Web Accessibility

Reference Card for converting Word to Accessible PDF

2009-03-27T08:19:00.004-05:00

Adobe released a Reference Card for Accessible PDF Creation from Word. Read the article and download it. This is what I do to ensure my PDFs are accessible.

Why is web site accessibility so important?

2008-08-29T08:47:00.003-05:00

Why is web site accessibility so important you might ask? Follow this link to read more on what happened with Target: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080828-target-to-pay-6-million-to-settle-site-accessibility-suit.htmlSo do you think accessibility is important? I believe it is. Not just for the company's sake, but for those who are disabled or impaired in some way.Web Accessibility really

Learn How You Can Help With Accessibility

2008-03-11T11:18:00.003-05:00

Using Microsoft OfficeCreate an accessible MS Office documentFind out what accessibility means and how people with disabilities experience your documents. Learn about the different accessibility needs of various people and what you should do to make your documents available to them.Using Adobe SoftwareAccessibility Resource Center Acrobat Dreamweaver Fireworks Flash InDesign

How to use MS Word to create an Accessible PDF

2007-12-13T10:11:00.002-06:00

You will need the following software:Microsoft WordAdobe Acrobat Professional or StandardAnything else will just give you a headache because you will end up working on making the PDFs accessible the hard way. With these two softwares combined, you can create accessible PDFs in minutes.Here are the steps:Prepare the document for accessible needs:Spell out abbreviation's when possible.Mark headings

Document Lacks a Language Specification

2006-12-15T15:43:00.002-06:00

Error:All of the text in this document lacks a language specification.Fix:In the menu bar, go to File>Document Properties...Click on the Advanced tab.Under the Reading Options section, click on the dropdown menu for Language and select "English US".Click OK to close the Document Properties dialog box.Save the Document.

Abbrevations

2006-12-14T17:34:00.000-06:00

Tag:HTML code:CSSCSS code:abbr[title] {border-bottom: 1px dotted #999;}abbr[title]:hover {cursor:help;}Meaning:All tags will have a bottom dotted line and when hovered over the cursor will change to a question mark and the title will show.Exampe:CSS

Abbreviations and Numbers that Begin with 0

2006-12-14T16:47:00.000-06:00

Problem:Some Abbreviations are read as real words. Example: ACT and SAT.Any number that begins with zero (0). Sometimes the zero gets ignored by the Screen Reader. Example: NSU's Financial Title IV code is 003161 and the Screen Reader reads it to be 3,161.Solution:Place a tag within the parent tag that has the problem child.In the Tag Panel, select the tag with the Abbreviation or Number in

Inaccessible Link

2006-12-14T16:39:00.000-06:00

Error: Inaccessible LinkFix:In the Tag Panel go to Options>Find...Find: Unmarked LinksWhen link is found click "Tag Element" and tag it as "Link" in the Type dropdown menu, then click OK.After doing this you might need to move the new link tag in the Tag Panel to the proper place.

Full Page Borders Make the PDF a Figure When Adding Tags

2006-12-14T16:06:00.001-06:00

Problem:When adding tags to and untagged PDF that has a border around the whole document it creates a figure tag for the whole document.Solution:(before doing these steps the document must not be tagged)Select the border with the TouchUp Object Tool.Then Cut the border to remove it. In the menu bar, select Edit>Cut.Then from the menu bar, select Advanced>Accessibility>Add Tags to Document.Then

Apostrophe Problems

2006-12-14T15:51:00.001-06:00

Problem: Apostrophes are being read wrong.Solution:Change the Apostrophe to an Artifact so that the Screen Reader will ingore it.Your document must be tagged first.In the Tags Panel click the tag with the Apostrophe in it.Then using the 'TouchUp Reading Order Tool", select the Apostrophe in the document.With the Apostrophe selected, go to the Tags Panel and click on Options>Create Tag from

Replacing pages removes tags on a tagged PDF

2006-12-14T11:41:00.000-06:00

Problem:When replacing a page or pages in a PDF with an already tagged PDF, it does not retain the tags.Solution:I found out that if you use the Document>Insert Pages... feature instead of the Document>Replace pages... feature that it will retain the tags. So just insert the new page after the page you want to replace and then delete the old page.

Prep the Original Document

2006-12-14T10:56:00.000-06:00

If you are having problems making a PDF accessible in Adobe Acrobat Professional, revert back to the original document from which the PDF was created from.If possible, tag the original document before you convert it to a PDF.If the original document's software has a tagging feature, tag the document before converting to a PDF.Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional comes with a plug-in for