Top 5 PDF Accessibility Issues And How to Solve Them
When it comes to publishing PDFs, many documents can be quite tricky or even impossible for folks using screen readers or other assistive technologies to navigate. Here are five of the most common accessibility challenges you might encounter, along with some practical steps to address them.
1. Missing or Improper Document Structure (“Tags”)
A lot of PDFs don’t have the internal tagging that helps define their structure like headings, paragraphs, lists, and tables which is crucial for screen readers to make sense of the content's order and meaning.
Solution:
To get started, create your original document using software like Word or InDesign. Make sure to apply the right heading styles, paragraph formats, and list styles. Once you're done, you can easily export it as a tagged PDF.
If you have a PDF ready to go, you can use a tool like Adobe Acrobat Pro. Just head over to Accessibility and select Automatically tag PDF to create an initial tag tree.
After you've finished, take a moment to manually review and adjust the tag structure, especially for more intricate layouts like sidebars, multi-column designs, or tables. This will help ensure that the tags truly represent the logical structure.
2. Incorrect Reading Order
Even if a PDF is properly tagged, assistive tools might still read the content in the wrong order. For instance, sidebars, captions, footnotes, or multi-column text could be read before the main content, which can definitely lead to some confusion.
Solution:
To check and adjust the reading order in Acrobat Pro, use the “Reading Order” or “Touch-Up Reading Order” tool. This will help you visually inspect and ensure that the reading sequence aligns with the visual layout, like going from top to bottom and left to right.
When dealing with complex pages, make sure to manually select the different sections like text, figures, and tables and tag them correctly (as text, figure, table, or artifact). This way, screen readers will only pick up the content that really matters.
After you've finished, take a moment to manually review and adjust the tag structure, especially for more intricate layouts like sidebars, multi-column designs, or tables. This will help ensure that the tags truly represent the logical structure.
3. Missing or Inadequate Alternative Text for Images & Graphics
Images, charts, graphics, and decorative elements should always have alt-text (or be marked as decorative) so that users who can’t see can still access the same information through screen readers. Unfortunately, many PDFs completely skip out on including alt-text.
Solution:
In the source document, make sure to include descriptions for all significant images and charts. When you export to PDF, double-check that the Alt-text is kept intact.
If you're working directly in a PDF, make sure to use Acrobat’s Tags / Reading Order panel. For every image that provides information, be sure to add descriptive alt text. If an image is just for decoration, label it as “artifact” so that screen readers can skip over it.
4. Inaccessible Tables and Lists
Improper header rows and logical structure can make improperly tagged tables and lists confusing or unreadable for screen reader users.
Solution:
Use semantic table markup and define header rows when creating tables in the source document (Word, etc.). Next, export to a PDF with tags.
Use Acrobat Pro's tags panel to correctly set data cells (TD) and table headers (TH) in already-existing PDFs. Make sure that the ordered and unordered list semantics are maintained in the tags.
5. Missing or Poor Document Metadata (Title, Language, Accessible Links)
A meaningful title, language setting, bookmark structure, and descriptive link text are frequently absent from PDFs, which hinders discoverability or makes assistive tool navigation challenging.
Solution:
Set the document properties in Acrobat, including the author, title, and document language.
To make it easier for users to navigate between sections of lengthy documents, include bookmarks (table of contents).
When it comes to hyperlinks, steer clear of vague phrases like “click here.” Instead, opt for descriptive text that clearly explains what the link is about. Also, make sure to use accessible link tagging so that screen readers can announce them correctly.
Why This Matters And When to Use PDFs
While PDFs are still a go-to format for many, their accessibility really hinges on how they're created. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests taking a moment to consider if your content truly needs to be in PDF form; sometimes, shorter or web-friendly content is better off as regular webpages. It is because accessible HTML tends to work better with screen readers, making it easier for everyone to use.
If you need to work with PDFs, whether for legal, archival, or formatting purposes, making the adjustments mentioned above will help ensure that your content is accessible to everyone. This way, you’ll be meeting your ethical, legal, and practical responsibilities.
How Akshari Solution Can Help
At Akshari Solution, we truly get how vital accessible content is, not just for meeting compliance standards, but for fostering inclusivity. Here’s what we can do for you:
We’ll take a close look at your current PDFs to spot any accessibility issues, like tags, alt text, reading order, tables, and metadata.
We can fix those issues using tools like Adobe Acrobat Pro and following the best practices in the industry.
We’ll also guide you on how to create future documents in a way that reduces accessibility challenges, such as using the right heading styles, alt text, and semantic tables.
Plus, we offer training and resources for your team to help them create accessible documents.
We believe that accessibility is crucial, and we’re here to support you in making your documents usable for everyone.
