Module 1: What is a PDF?

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VO: Accessible Electronic Document Community of Practice, AED-COP.

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VO: You are watching How to Test and Remediate PDFs for Accessibility using Adobe Acrobat DC.

VO: This is Module 1, What is a PDF? This video is one in a series showing how to make a PDF, Section 508 Conformant.

VO: In this video, we will learn about the various elements that form a PDF, PDF tag types, the accessibility PDF checklist, how to convert documents into PDFs, and how to test a PDF for accessibility.

VO: So, what is a PDF? A PDF is an electronic document file that can be viewed, printed, and electronically submitted. It is made up of three key layers, the physical view, the content view, and the tag structure tree.

VO: The physical view is a visual representation of the text and graphics. You can also think of this as the print view, or what the document would look like when printed.

VO: The content view displays the actual textual and graphical information that is displayed on the page. To view the content layer of the document, access the content pane by going to the View menu item, and then selecting Show/Hide, then Navigation Pane, then Content. Select the symbol on the left of an item to display any content contained within the document.

VO: Lastly, the tags layer displays the tag structure tree, which establishes the logical structure of the document, as well as the logical reading order for assistive technology. This will display tags used, such as headers, paragraphs, lists, and tables. To view the tag structure tree, access the tags pane by selecting the View menu, and then selecting Show/Hide, then Navigation Pane, then Tags.

VO: Next, we will take a look at PDF tag types. Most PDFs are comprised of a few basic tags. However, authors can use up to 37 different tags to fully convey a document's formatting and structure.

VO: Depending on the source file used to create the PDF, the tags that appear in the PDF tag structure tree may not display the same name of a tag created by tools within Acrobat. As long as the tags map to standard Acrobat tags, the tags can be considered valid.

VO: To gain access to the tag structure tree, select the Tags Pane icon to open the Tags pane. Once the tag structure tree is displayed, hold Shift and press the 8 key to expand all tags. To display the tags map, or full name of a tag, right-click on a tag and select Properties. The full name of the tag will appear in the Tags Type field.

VO: The most commonly used tag types created by Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Office are Paragraph, Heading, List, Figure, Table, Table Row, Table Header Cell, Table Data Cell, and Artifact. To obtain a full list of available tags, go to the Tags pane and select Options, and then New Tag.

VO: Next, we will take a look at the Accessibility PDF Checklist. When creating an accessible PDF or when reviewing a PDF for 508 compliance, the AED-COP Section 508 Basic Testing Checklist PDF can be used as a reference. This checklist can be found at www.section508.gov/refresh-toolkit/test.

VO: Each condition on the checklist must be considered, and the answers to all of the conditions must be marked as Yes, or Not Applicable. If a No response is selected, the issue must be resolved before the document can be considered accessible. Each of these conditions can be tested by visually examining the document's physical view, content layer, or tags layer.

VO: An additional resource is Adobe's Accessibility Full Check Tool, which can be found by clicking Tools, then Accessibility, then Full Check.

VO: Now we will review how to convert a document into a PDF. There are two methods for converting a source document into a PDF.

VO: Method A allows you to convert a document using Adobe Acrobat DC tools. Method B is recommended for converting Microsoft Office files into a PDF by using the Adobe PDF plugin located on the Office Main Menu bar.

VO: Method A, converting scanned and non-scanned documents into PDF using Adobe Acrobat DC. To convert a non-Microsoft Office document into PDF, first open Acrobat, then from the File menu, hover over Create, then PDF from File. Next, locate and select the file you want to convert to PDF, and then select Open, and your file will automatically open as a PDF. This method may generate either a tagged or an untagged PDF. Untagged or poorly tagged PDFs are not accessible.

VO: To verify that the PDF is accessible, use Adobe's Content pane, Tags pane, Order pane, and Accessibility full checker tools to test the PDF. Instructions on how to use these tools are located in Module 2, Testing PDFs for Accessibility.

VO: If the document you are converting has been scanned, you must first perform optical character recognition, or OCR, on the document before it can be made accessible. If you are unable to highlight or select text in a document, or if the text is blurry or handwritten, it is likely a scanned document. OCR will translate the words from the scan into text that can be read by a screen reader or other assistive technology. Go to Module 4, Converting Scanned Documents into Section 508 Conformant PDFs for more information on making scanned documents Section 508 Conformant.

VO: Next, we will review steps to convert files into PDFs within Microsoft Office applications. Method B, Converting files into PDF within Microsoft Office applications.

VO: Before converting a Microsoft Office document into a PDF, it is important to first verify the document is as accessible as possible. By doing so, the generated PDF will have fewer accessibility issues that will need to be remediated. For guidance on creating and testing Microsoft Office documents for Section 508 Conformance, visit www.section508.gov/refresh-toolkit/test.

VO: To begin converting an Office document into PDF, first, open the desired Office file. Next, from the Office Applications menu bar, select Acrobat, then Preferences, and from the Preferences Properties box, set the desired conversion settings.

VO: Note, if the Acrobat menu does not appear on the Applications bar, the Adobe PDF plugin has not been installed. If this is the case, convert the Office file using the instructions in Method A.

VO: From the Settings tab, check the following checkboxes:

• View Adobe PDF results.
• Prompt for PDF file name.
• Convert document information.
• PDF A, Compliance set to None.
• Create bookmarks.
• Add links.
• Enable accessibility and reflow with tagged Adobe PDF.

VO: Next, select the Advanced Settings button. Once the new window opens, change the Compatibility Combo box selection to Acrobat 8.0 PDF 1.7. This setting will ensure that the latest accessibility features are applied to the newly created PDF. Now select OK to save conversion settings. Once the settings have been saved, they will remain set unless changed by the user.

VO: Lastly, select Acrobat, then Create PDF from the Office Applications menu to create a tagged PDF. When prompted, name the file and save it. Once the conversion process is completed, Adobe Acrobat DC will launch and display the newly created PDF file.

VO: If the Office document was created using Formatting and Style elements located on the Office toolbar, a well tagged document will be generated. In most cases, PDF files created using this method are 90% accessible.

VO: To verify that the PDF is accessible, use Adobe's Content pane, Tags pane, Order pane, and Accessibility full checker tools to test the PDF. Instructions on how to use these tools are found in Module 2, Testing a PDF for Accessibility.

VO: In the next module, we will dive into how to fully evaluate and test a PDF for 508 conformance.

VO: Thank you for watching Module 1. You are encouraged to watch the other modules in this video series and revisit modules to gain a mastery of the information provided. To learn more about Section 508, visit www.section508.gov.

VO: This video is a product of the Accessible Electronic Document, Community of Practice, Chief Information Officers Council, and the Federal Aviation Administration.