All UMass Amherst electronic documents distributed through websites are required to be accessible. Accessibility, according to the University Office of Accessibility website, means a person with a disability has the same access to information as a person without a disability.
Creating New PDFs
When creating new documents, consider whether your content needs to be a PDF. If possible, PDFs should be converted into web content.
If content needs to be a PDF, make sure the original document format is accessible before generating a PDF from it. Microsoft (MS) Word has accessibility tools built in to simplify this process.
Processing Noncompliant PDFs
Many PDFs do not conform to the latest accessibility standards. Noncompliant files need to either be removed, recreated in a compliant format (e.g., HTML), shared internally, or mitigated.
Again, content should be in HTML if possible, and PDF only if necessary. Content should never be both HTML and PDF.