Creating accessible PDFs in Adobe Acrobat

Improve the accessibility of PDFs by adding tags in Acrobat. If a PDF doesn’t contain tags, Acrobat attempts to tag it automatically when users read or reflow it, and the results may be disappointing. With a tagged PDF, the logical structure tree sends the contents to a screen reader or other assistive software or hardware in an appropriate order.

For best results, tag a document when converting it to PDF from an authoring application. Examples of these applications include Adobe FrameMaker®, Adobe InDesign®, Microsoft Word, or OpenOffice Writer. If you do not have access to an authoring application that can generate a tagged PDF, you can tag a PDF any time by using Acrobat.

Tagging during conversion to PDF requires an authoring application that supports tagging in PDF. Tagging during conversion enables the authoring application to draw from the paragraph styles or other structural information of the source document to produce a logical structure tree. The logical structure tree reflects an accurate reading order and appropriate levels of tags. This tagging can more readily interpret the structure of complex layouts, such as embedded sidebars, closely spaced columns, irregular text alignment, and tables. Tagging during conversion can also properly tag the links, cross-references, bookmarks, and alternate text (when available) that are in the file.

To tag a PDF in Acrobat, choose Tools > Accessibility > Add Tags To Document. This command works on any untagged PDF, such as one created with Adobe PDF Printer. Acrobat analyzes the content of the PDF to interpret the individual page elements, their hierarchical structure, and the intended reading order of each page. Then, it builds a tag tree that reflects that information. It also creates tags for any links, cross-references, and bookmarks that you added to the document in Acrobat.

The Add Tags To Document command adequately tags most standard layouts. However, it cannot always correctly interpret the structure and reading order of complex page elements. These elements include closely spaced columns, irregular text alignment, nonfillable form fields, and tables that don’t have borders. Tagging these pages by using the Add Tags To Document command can result in improperly combined elements or out-of-sequence tags. These issues cause reading order problems in the PDF.