documents

 

Steps to take

To make a PDF accessible:

1. First decide if PDF is the right format 
2. Build accessibility into your source document
3. If you're working with a scanned PDF, convert the text
4. Run the Accessibility Checker
5. Set the document language
6. Tag your PDF
7. Create bookmarks
8. Check the logical reading order
9. Create clear navigation
10. Make tables accessible
11. Use accessible colour and images
12. Test your PDF with a screen reader
13. Run the Accessibility Checker again

Decide if PDF is the right format

Before you create or export a PDF, consider whether it’s the right format for your audience and purpose. PDFs can be difficult to access because they use a fixed layout that doesn’t reflow or resize well on mobile devices. Many PDFs also start as scanned images, which are harder to read for sighted users and screen readers. They also tend to have large file sizes, which can be difficult to download in rural or low-bandwidth areas. These challenges are why PDFs should only be used when there is a clear need for a fixed layout.

Publishing PDFs published on the web

When possible, write page content instead of including a PDF, this improves accessibility and Search Engine Optimization. Use a PDF on the website only when there is a real need to preserve a fixed layout, for example:

• An annual report
• Publications that rely heavily on charts, graphics or design
• Professionally designed materials intended for printing

Avoid posting PDFs that are scanned or image-only. 

If you publish a PDF on a government website, you must also provide the same information in HTML.

Using PDFs internally (not on the web)

PDF may be appropriate for internal use when the document is meant to be read, not modified (for example, a reference guide or a formatted presentation handout).

If ongoing updates are needed, a Word document or shared online file is usually a better choice. This helps avoid version-control issues and makes collaboration easier.

For professional design advice, public servants can contact their GCPE Communications Shop for support.

Build accessibility into your source document

If you’re converting a document (such as a Word file) to PDF, start by making the original document accessible. A well-structured source file makes it much easier to create an accessible PDF. 

Starting with an accessible Word document does not necessarily mean your PDF will be accessible, but following accessibility best practices in your source file will put you further ahead in the process.

Fix formatting in existing PDFs

Sometimes you may be working with an existing PDF that lacks headings, lists or other structure. In that case follow the instructions in how to tag your PDF to add formatting like headings and lists.

Resource: Microsoft’s video on improving heading accessibility (external link)

Check the source document formatting and structure before exporting it to PDF

Before you export to PDF check that your source document:

• Uses proper heading styles (Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.)
• Uses list styles for lists (not manual bullets/spaces)
• Has link text that is descriptive and meaningful (not 'click here')
• Includes alt text for meaningful images and mark decorative images as decorative
• Include captions under images or charts when they provide important context
• Uses colours with sufficient contrast for readability
• Is written in plain language using accessible fonts with sufficient font size
• Only uses tables for tabular data
• Has metadata (title, language, author, subject)

Resources: Creating accessible Microsoft Word documents

Working with scanned PDFs

If you're working with a PDF that was created by scanning a printed document, the text on the page isn’t actual text, it’s an image of text. That makes it unreadable for screen readers and unsearchable for sighted users. 

Use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to convert the scanned text into selectable, searchable text. To do this in Adobe Acrobat:

1. Go to 'All tools' > 'Scan & OCR' > 'Recognize Text'
2. Choose the pages and language
3. Then run OCR
4. After that, review the results carefully, if words are unclear, use Correct Recognized Text to fix any mistakes

Resource: Recognize text in scanned documents (Adobe Help Centre)

Run the Accessibility Checker

Run the Accessibility Checker near the beginning of your PDF work to see what Acrobat detects, and then run it again at the end to confirm everything has been fixed. To do this:

1. Open your PDF and go to 'View' > 'Tools' > 'Accessibility' > 'Open'
2. The Accessibility Checker will open in the task pane
3. Select 'Full Check'
4. After the check has run, the results will appear in the Accessibility Checker panel

The checker will almost always flag 'Colour Contrast' and 'Logical Reading Order'. These items need a human to review them, so they will appear even when your document is built correctly.

Resource: Using the Accessibility Checker (YouTube tutorial)

Set the document language

Setting the document language helps screen readers understand and pronounce the text correctly. To set the language:

1. Select 'File' > 'Properties'
2. Select the  ‘Advanced’ tab
3. Under ‘Reading Options’ choose the correct language from the 'Language' drop-down list

Set all languages for multilingual content

If your document includes more than one language, first set the main document language. For sections written in another language, you’ll need to identify those passages manually when tagging the PDF so screen readers switch pronunciation correctly. To do this:​

1. Open the 'Tags' panel
2. Find the tag that contains the text in another language
3. Right-click the tag and select 'Properties'
4. In the 'Tag Properties' window, choose the correct language from the 'Language' drop-down list
5. Repeat for each section written in a different language

Set up tags and structure in your PDF

Tags give your PDF a logical structure that screen readers rely on. They identify headings, paragraphs, lists, images, tables and decorative elements. A correctly tagged PDF is essential for accessibility.

Before you start tagging

First, check whether your PDF already has tags.

1. Open the 'Tags' panel. If the panel is empty, your PDF needs to be tagged
2. If tags exist, review them for accuracy before making changes

Avoid using Auto-tag unless necessary. It can create incorrect or confusing tag structures that require extra cleanup.

Tag your PDF

To add tags to your PDF open the 'Order' tab in the Accessibility Checker:

1. Go to Options > Reading Order Panel
2. For accuracy, switch to View > Page Display > Single Page View
3. Zoom to the full page: Zoom > Zoom to Page View > Zoom to Page Level
4. Highlight content by double-clicking or dragging a rectangle around it
5. Assign the correct tag in the Reading Order Panel, such as:
   • Heading 1 – document title
   • Heading 2 – main section headings
   • Heading 3 – sub-headings
   • Text/Paragraph – body text
   • Figure – images, charts, and graphics
6.  Mark decorative items (such as lines, borders or repeated logos) as 'Background/Artifact
7. Repeat this process on each page of your document

Resource: Tagging your PDF (YouTube tutorial)

Use headings and lists

Before converting a document to PDF, make sure your source file is accessible. Elements like headings, lists, links, titles and alt text should be added in the original program before you create the PDF. This makes it much easier to generate a properly tagged PDF. After conversion, check that your formatting carried over correctly.

Headings

If you're working with a PDF that was created without proper heading structure you can add or fix heading tags in Acrobat. Headings should always be added in the source document when possible, so they're both visual and structural. But if you’re working with an existing PDF and don’t have access to the source file, you can tag text as a heading to repair the structure for screen readers. To do this:

1. Open the 'Tags' panel or the 'Reading Order' tool
2. Highlight the text you want to tag as a heading then:
   • In the 'Reading Order' panel, choose the appropriate heading level (H1, H2, H3, etc.), or
   • In the 'Tags' panel, right click: select 'Create Tag' from 'Selection', then choose Heading 1, 2, 3, etc.
3. Check the order of the heading tags to make sure they're logical
4. Test with a screen reader or the Read Out Loud preview to confirm they're announced in the right order

Lists

Lists should always be created properly in the source document so they have the correct structure in the PDF. Proper list tags ensure screen readers recognize lists and read items in the right order. They also allow people to navigate item by item. After converting to PDF, check that each list item is tagged properly.

If you’re working with a PDF that uses visual but not structural lists, for example dashes or symbols instead of list formatting, you can fix them in Acrobat. To do this: 

1. Open the 'Reading Order' tool or the 'Tags' panel
2. Highlight the items that belong together as a list then:
   • In the 'Reading Order' panel, select 'List', or
   • In the 'Tags' panel, right-click and create a new list (<L> tag) and list items (<LI> tag)
3. Make sure each list item has the correct structure
4. Check the reading order to make sure the list reads in the correct sequence

Create bookmarks

Bookmarks are links that take readers directly to a specific page or section in your PDF. They make documents easier to navigate for all users, not just those using assistive technology. Bookmarks are required for accessibility if your PDF is longer than 21 pages, but they are often useful even in shorter documents.

Give bookmarks descriptive labels

When creating bookmarks, use clear and descriptive labels that match the section headings. Avoid generic labels which don't provide any context, for example: ‘Page 3'.

How to create bookmarks

1. Open the 'Bookmarks' tab in the Accessibility Checker panel
2. Navigate to the page you want the bookmark to link to
3. Highlight the text or area you want to bookmark. Make the labels clear and descriptive:
   • For text, the selected text automatically becomes the bookmark label. You can then edit the label text
   • To bookmark an image, click the image or drag a rectangle around it
4. New bookmarks appear at the end of the list. Drag and drop them into the correct order
5. To create a hierarchy, indent sub-headings under their parent bookmarks

Resource: Creating Bookmarks (YouTube tutorial)

Check the logical reading order

The Accessibility Checker will flag ‘Logical Reading Order’ when you run it. That's because it needs a human to review the order to make sure it's logical. The tagged order should follow the same flow that a sighted person would use. In most cases this means, left to right and top to bottom.

To check the logical reading order:

1. Open the ‘Tags’ tab in the Accessibility Checker
2. Select the first tag. This should be the title of your document. There should only be one title tag per document. When you select the tag, a rectangle will appear around the content that it represents in the document
3. Use the ‘down arrow’ button to move to the next tag. This should move the rectangle to the next content you would logically read on the page, (for example: the first paragraph)
4. If the rectangle skips content, you may need to create a tag or reorder the tag
5. To create a new tag, highlight the text or image that you want to tag. Select ‘Create Tag from Selection’ from the options menu. Select the ‘type’ of content it is (for example: paragraph, link)
6. To reorder tags, open the ‘Tags panel: on the left side of your screen. Drag and drop the tags into the correct order
7. If the rectangle lands on a decorative item, such as a bar dividing sections, select the item, and then select ‘Change Tag to Artifact’. Select ‘Page’ from the 'Artifact' menu. Then delete the tag. This will stop a screen reader from reading it out loud to the user
8. Once you've placed the tags in the correct order, go back to the beginning of your document and hit the down arrow until you reach the end of the document to ensure the tags follow the intended flow

Resource: Using Logical Reading Order (YouTube tutorial)

Create clear navigation links

You can’t change link text after a document is converted to a PDF, so make sure your links are clear in the source document.

Make tables accessible

Only use tables for actual data, not for laying out content.

Just because a table has been tagged does not mean it’s fully accessible. Most of the work, like keeping tables simple, avoiding merged or split cells, and marking header cells, should be done in your source document before converting to a PDF. Once the table is in the PDF, you can check and adjust the tags to make sure header and data cells are correctly identified.

Tags need to indicate which cells are headers and which cells are data. To do this you need to check how individual cells are tagged:

1. Open the 'Reading Order' tool
2. Select the table, then choose 'Table Editor'
3. Right click on the table to open the 'Table Editor Options'
4. Check the 'Show Cell Type' checkbox, and then select 'OK'

To add or correct header cells:

1. Right click on a header cell and select 'Table Cell Properties'
2. Change the type from 'Data Cell' to 'Header Cell'
3. Specify whether the header is a row or a column by choosing from the 'Scope' dropdown menu

Resource: PDF Accessibility: Tables (YouTube)

Use accessible colour and images

Use accessible colour contrast

Colour contrast plays an important role in making your PDF easy for everyone to read. Make sure your text stands out clearly from the background and avoid relying on colour alone to communicate meaning.  Whenever possible, set colours and contrast in your source document so the PDF exports with good readability.  Learn more about using colour and contrast. 

Add alt text to figures

Figures are anything visual in your document for example, photos, graphics, shapes or charts.

Alternative text (alt text) helps people who cannot see the visual content understand the context of it. Learn more about using visuals and writing alt text.

To add alt text in a PDF:

1. Right click on the image
2. Select ‘Edit Alt Text’
3. Add a brief description that explains the purpose of the visual (up to 15 words). If the visual is decorative and doesn't add any meaning, select ‘Mark as decorative’

Review alt text

Run the Accessibility Checker to find any instances of missing alt text. But remember, just because alt text is present doesn’t mean it’s useful, someone needs to manually review each description to confirm it makes sense in context.

Test with a screen reader

After tagging and formatting, test your PDF using a screen reader (or ask someone who uses one) to make sure content reads in the correct order, alternative text works and the navigation is clear.

If you don’t have access to formal user testing, you can do a basic check of your PDF using free screen-reader tools. Always confirm with privacy or security team before installing or enabling any new software.

Built-in options (no installation needed):

• Windows Narrator — included with all Windows devices
• macOS VoiceOver — built into every Mac
• iOS VoiceOver — available on iPhones and iPads
• Android TalkBack — available on most Android devices

These tools are not a replacement for testing with actual screen reader users, but they can help you catch issues like incorrect reading order, missing alt text or inaccessible navigation.

Supporting resources

• Create and verify PDF accessibility (Adobe Help Centre)
• Accessibility features in PDFs (Adobe Help Centre)
• Watch the full PDF accessibility training video series (YouTube)
• PDF accessibility (WebAim)