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PDFs can be difficult to remediate for accessibility. Ally course report will notify you that your PDF is inaccessible, but can't always assist with remediation within Ally. We have come up with a recommended workflow to help guide you as you work to make these materials accessible.
Accessible PDF Characteristics
- PDF must be tagged (headers, paragraphs, images).
- PDF must have a logical reading order. This means the tags must be in order from top to bottom so a screen reader can navigate the document in the same way as a sighted learner.
- Alternative (alt) text must be added to images in the PDF.
- Scanned PDFs must undergo OCR (optical character recognition) so screen readers can recognize the characters.
Recommended Workflow
Search for an Existing Copyright Compliant Copy
A common issue with PDFs or scanned PDFs of book chapters or articles is copyright compliance in addition to accessibility concerns. First search to see if you can find a digital version that is already WCAG2.1 (accessibility standards) and copyright compliant. Harness the resource of the excellent Pima librarians who can help you search for your material. Submit the Ask a Librarian form to get connected with a PCC Librarian.
Convert the PDF to editable HTML
If you created the PDF document, or you cannot find a digital version, use a Gemini skill (formerly Gem) created by Tony Sovak to convert a PDF to accessible and editable HTML. Check out the article Accessible PDFs: Using Gemini to Convert to Editable HTML for more guidance on this process.
Use Adobe Acrobat Pro
All instructors at Pima have access to Adobe Acrobat Pro which can be used to remediate inaccessible PDFs. Follow the guide Adobe Acrobat Pro: Accessing at Pima to access Adobe Acrobat Pro.
If you have never used Adobe products before, the learning curve can be steep. For the most up to date guidance on learning to use accessibility tools in Adobe Pro, please see the Adobe PDF Accessibility Video Series.
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