Guide to document accessibility

Create an accessible source document

The first step is to create an accessible source document. A source document is the file created in Word, PowerPoint, Excel, InDesign or any other program before converting to a PDF.

Creating an accessible source document is much easier than fixing an inaccessible PDF.

Some things to keep in mind when creating or editing a source document:
(Note: this list is not a comprehensive guide.)

Use document styles

The most important (and easiest) thing you can do is use proper document styles for headings and lists. Instead of using the toolbar in Word, PowerPoint, Excel or InDesign to bold or resize your text, use the built-in styles available in each program. 

If you don’t like the way those styles look, don’t fret! You can customize them to align with the UVic and/or your unit’s brand. The important thing is to use them the same way you would when editing your website. The same web best practices for page titles and headings apply to documents as well.

Microsoft Office tutorials (includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)

• use built-in styles for headings and lists in Microsoft Office
• customize built-in styles in Microsoft Office

Adobe InDesign tutorial

• use and customize paragraph and character styles in InDesign

Add document metadata

Metadata is information stored within a PDF, including the title, language, subject and keywords. When you’re creating or editing a source document, the metadata fields will often be blank unless you update them.

Metadata is important because:

• it provides important information to assistive technology (e.g. screen readers) and users, including the language and type of information the document contains
• it is stored by search engines, such as Google
  • having descriptive and accurate metadata will make it easier for users to find your content when searching the web
• certain parts of the metadata will display when the PDF is open in a browser or in a PDF reader
  • for example, if the “title” field is blank, the title of the document will often display as the file name (e.g. dog-breed-guide-v3-final.pdf) instead of something easier to read (e.g. UVic guide to dog breeds)

The most important metadata fields to set for your document are title and language (usually English). Set the author as your unit’s name and add a short description to help with search engine optimization.

Setting up metadata

Set up your metadata in the source document before exporting to PDF, otherwise you’ll have to repeat the process every time you export.

To learn how to set metadata in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other Microsoft Office programs, see Microsoft’s guide on document properties. For step-by-step instructions, scroll down to “View and change the standard properties for the current file” and select the relevant program from the dropdown menu.

For instructions on setting metadata in InDesign, see Adobe’s guide on including metadata. Step-by-step instructions can be found under “Add metadata using the File Info dialog box.”

Add alternate text to images, charts and figures

Images in your PDF must have text alternatives (“alt text”) to be accessible to people who can’t see them. While alternate text can be added to a PDF retroactively, it is much easier to add it to the source document.

If you have images in your document that are purely decorative and don’t contain any essential information, they need to be explicitly marked as decorative (Microsoft Office) or as artifacts (InDesign).

• learn how to add alternate text and mark visuals as decorative in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint on the Microsoft support site
• learn how to add alternate text and tag visuals as artifacts (under “Tag page items manually”) on the Adobe help site

The trouble with tables

Tables are one of the most common troublemakers when it comes to PDF accessibility. They can be difficult for screen readers to navigate and challenging for users to scan and comprehend content.

Before creating a table in your document, consider whether you really need one. Tables should only be used to display data or information that cannot be conveyed in other ways, such as a bulleted list.

For example, instead of using a table to display application deadlines like this:

Consider displaying it as an easy-to-read list:

Application deadlines for Program A

• Canadian students: December 1
• International students: October 1

Application deadlines for Program B

• Canadian students: October 15
• International students: August 15

If you need to use a table, there are steps you can take to ensure it is accessible when you convert your document to a PDF:

• use the built-in table tools within your program of choice (don’t draw a table using shapes or lines)
• mark your header cells appropriately
• avoid merged cells where possible

Help guides for accessible tables

• create accessible tables in Microsoft Word
• mark header and footer cells in InDesign (scroll to “Add table headers and footers” section)

Fix issues in a PDF (advanced)

You may have inherited a PDF document without access to its source document. If this happens, there are tools you can use in Adobe Acrobat that will help you make basic fixes.

Here’s what you can do with relative ease:

• run an accessibility check (to ensure there are no issues before uploading)
• add/edit document metadata
• add alternate text to visuals

If you don’t have access to Adobe Acrobat or need help troubleshooting more complicated issues that come up in your accessibility check, contact the University Web Coordinator.

Additional resources

• creating accessible PDFs using Adobe Acrobat (BC Gov)
• Accessible document basics (Accessible PDF.info)
• creating accessible PDFs (LinkedIn Learning)
  
  • free when you log into LinkedIn Learning with a Greater Victoria Public Library card
  • bonus: a section explaining the assistive software experience is available without registering for the course
• accessible forms in Acrobat (WebAIM)
• creating accessible PDFs with Adobe InDesign (Adobe)
• make your Word documents accessible to people with disabilities (Microsoft)
• make your PowerPoint presentation accessible (Microsoft)