How not to check a PDF for accessibility
When checking PDFs for accessibility it is not OK to just run them through an automated accessibility checker and then publish if the checker finds no issues. And yet, so many organisations still fall into the trap of doing precisely this.
Alt text and tooltips in PDFs
A question that comes up from time to time from people learning how to make PDFs accessible concerns the tooltips that you sometimes see displaying the alt text for images ... sometimes you see such them and sometimes you don't.
Hiding tables behind images in PDFs – please don’t!
I have recently come across two sources advocating techniques for hiding tables behind graphs or charts for the benefit of screen reader users. Unfortunately, doing so is not a good idea, as it will create serious accessibility problems for literacy software users.
Creating accessible PDFs from InDesign 2-day Masterclass launched
We have recently expanded our Accessible PDFs from InDesign course from 1.5 days to 2 full days. We have done so because there is just too much you need to know in order to cram all of the relevant know-how into just 1.5 days. The sorts of essential topics…
Accessible PDFs from Foxit course launches
We have now launched our Accessible PDFs from Foxit course, to accompany our long-established InDesign, Word, Acrobat and accessible PDF forms courses. Foxit is a low-cost alternative to Acrobat Pro for editing and remediating PDFs for accessibility.
Not our type: Home Office regards Times New Roman font as ableist
… but then falls straight into the trap of using Arial instead...Arial really isn't the answer to anything other than the question of how not to do it.
PDF forms: radio buttons or checkboxes
Although generally there are good reasons for adhering to form design conventions, there may be times when a particular rule or convention may make a form less usable, not more so
InDesign links, alt text, and standards
Standards are a powerful tool for creating accessible documents, but only up to the point that they get in the way of accessibility. When they do, accessibility should always take precedence …
“Interactive PDF” and accessibility
If you are going to create PDFs with repeating navigation on each page, you will need to be aware of the potential pitfalls, and how to avoid them …
Automated PDF accessibility checkers won’t tell you much, if anything, about issues affecting people with dyslexia or colour blindness
Using only an automated accessibility checker to evaluate your PDFs may be more of a box-ticking exercise than a serious method of checking your documents...