March 8, 2011 PDF Accessibility Quick Checks
Slide 1: Welcome to the Accessible Technology Webinar Series 
The Accessible Technology Webinar Series is sponsored by the Great Lakes ADA Center and the Pacific ADA Center, both members of the ADA National Network.
The Session is Scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm Central Time
We will be testing sound quality periodically
 The content and materials of this training cannot be used or distributed without permission. This training is funded under award #H133A060097 from the U.S. Department of Education through the auspices of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR. For permission to use training content or obtain copies of materials used as part of this program please contact us by email at adata@adagreatlakes.org or toll free (800) 949-4232 (V/TTY) in IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, and WI.  For other all other states call (312) 413-1407 
Slide 2: Webinar Features
Closed captioning – click CC icon (top of screen) or control-F8 and adjust your screen
Questions - type and submit questions in the Chat Area Text box or press control-M and enter text in the Chat Area
Please do not use emoticons or hand-raising features during this session
Slide 3: PDF Accessibility Quick Checks 
Christy Blew, M.S., C.C.T.
Slide 4: Why Accessible PDF? 
The Illinois Information Technology Accessibility Act (Public Act 095-0307) requires that information technology (such as websites, systems, and downloadable documents) developed, purchased, or provided by the State be accessible to individuals with disabilities. 
These standards define the functional performance criteria and technical requirements that must be met to ensure that information technology is accessible. 
Slide 5: Who does IITAA apply to? 
The IITAA applies to all State of Illinois entities, including:
Executive, legislative, and judicial branches 
Agencies, departments, divisions, etc. 
Constitutional offices 
Public universities 
Slide 6: IITAA and PDF files 
IITAA 15.1 states "Provide natively accessible downloadable documents whenever possible.“
A document is considered natively accessible if it follows the accessibility techniques for its format.
If a downloadable document cannot be made natively accessible, it may be possible to provide both the original document and an equivalent accessible alternative. 
Slide 7: What is a PDF 
Created in 1993, is used for representing two-dimensional documents in a manner independent of the application software, hardware, and operating system.
Key element – scalable
Not natively accessible
Slide 8: How We Acquire PDF Files
Scan from print document
Save As/Convert to PDF from program
Print to PDF from program
Just receive a PDF – no access to original document
Slide 9: Structure of a PDF File 
Visual Layer 
(also referred to as the Physical Layer)
This is what you would associate as a “PDF File”. It is the version that would exist if you were to print out the PDF in a hard copy. 
Text Layer (also referred to as the Content Layer)
This layer contains the textual information that is associated with the Visual Layer. 
Tags Layer
The Tags Layer contains the PDF tagging structure (similar to HTML markup for a webpage) that is used by assistive technology.
Notes indicating what you visually see, Text of visual layer, structural Tags. 
Slide 10: Checking for Accessibility 
Sometimes no access to original document or applications conversion does not maintain tagging structure
Currently there is no tool to automatically check a PDF file for functional accessibility. 
There are tools currently that check some items, but to check a PDF for full accessibility, you still need to do manual checking.  
Slide 11: Housekeeping 
VIEW > NAVIGATION PANELS
Tags
Order > Touch Up Reading Panel
Settings button (icon of gears)
Turn on Highlight Content
Screen shot of Comparing Tags Panel to document structure 
Slide 12: Text vs. Image 
Many times documents are created by scanning. Instead of saving in the OCR or text setting, they are saved as images.
Saving as an image to create a PDF does not create any text to be read by assistive devices – it is just a picture of shapes that resemble a text font.
Slide 13: Testing for Text vs. Image 
Place your cursor in the text area of the document 
Note if the cursor changes 
Try to highlight the text 
Screen shot of Place cursor in the text area of the document 
Slide 14: PDF Tags 
Tags are a duplicate copy of your document content with descriptive code (tags) identifying each element of content. 
The codes are similar, though not exactly the same as, HTML tags and include such familiar elements as paragraphs, headers, forms, captions, lists, tables and table cells, and images/graphics.
Acrobat tags also include many non-HTML elements, such as formulas, annotations, notes, parts, references, and sections.
Tags make AT devices such as screen readers able to navigate a PDF document.
Slide 15: Use of Tags
Open the TAGS panel by selecting VIEW > NAVIGATION PANELS > TAGS.
An untagged document will open the panel and have “No Tags Available”
If tags are present, the panel will show “Tags” and have a plus sign next to it to expand the tags in a tree format
Screen shot of tags panel. 
Slide 16: Tagging Quick Check
Heading structure? 
Since correct tagging would require a heading structure for navigation, this can quickly tell you pass or fail.
Are all the tags the same? 
Some documents are tagged, but just generally with all the same tag. This is a quick sign that the tagging structure is not done correct.
Do tags seem “out of order”?
Are tags present but not in logical order? This is a quick sign that the tagging structure is not done correct.
Screen shot of content order panel 
Slide 17: About Headings 
Headings are used to separate sections of the document. 
Without headings, documents look like one long paragraph of content to people using speech and text technologies like screen readers or refreshable Braille.
Imagine a large cookbook with no table of contents or index. How hard would it be to find a specific recipe? 
Slide 18: Text Equivalents/Alt Text 
A text equivalent is a phrase, sentence, or combination of phrases and sentences that you write and associate with a particular image. 
The text should describe the image's visual appearance; and it can include instructions on how to take an action, such as navigating through online Help by clicking an arrow image.
Thus, text equivalents should be rendered in such a way that they effectively substitute non-text elements for assistive technologies employed by people with different disabilities.
Slide 19: Existence of Text Equivalents 
With the Touch Up Reading Open
Figures will show alternate text if exists.
Right click on the element and select EDIT ALTERNATE TEXT. The Alt text box will pop up.
Screen shot of alternate text panel 
Slide 20: Reading Order 
Open the ORDER Panel by selecting VIEW > NAVIGATION PANELS > ORDER.
Blocked areas of the document are highlighted with numerals associated with each block. These numbers are the reading order. If no numbered blocks appear, the document is most likely not tagged.
Do the ordered blocks make logical reading sense? Do they mimic the original document’s expected reading order?
Screen shot of Using the Order Panel to check reading order 
Slide 21: “Seeing” Like a Screen Reader 
Save your document as accessible text format – FILE > SAVE AS > TEXT (Accessible)
Open in notepad (or other .txt) viewer to see if the reading order makes sense.
Slide 22: “Complex PDF” Checks 
Data Tables
Use the Tags panel to check if cells are marked up with TD and TH correctly
Charts
Charts are considered non-text elements and should have associated alt text
Multimedia
Audio should have a text transcript, Video should be captioned. 
Slide 23: Manual Check Summary 
Text vs. Image
Presence of Tags
Correct Use of Tags
Non-text elements have alternate text
Logical Reading Order
Screen Reader View
Slide 24: Tutorials 
Center on Education and Work. The University of Wisconsin-Madison
http://www.cew.wisc.edu/accessibility/tutorials/accesspdf.htm 
WebAIM 
http://webaim.org/techniques/acrobat/acrobat 
Webinars, Videos, Articles
http://easi.cc/ 
Slide 25: Questions/Comments? 
Christy Blew
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
clblew@illinois.edu 
Slide 26: Final Comments
Thank you Christy!
An Archived Recording of this session will be available within 2 business days at:
	www.ada-audio.org/ArchivesAccessibleTechnology/ 
An email with the link for today’s session evaluation will be sent to you following this session – Please complete the survey as we value your feedback
Slide 27: Thank You! 
Thank you for participating in today’s Please join us for the next session:
 May 10, 2011 titled “How a Firm Can Differentiate Itself By Hiring Technologists with Disabilities’.  For more information and to register visit us at https://adagreat.powweb.com/Webinar/AccessibleTechnology/