PDFs often permeate the college experience—for assigned readings, syllabi, assignments, and other essential documents. However, PDFs can range from very accessible to very inaccessible, and they may pose major barriers that cause delays and extra work for students with disabilities.
Because PDFs are such a common format, we want to share resources at UMass Amherst to source accessible, high-quality versions of any type of document you may need.
For more help with understanding and applying accessibility in your course, reach out to IDEAS for tailored support.
How do I know if my PDF is accessible?
- Learn about the key features of accessibility. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) use the principles of Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust to ensure users with any needs can take in information and navigate the resource. Use the Accessibility Starter Kit or AccessibleU to learn more about specific practices that support accessibility.
- Use the Accessibility Checker built into your PDF application. In this checker, confirm accessibility features such as alt text, headings, and reading order.
- UMass Amherst provides Foxit PDF Editor to faculty, staff, and students. Request Foxit
- Do not use Foxit for grant applications. Employees involved in grant application can request Adobe Acrobat Pro. Students involved in grant applications can request Adobe Express.
- Use the Read tool to hear the accessibility of your document.
- In Foxit, select View > Read.
- In Adobe Acrobat, in the Menu Bar in the top left on Mac OS or under Menu in the top left on Windows, select View > Read out loud > Activate Read Out Loud
Read tool in Foxit PDF Editor
Read Out Loud tool in Adobe Acrobat
If the Read feature reads the text well, great! If the Read features does not read well, you'll be able to tell.
If it reads the text well and doesn’t skip content, this is a good sign. While this can’t guarantee full accessibility, it can help you identify major issues even if you don’t use a screen reader yourself.
If you find accessibility issues, see the guidance in the following sections of this webpage for options.
What type of material are you assigning?
If you are using a PDF of a document that you have created:
- Ensure your original document contains accessibility features, like heading and list structure, descriptive links, alternative text (alt text) for images, and tables only for data. Learn more about document accessibility features in AccessibleU.
- Consider publishing as an HTML webpage, (e.g. posting the content as a page in Canvas, or exporting a document to .html), or share the original Word or Google document. Either of these options are natively more accessible than any PDF. Previously, PDFs were used to ensure content could not be changed. However, PDFs can actually be switched back to their native format through the export feature, so PDFs are not as secure as they appear. Fully locked PDFs block accessibility features and should not be used.
- If you must share the document as a PDF, export to PDF, and check the PDF for accessibility. You may need to remediate the PDF to ensure it is formatted correctly.
Need help authoring accessible documents? Request an Instructional Design Consultation for support.
Consult with the UMass Amherst archive librarians. Accessible digital archives and other tailored opportunities exist.
First search the libraries. If available, share an ePub or webpage link to the article, which will be fully accessible.
If the article is not available as an ePub link, you can request the article to be added as an accessible PDF via Course Reserves.
Note: Course Reserves may require a lead time of up to two weeks to fulfill requests. Increasingly, databases like JSTOR and most academic journals have accessibility functionality and/or requirements. However, some resources there still may not be fully accessible. If you see a resource you want to assign but have questions, please reach out to Libraries or Instructional Design, Engagement, and Support for suggestions and resources.
Assigning a current textbook is generally very accessible because they will have eBook versions with excellent accessibility features. Before assigning it, check the book’s website for accessibility features to ensure all students can use the book you choose.
If you are only assigning a portion of a book or textbook, use Course Reserves to request up to 20% of the book as an accessible PDF.
Have a resource that doesn’t fit into any of the earlier categories—like a flyer you’ve had for decades and don’t know the original author, or a document you find that lacks accessibility features but you still want to assign? Here are some options to help you make it more accessible:
- Reach out to Course Reserves. Even if you have an old wrinkled paper document, the likelihood is Course Reserves could help you create a more accessible version. In the Course Reserves request, you can upload your current version.
- Search for an alternative format (from a webpage, Word Document).
- DIY. You can try remediating a PDF yourself. Use the guide below to get started. But again, we prefer to leave this to the experts in the Libraries.
- Consider creating your own accessible resource as an Open Educational Resource (OER). Grant funding may be available for this work. Your Liaison Librarian can help you select or adapt an OER.
We recommend using the UMass Amherst Libraries resources, because remediating PDFs can be laborious and require specialized knowledge.
If you want to know more, you can see workshops held by Course Reserves.
For remediating scanned PDFs, here is general guidance for simple fixes:
- Crop the pages so no text from adjacent pages are present.
- Use the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature in your PDF application.
Foxit Guide to Scan to PDF | Adobe Acrobat Pro Guide to OCR - Manually check or add heading and list structure.
- Manually add alt text to images and figures.
- Confirm reading order.
- Confirm document language.
- Confirm accurate title and metadata.
- Use the Accessibility Checker, and try the Read/Read Out Loud function to check if the reading is clear and fluent.
Note: this is not an exhaustive list. There may still be accessibility barriers in a document that is remediated with these steps.
There may be many more complex elements of remediating a PDF. You can learn more in the course Creating Accessible PDFs from LinkedIn Learning.
