Accessible Documents

When creating digital documents, the goal is to ensure they are accessible to all readers. This can be achieved by following accessibility best practices throughout the design, creation, and distribution of the document. These foundational practices apply across document formats, including HTML, Microsoft Word, Google Docs, PDFs, and others.

To create an accessible PDF, begin with a well-structured Microsoft Word document using headings, alt text, and other accessibility features. Export the file as a tagged PDF, then open it in Adobe Acrobat Pro to review and remediate any accessibility issues by checking tags, reading order, document properties, and alternative text. Finish by running Acrobat's Accessibility Checker to verify the PDF meets accessibility standards such as WCAG.

  • Title the document accordingly
  • Create structured headings.
  • Add alternative text to images.
  • Ensure sufficient color contrast.
  • Use meaningful link text.
  • Create simple tables with column and row headers.
  • Are lists appropriately used
  • Defined language.

A vital step in ensuring your content remains accessible is removing content that is no longer needed or relevant. If content is no longer actively maintained but must be retained for reference, it should be clearly labeled as “Archived.”

You don’t have to fix web content that has been archived. But for your content to count as ‘archived,’ the Department of Justice says it must meet four conditions:

  1. The content was created before April 26, 2027, AND
  2. The content is kept only for reference, research, or recordkeeping, AND
  3. The content is kept in a special area for archived content, AND
  4. The content has not been changed since it was archived.

If any one of these conditions are not met, the content must meet WCAG 2.1 AA. 

**If someone requests that archived content be made accessible for their use, it must be remediated promptly.

Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat Pro, include automated accessibility checkers that evaluate your content and identify potential accessibility issues. These tools typically provide recommendations for resolving the issues they detect.

Built-in accessibility checkers are useful, but they cannot determine whether content follows a logical reading order or whether elements such as alternative text are appropriate for the document’s audience, purpose, and context. After running an accessibility checker and resolving the issues it identifies, content authors should also manually review the following items, including those that may already be present in the document.

See first accordion "Apply accessibility best practices in creating your document".

 

Appropriatly Saving (Prep) a PDF 

All the work in the previous steps might be invain if you export the PDF in a way that does not support accessibility. Many authoring tools do not preserve accessibility features when exporting to PDF. Those that do, such as Microsoft Word, require specific techniques to ensure accessibility is preserved (e.g., use “Save as PDF”, not “Print to PDF”).

Before creating, uploading, or linking to a PDF, pause and ask, does this need to be a PDF? Can it be converted or created in HTML web pages?

Although, there are situations where PDFs remain appropriate or necessary, including:

  • Archival documents
  • Official printable forms
  • Complex designs
  • Legal documents
  • Scientific publications
  • External submissions
  • Long form publications

To PDF, or not to PDF

Use the following steps for public facing content, internal resources, and official documents.

  • PDFs for general circulation should be rare, intentional, and high quality
  • Public facing PDFs must meet higher accessibility expectations

PDF may not be the most appropriate delivery format when any of the following apply to the content:

  • It is meant to be read online.
  • It will be updated regularly.
  • It is public facing or broadly shared.

PDF may be the most appropriate delivery format for:

  • Official forms
  • Print ready reports
  • Legal or compliance documents
  • Archival records

If YES →Go to Step 2.

If NO → Publish as a web page or structure document format, e.g., Word, and not a PDF.

New document → Go to Step 3
Existing document → Go to Step 4

Ask yourself the following questions:

  • Is the source document accessible (Word, PowerPoint, Google docs or forms, Excel, etc.)?
  • Have accessibility checkers been used and flagged accessibility issues been fixed before publishing?

If YES → Create and publish a PDF from an accessible original file.

If NO → Go to Step 5.

Some older digital content may qualify as “archived content” under ADA Title II and therefore may not be required to meet WCAG 2.1 AA. Content is considered “archived” if it meets all four of the following criteria:

  1. It was created before April 24, 2026 or reproduces the contents of other physical media created before that date; and
  2. It is kept only for reference, research, or recordkeeping; and
  3. It is not altered or updated after the date of archiving; and
  4. It is organized and stored in a dedicated area or areas clearly identified as being archived.

If YES → Follow Civil Rights Compliance Office guidance on how to label archived content.

If NO → Go to Step 5.

If you need to use a PDF and it is not currently accessible, it will require accessibility remediation.

If YES →

You have a couple of options:

  • Remediate it yourself with Adobe Acrobat Pro (If installed on your work computer). Note that this option requires skills in PDF accessibility remediation.
  • Submit a MARCOM project request for remediation. 
  • Outsource to a PDF remediation service provider (TBD)

If NO →

  • You are finished!

Remediate a PDF

Adobe Acrobat Pro's accessibility checker is a software tool that scans a PDF document for features that may prevent people with disabilities from accessing or navigating its content.

It typically checks for issues such as:

  • Missing or incorrect document tags
  • Improper heading structure
  • Incorrect reading order
  • Missing alternative text for images
  • Inaccessible tables
  • Missing document language or title
  • Insufficient color contrast
  • Inaccessible links or forms
  • Text that is not searchable or readable by assistive technology

Note: PDF remediation requires manual review because automated accessibility tools cannot fully evaluate factors such as logical reading order, color contrast, or the accuracy of complex tags. While automated checkers can identify many technical accessibility issues, they cannot determine whether a PDF is fully accessible on their own. A manual review, often including testing with a screen reader, is necessary to confirm that the document provides an accessible and usable experience.

Acrobat Accessibility Checker How-to (Scribe)