Understanding PDF Remediation

There's a lot of talk about digital accessibility, particularly regarding websites. But we're also seeing organizations understand that the content on a website, like PDFs, also needs to be accessible.

But what does this entail?

What do we mean by PDF remediation?

PDF remediation refers to tagging the elements of PDF documents so that people using assistive technology can easily navigate the document independently.

When a PDF is properly remediated, assistive devices can identify these various elements and provide a seamless end-user experience in reading the document the way the creator intended.

The common elements that are focused on in the PDF remediation process include, but are not limited to:

·????????Headings

·????????Links

·????????Lists

·????????Tables

·????????Images

·????????Reading order

When a PDF document is tagged correctly and fully accessible and compliant, it improves the end-user experience and your document's search engine optimization (SEO), making it easier to find when people search for information.

Why aren't PDFs tagged automatically when you create them?

Ideally, all documents would be created so that they could be accessed by people with disabilities using assistive technology.

Since you can create PDFs from various platforms, like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, InDesign, and more, the consistency of how the PDF is exported could be more consistent.

For example, you can create a fully accessible Microsoft Word document, select "Save as PDF," and export it; however, the end PDF still requires work to ensure it's genuinely accessible and compliant.

Let's look at some of those common elements of remediation fixes in a PDF and why they're essential.

Headings

As navigational tools, headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.) help organize documents and inform readers of what is contained in them.

Headings help make content more understandable for individuals with assistive technology by dividing it into easily digestible sections by creating navigational landmarks within the document. In addition, people using assistive technology can choose to only read the headings in a document so they can know what the document contains.

A PDF without headings would cause an assistive technology user to read every line of the document to find what they're looking for.

Links

When creating a PDF, you might have added links for your users to learn more about a specific topic. These links need to be tagged as links when you're remediating.

When you fail to indicate where a link leads, end-users may not realize they will leave your document or where they will end up.

Lists

Lists have a specific way they need to be tagged to avoid each item appearing to be a bunch of unrelated words without any context.

When a list is tagged correctly, it will inform the end-users assistive technology of the number of items within a list and where they are in the list.

Tables

In general, tables can be challenging to understand with assistive technology. Each cell needs to be referred to by its row and column, but additional information may be required to understand the data correctly. Things like column and row headers need to be identified for the order of the data to be navigated easier.

Images

For assistive technology to read images, they require alternative (alt text) text.

The alternative text conveys the "why" of an image as it relates to the content of a document. It's essentially the image described in words read aloud by assistive devices, like screen readers, and indexed by search engines.

An image missing alt text within a PDF is read as an image or graphic, but no additional context or information will be provided.

Now, if the image is simply decorative, it doesn't require alt text, but rather it needs to be artifacted within the document's tags. These items can include, but are not limited to:

·????????Background images

·????????Boxes

·????????Repetitive logos

·????????Design elements like lines, circles and squares

Reading order

When it comes to reading order, it is what it's called - you're providing the order for the elements within the document to be read. When your PDF lacks an identified reading order, assistive devices will not understand how to properly navigate down the page, leading to a messy and inconsistent end-user experience.

Even if your document has a reading order, it's essential to check that it reads the same way you want it to as the content creator.

Conclusion

Regarding PDF remediation, this is just a high-level overview of what it takes to be accessible. At AbleDocs, we ensure that your document is usable by everyone and that it's fully compliant with both PDF/UA standards and various accessibility legislations.

Read more about accessibility at: https://adam-spencer.com/articles/