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Do not scan documents to create a PDF. This converts all text to an image that a screen reader cannot scan.

Fonts that allow characters to be extracted to text

Make sure we only use fonts that can be extracted to Unicode characters. Use Adobe Acrobat 9 rather than 7, which does not support Unicode.

Interactive form fields

We do not use form fields.

Other interactive features: buttons, hyperlinks, and navigational aids

We already use links, bookmarks, headings, and a TOC, so we are covered here.

We cannot specify the document language from FrameMaker or Word so we must do so in the final PDF. To specify the document language, do the following.

1. Select File > Document Properties.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. In the Language list, select English.

Security that will not interfere with assistive technology

We should not set any security restrictions on our PDF files. We do not currently do so. The text of an accessible PDF must be available to a screen reader.

Document structure tags and proper read order

When we create a tagged PDF, the structure of our source document should create the appropriate document structure tags. However, while this may create the proper reading order, it does not create the proper order for tabbing through the items on a page. Before running the Acrobat Accessibility Checker, instruct Acrobat to use the document structure for the tab order. Despite our efforts, the Acrobat Accessibility Checker may still report problems with structure; we will have to correct those problems manually or even ignore them, if we cannot determine their cause.

Alternative text descriptions

We must do this in our source files.