Creating a WCAG, Section 508, HHS or PDF/UA Accessible PDFs

There are a plethora of organizations that have years’ worth of PDF documents on their website that could potentially be a liability in regard to ADA requirements for web accessibility. These documents need to be modified so they can be dictated accurately to an individual that uses assistive technology like a screen reader. The obvious question is how to you do it. 

Color:  Ensure that color is not the only way that information is being conveyed and there’s sufficient contrast between the content on the page and any background colors. Example you should not use red font on a black back ground and you should not "say click on the red button"

Metadata:  Validate and correct the Metadata.   Metadata provides additional information about the document. Potential metadata could be author, the date of creation, the application that was used to create the file, and more.

Tags Validation:  Ensure that the document has tags and the tags are structured so the content is in the same logical order as compared to the visual layout of the PDF.

Alternative Text:  Providing a textual description to images that convey information is imperative. Images that are for presentation purposes should be placed in an artifact container. A tool tip should be applied for an external link. 

Lists and Tables: Double-check that lists, data tables, and tables of contents tags are correctly structured according to standards.

Validate: Use a reliable checker that tests against the most current industry standard such as PDF/UA to make sure the PDF has been remediated effectively. The industy standard is PAC Version 3. ( PDF Accessibility Checker )