IT Solutions Center

In our commitment to accessibility, we are now requiring all PDF forms to be accessible before a DocuSign form is created. Follow the instructions below to check the accessibility of your PDF and review the guidelines for PDFs.

Table of Contents

• Check the accessibility of your PDF
• Guidelines for PDFs
• Resources

Check the accessibility of your PDF

1. Use the built-in Adobe Acrobat accessibility check to see what issues your PDF has.
   1. Learn how to use the Acrobat accessibility check.
   2. The accessibility tools within Adobe Acrobat will help guide you through fixing most of the issues in your PDF.
2. After addressing issues in Acrobat, use axesCheck to ensure there are no additional accessibility issues.

If you have any questions or issues that you need assistance with, please reach out to the IT Help Center.

Guidelines for PDFs

• PDF should not be a scanned image of a form.
  • Forms must be re-created in Word or similar program to ensure the text on the PDF is readable by screen readers (e.g. can be highlighted and copy/pasted).
  • Use "Export to PDF" or "Save as a PDF" option from Word or similar program to create the PDF.
• All non-decorative images must have alternative text (alt text) describing the image.
  • Add the alt text to an image within Word.
  • All logos are non-decorative and should have alt text.
  • To determine if an image is non-decorative, ask yourself, "If the image is removed, will the user still be able to understand how to complete the form?"
    • If no, then the image is non-decorative and requires alt text.
    • If yes, then the image is non-decorative and does not require alt text and must be marked as an artifact in the PDF.
• Format headings properly.
  • Any bolded or large text that acts as a section title should be formatted as a heading.
  • Format text as headings using the Word formatting ribbon and not simply bolding the text or increasing the font size.
• Use tables only when necessary.
  • Tables should be used for tabular data, not presentation or styling.
  • Use the table creator in Word and make sure header rows/columns are marked appropriately.
• Make sure the PDF is tagged.
  • Add tags in Adobe Acrobat.
  • When exporting from Word, PDFs are generally tagged, but the tags must be checked to ensure they are correct and all content is tagged properly.

Resources

Here are a few links to better understanding PDF accessibility and how to fix issues. Assistance is always available through the IT Help Center.

• PDF Accessibility by WebAIM
• Create and verify PDF accessibility (Acrobat Pro)
• Fix a PDF starting with the Accessibility Checker in Adobe Acrobat Pro (YouTube video)
• Remediating an inaccessible PDF