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Accessibility in Adobe PDFs

This guide shares practices for creating accessible PDFs in Adobe Acrobat Pro.

What is accessibility?

Accessibility is a measure of how well any person can access, engage with, and benefit from the learning materials and activities found in a course.

The term is most frequently associated with making sure that students with mental or physical differences can fully participate.

How can I make accessible materials?

Materials are most useful when they are designed with accessibility in mind. While materials can be remediated to become accessible, it is more efficient to create them as accessible from the beginning. As you develop your knowledge of accessibility and apply accessibility practices, the process will become habitual.  

In this guide, you’ll learn how to design accessible PowerPoints from the onset and address accessibility issues that may occur.  

Use an accessible source document

If you are converting materials such as Microsoft Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, or Excel sheets to PDFs, it is best to address accessibility issues in the source document first. By addressing accessibility issues before converting a material to a PDF, you not only ensure you have an accessible version of the source document, but you will also avoid most, if not all, accessibility issues in the PDF. 

Please see the guides on creating accessible Microsoft Word Documents, PowerPoint presentations, and Excel sheets for more information.