Creating Accessible PDF's from Word 2007

Transcription

1 Creating Accessible PDF's from Word 2007

2 CREATING ACCESSIBLE PDFS FROM WORD 2007 This article explains how you can use the Save as PDF plugin for Microsoft Office 2007 to create accessible PDFs from Word 2007 documents. The plugin comes from the Microsoft site and is free for users who can prove they have a genuine version of Microsoft Office. Please note: the plugin does not work for previous versions of Office including Download the plugin To start, download and install the plugin from the Microsoft site. Create the Word document Start Word and write your document. Follow the principles of a well structured document using headings and standard bulleted lists. Add alternative (alt) text to all images. Use heading styles Use the Word heading style for all section headings. See Fig 1 below for an example. These option are found under the Home tab. Click on the Home tab or press Alt then H if on a different tab such as Insert or View. Fig 1: coding headings with heading styles

3 Add alt text to images If there are images in the Word document you need to add alt text to them via the Size option. Note: if you are in compatibility mode, the alt text box is found under Format picture. To access the Size option, right click on the image to bring up the options menu as shown in Fig 2 and then click on Size or press Shift + Z. Fig 2: Image options You then need to click on the Alt Text tab or press the right arrow key once. Select the alt text edit box by clicking in the Alternative text box or by pressing Alt + A. An example is shown in Fig 3. Remember to write something that would accurately describe the image if someone couldn t see it. When you have finished click on Close or tab to the Close button and press Enter.

4 Fig 3: Adding alt text to an image in Word 2007 Using the Save as PDF option Having created your accessible Word document you then need to save it as a PDF. To do this click on the Office button or press Alt then F then F again. Then, as shown in Fig 4 below select the PDF or XPS option or press P.

5 Fig 4: Selecting the Save as PDF option PDF Options From the dialog box in Fig 5 click on the Options button or press Alt + A to bring up the Options dialog box as shown in Fig 6. Fig 5: Publish as PDF dialog box

6 Fig 6: Options dialog box In the option box illustrated by Fig 6, ensure the Create bookmarks using: checkbox has a tick in it. If it does not, select it by clicking on it, or pressing Alt + C. Underneath this checkbox there are two radio buttons. Select the Headings radio button or press Alt + H (if it is not already selected). If the Document structure tags for accessibility checkbox is not checked, click on it or press Alt + M to select it. Then click OK or tab to the OK button and press Enter to create your PDF. Check in Adobe Acrobat You will need to check your PDF in Adobe Acrobat for any other accessibility tweaks you will need to add, such as specifying a reading order through the document. Go to the Advanced menu > Accessibility and select Quick Check.

7 You will be notified if you have problems or not in a message window. If you have problems, then do a Full Check. You can select or check all the boxes of accessibility criterion. A check report will be generated and informing you what and where are the errors. Generally if you have done everything correctly in Word, you should be able to pass the quick and full check report. Otherwise the followings quick fix procedure might help: Check Tags (descriptors of your structure) in your PDF (1) Go to File menu > Properties. On description tab, look for yes or no next to the tagged PDF entry (2) If No tags, then go to Advanced menu > Accessibility > Add Tags. Automatically Acrobat will add tags to your document that used styles correctly the first place.

8 Check Language (specification of type of language by default) in your.pdf (1) Go to File menu > Document Properties > Advanced >. Find Reading Option and under Language, select the language of your choice Add Alternative Text after adding Tags (1) Go to Tools menu > Advanced Editing > TouchUp Object Tool. (2) Click on the object, such as image, and right click and select Properties. (3) Select the Tag tab in the Properties window and enter the necessary information in the fields. Click Close. Save the document in Acrobat.