DOCS / PDF ACCESSIBILITY

A-2-Z Internet Accessibility and Marketing

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Make Your PDFs Accessible for 508 / ADA Compliance

The Portable Document Format, better known as PDF, is a means by which companies can provide a vast amount of information on their websites. Making PDFs accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities, should be a top priority for all businesses. Although companies strive to ensure that there are no barriers to accessing the information, accessibility standards which support screen readers or other assistive technologies are not always included in the PDF-building process.

A-2-Z Internet Accessibility and Marketing has taken the lead in mentoring companies and organizations as they make all their digital assets, including PDFs, accessible to everyone.

PDF accessibility

PDFs are the file format used by Adobe Acrobat to enable users to view documents outside of the original software in which they were created. Because PDFs allow annotations, hypertext links, and a tagging structure, they can be extremely useful for interactive communication and learning. The document is regarded as accessible if it can be used by those people who have vision impairments or who have limited cognition or mobility. Screen readers and magnifiers, and assistive technologies such as text-to-speech, enhance accessibility for users with disabilities, especially when it comes to the use of mobile phones for disabled people. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) creates a standard that expands content accessibility so that people with disabilities do not encounter barriers to their internet usage.

Making PDFs Accessible to Persons with Disabilities - Main Features

There are specific features which must be active in order to check PDF accessibility to users with disabilities. In order to establish your company’s accessibility, A-2-Z will explore your website for the following features:

Are your pages accessible and searchable to a user who needs assistive technology?
Are the fonts in your PDFs written in fonts that Acrobat can read? Preferred fonts include Verdana, Tahoma, Lucina Sans, Helvetica, and Arial.
Are your interactive forms easy to understand and fill out with the use of a screen reader?
Is the PDF document designed so that users with disabilities can navigate the document press on hyperlinks and other navigational tools without difficulty, using only their keyboards?
Does the document’s security settings offer protection and also allow for text-to-speech or Braille readability with a screen reader?
Do existing tags aid screen readers and text-to-speech features in identifying page elements such as headings, paragraphs, and tables so that the tools can read the page accurately?
Do the graphics and images included in the document have alternative text so that they are accessible?
Does the document include elements that flash or blink or have color that inhibits understanding when assistive technology is being used?
Does the document provide sufficient color contrast so that the visually-impaired user can see it?

The A-2-Z Advantage in Documents Accessibility

A-2-Z Internet Accessibility and Marketing brings an established history of superior performance to all of our projects. Our expert team of developers and programmers knows how to examine a client’s digital environment and detect any obstacles which may prevent persons with disabilities from being able to make full use of that company’s PDFs and other online resources. Our in-depth assessment of client websites explores the performance of screen readers and other assistive technologies from the perspective of a person with disabilities.

The A-2-Z staff has been tested and certified as Web Accessibility Specialists (WAS) so that our team members who design, develop, implement, manage, or evaluate a company’s web-based services, content and projects can authoritatively confirm the documents accessibility.

A-2-Z belongs to the International Association of Accessibility Professionals or IAAP, a global organization dedicated to the definition, promotion and ongoing improvement of website accessibility. A-2-Z regularly networks with other accessibility specialists to combine resources, observe industry trends, and delve into those issues which affect accessibility for persons with disabilities.