Remediating existing documents can be a challenging and overwhelming task. Follow these recommendations to make the most of the time needed to get your documents into a more accessible format.
Note: Only use this decision tree to evaluate documents you are currently using. If your documents are old, outdated, or no longer needed, consider archiving them rather than remediating.
If you are new to document remediation, review the Understanding Document Accessibility Tags section before proceeding.
Understanding Document Accessibility Tags
Understanding Document Accessibility Tags
Accessibility tags are a hidden layer of information that sits behind the text and images you see on the screen. They act as a “map” or “transcript” for assistive technology, telling a screen reader which part of the page is a heading, a paragraph, or an image. Without tags, a screen reader cannot navigate a document logically.
Making a document accessible means ensuring it has an accurate map of accessibility tags.
When you open a document in Adobe Acrobat Pro, review the document properties by selecting File > Properties or using the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + D or Cmd + D. The Advanced section will indicate if this is a tagged PDF or not. If Tagged PDF says “No” you will need to add tags. If Tagged PDF says “Yes” you will need to review, possibly revise, and verify tags.
Step 1. Ownership and Origin
Are you the original author of this document?
- Yes: Skip to step 3 (evaluate the effort)
- No: Proceed to step 2 (find an alternative)
Step 2: Find Alternatives
Before spending time fixing a document you didn’t create (like a scanned book chapter or a vendor PDF), check these resources for a more accessible alternative:
- Check the Library: Search Albertsons Library for an eBook or a high-quality digital version. Licensed library resources are often more accessible than scanned copies.
- Ask a Librarian: Contact your Subject Librarian. They can often help find accessible alternatives or even purchase an accessible eBook version for your course.
- Contact the Author: If the document is a research paper or a specific academic resource, reach out to the author directly. Authors often have the original, accessible Word document or a “pre-print” version that is much easier to read than a final publisher’s PDF. Note: Always ensure use is within Fair Use or Copyright guidelines.
- Check the Publisher/Vendor: If it’s a textbook excerpt, check the Bronco Shop’s Inclusive Access or the publisher’s website for an “Accessibility Statement” and a tagged PDF.
- OER Options: Could this be replaced by an Open Educational Resource (OER)? These are free and often built with accessibility in mind.
Did you find an accessible alternative?
- Yes: If you found an accessible alternative, Use it and stop here!
- No: If no alternative exists, proceed to Step 3 (evaluate the effort).
Step 3: Evaluate the Effort
Before jumping straight into remediation, take some time to evaluate the document and determine how much work is required to make it accessible. This is a crucial step because you can decide if you want to “fix” the current document or potentially “rebuild” with accessibility in mind.
Level of Effort Matrix
Use this Level of Effort Matrix to determine how much effort may be involved with remediating your document.
Do you know what level your document is?
- Yes: Proceed to step 4 (begin remediation)
- No: Contact support for additional assistance in determining the level of effort required for this document.
Step 4: Begin Recommended Remediation
Before you begin any remediation in Adobe Acrobat Pro, we recommend completing this 1 hour Adobe Accessibility Series Overview Tutorial to familiarize yourself with the terms, available tools, and recommended actions for basic document remediation.
Automated Assistants (Level 1 and 2 documents)
If your document is Level 1 simple text or Level 2 needs work, let the software do the heavy lifting. Follow these three steps to create your accessible PDF.
- In the source file like Microsoft 365 or Google Docs: Run an accessibility check in the original source document and follow any recommendations to update the document for accessibility.
- Save as PDF: From your source document always Save as PDF. in Microsoft you can either use the Adobe Acrobat add-on or select File > Save as PDF. In Google Docs, Export as PDF using the Grackle Extension (preferred method) or select File > Download As > PDF.
- In Adobe Acrobat Pro: Run the “Make Accessible” Guided Action (found in the Accessibility Toolset). It will walk you through setting the title, language, and basic tags automatically.
- Check your work: Review the steps in step 5 of this page to check your work before saving and sharing with others.
Fix Source First (Level 3 documents)
If the PDF is messy but you have the Word or Google Doc, don’t fix the PDF.
- Go back to the original file or generate a new file by selecting from Adobe Acrobat Pro File > Export To, Word.
- Fix the “Big Five”: Use an accessibility checker to find and fix the biggest issues with the content. These are likely Headings, Alt Text, Color and Contrast, Reading Order, and Links in the source file. If the document has Tables, pay close attention to these as well.
- Export again as PDF: Use “Save As Adobe PDF.” This creates a brand-new tag tree that is more accurate accurate, saving you from having to update accessibility tags manually.
- In Adobe Acrobat Pro: Run the “Make Accessible” Guided Action (found in the Accessibility Toolset). It will walk you through setting the title, language, and basic tags automatically.
- Check your work: Review the steps in step 5 of this page to check your work before saving and sharing with others.
Strategic Rebuilds (Level 4 documents)
For scanned images, if may be possible to use the tools in Adobe Acrobat Pro to make an accessible document, but this will require significant time and technical expertise. We recommend finding an alternative or reaching out to support for additional guidance on these documents.
Step 5: Check your Work
You don’t need to be a document pro to see if the tags are generally correct. You can “walk” the tag tree to check the reading order and use the “read out loud” feature to see if your documents sounds the way it should.
Walk the Tag Tree
- In Adobe Acrobat, open the Tags pane (View > Show/Hide > Navigation Panes > Accessibility Tags).
- Starting at the beginning, use your Down Arrow key to move through the list.
- As you highlight a tag (like H1 or H2), Acrobat will highlight the corresponding text on the page and you can verify that the tag matches the content.
Common Accessibility Tags
- Headings: <h1>-<h6> Used for titles and sub-sections.
<H1>is your main title;<H2>is a major section. - Paragraph: <p> Used for the “body” text—your standard sentences and paragraphs.
- Lists: <L>, <LI>, <LBL>, <LBODY> The individual bullets or numbers within that list. Think of as the L as the box that holds all your bullets (LI, and LBody).
- Images: <FIGURE> Used for photos, logos, or charts. This is where your Alt Text lives.
- Tables: <TABLE>, <TH>, <TD> Used for data grids. These must include Table Header (
<TH>) tags to be accessible. - Hyperlinks: <LINK> Used to mark link annotations
Read Out Loud
If you want to hear what a reader hears, use the built-in “Read Out Loud” feature in Adobe Acrobat (View > Read Out Loud > Activate Read Out Loud) to listen to your document. If something doesn’t read or reads out of order, you can adjust the tags as needed.