Adobe 22002484 User Guide - Page 267

USING ACROBAT 9 STANDARD 262 Accessibility, tags, and reflow Creating accessible PDFs Workflow for creating accessible PDFs At a high level, the process of creating accessible PDFs consists of a few basic stages: 1 Consider accessibility before you convert a document to PDF. 2 As needed, add fillable form fields and descriptions, and set the tab order. 3 Add other accessibility features to the PDF. 4 Tag the PDF. 5 Evaluate the PDF and repair tagging problems. These stages are presented in an order that suits most needs. However, you can perform tasks in a different order or iterate between some of the stages. In all cases, first examine the document, determine its intended purpose, and use that analysis to determine the workflow that you apply. For more information about creating accessible PDFs, see these online resources: • Guide to creating accessible PDFs, General Services Administration: www.section508.gov/docs/PDFGuidanceForGovernment.pdf • Acrobat plug-in for creating Section 508-compliant PDFs: www.commonlook.com/documents/english/cl_adobe_home.asp • Best practices: amp.ssbbartgroup.com Consider accessibility before you convert a document to PDF Whenever possible, think about accessibility when you create the source files in an authoring application, such as a word-processing or page-layout application. Typical tasks in the authoring application include adding alternate text to graphics, optimizing tables, and applying paragraph styles or other document-structure features that can be converted to tags. For more information, see "Creating a tagged PDF from an authoring application" on page 263. Add fillable form fields and descriptions, and set the tab order If your PDF includes form fields, use Advanced > Accessibility > Run Form Field Recognition to detect form fields and make them interactive (fillable). Use the Forms tools to create fillable form fields, such as buttons, check boxes, pop-up menus, and text boxes. When you create a field, type a description in the Tooltip box in the Properties dialog box for that field. Screen readers read this text aloud to the user. For more information, see "Create form fields" on page 175. For information on setting the tab order to use document structure, see "Set form field navigation" on page 182. Add other accessibility features to the PDF This stage includes setting the document language, making sure that security settings don't interfere with screen readers, and adding bookmarks. For more information, see "Set the document language" on page 267, "Prevent security settings from interfering with screen readers" on page 267, and "About bookmarks" on page 269. Last updated 9/30/2011