 |
Page History
...
Step | Steps for creating accessible documents in FrameMaker | For more information, see | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
<ac:structured-macro ac:name="unmigrated-wiki-markup" ac:schema-version="1" ac:macro-id="c6e263ca4cf753c2-3c4b152c-4ea14707-b2819984-cf492554e87c2f584213dde7"><ac:plain-text-body><![CDATA[ | 1 | Design with accessibility in mind. Only use our template styles, including character styles for common formatting such as bold and italic. Resist overriding template styles. | [[http://www.webaim.org/]|http://www.webaim.org/|WebAIM website] | ]]></ac:plain-text-body></ac:structured-macro> |
2 | Use our latest FrameMaker template that consolidates all paragraph styles into each file in the book. | L:\Technical Writing\Templates\FrameMaker Templates\Current FM Templates | ||
3 | Add alternate text to images.
|
| ||
4 | Use row and column headings and captions for all tables. Do not merge table rows or columns. Do not allow rows to break across pages. |
| ||
5 | Use meaningful link anchors rather than URLs when possible. Use the Go to URL hypertext marker for all URLs in FrameMaker. |
| ||
6 | In the PDF Setup dialog box, select Generate PDF Bookmarks, Generate Tagged PDF (click Default to tag all styles), and Create Named Destinations for All Paragraphs. |
|
...
The following table explains how you can prepare your Word documents for accessibility. Note that Word documents lose some of the accessibility options you introduce once they reach Acrobat. It is likely that you will need to post-process the file in Acrobat.
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
*Note:* Refer to the \[Word to PDF Reference Card]\|[http://blogs.adobe.com/accessibility/assets/WordToPDFReferenceCard_v1.pdf]\|Word to PDF Reference Card\] and the HHS [checklist for accessible Word files |http://www.hhs.gov/web/policies/wordCheckList-HHS.pdf |
|HHS checklist for accessible Word files]wordCheckList-HHS.pdf for helpful tips. |
Step | Steps for creating accessible documents in Word | For more information, see |
|---|---|---|
1 | Design with accessibility in mind. Only use our template styles, including character styles for common formatting such as bold and italic. Resist overriding template styles. | |
2 | Add alternate text to images.
|
|
3 | Use row and column headings and captions for all tables. Do not merge table rows or columns. Do not allow rows to break across pages. |
|
4 | Use meaningful link anchors rather than URLs when possible. |
|
5 | Configure PDFMaker to tag the document properly.
|
|
...
- Adding Alternate Text to ImagesAdding Alternate Text to Images
- Using Good Table Manners
- Naming Link Anchors
- Creating a Tagged PDF from FrameMaker
- The Problem with Automated Tools
- Accessibility Tools Need Human Judgment
- Using the Adobe Acrobat Accessibility Tool
| Anchor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
...
- Place all graphics in anchored frames.
- Click an anchored frame one time to select it.
- Right-click the anchored frame and select Object Properties.
- Click the Object Attributes button. The Object Attributes dialog box appears.
- In the Alternate box, type an alternate text description for the content of the anchored frame.
- Actual text is for reading aloud the actual text, as in the case of a drop cap. For example, if the author is using a drop cap for the letter A in the word "Adobe" but still wants the screen readers to read the word as "Adobe" and not as "dobe," this can be done by filling in actual text.
- Click Set and then Set again. A screen reader can now read the alternate text.
| Anchor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Section 508 differentiates between data tables and tables used purely for layout purposes, which it calls layout tables. A layout table would not have a table header. Most of our tables at CBIIT are data tables.
Section 508 specifies that we must do the following to create accessible data tables:
...
We do not currently produce output for table or figure captions in the help we create with ePublisher. We can either change that practice or make sure to summarize a table when we introduce it, even in help output.
| Anchor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Most tips regarding the accessibility of links concern proper coding of them so that all users can tab between them using a keyboard. Links also need to have a unique appearance so that they can always be identified as links. Our tools take care of both of these things.
...
- It is also a good general practice to introduce any link by describing the advantage that will be gained by following it.
| Anchor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Tagged PDF files contain a document's logical structure and metadata, and are the most reliable format for the following:
...
- Click File > Print or File > Print Book. Select Adobe PDF as your printer.
- Select the Generate Acrobat Data option and then click the PDF Setup button. The PDF Setup dialog box appears.
- Click the Tags tab. Select the Generate Tagged PDF option and then do the following:
- Move paragraph tag names to the Include Paragraphs list to indicate paragraphs you want included in the PDF logical structure.
- Select a paragraph tag name and then use the arrows located directly under that list to indicate the structure level of the selected paragraph.
- Click Set.
| Anchor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Microsoft Word also contains the tools necessary to create accessible documents. Perhaps the most important contributing factor to an accessible Word document is the use of Word styles. Properly structured documents that do not use override styles but rather styles defined by a template are the easiest for a screen reader to follow.
...
For detailed information about creating accessible Word files, see
http://www.webaim.org/techniques/word/. You can also find detailed information in the online help for Adobe Acrobat.
| Anchor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Adobe defines accessible PDFs as having the characteristics in the table below. The table also presents an interpretation of how each characteristic applies to the technical documentation team at CBIIT.
Characteristic of Accessible PDFs | How This Applies To CBIIT |
|---|---|
Searchable text | 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. |
Document language | 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.
|
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 creates the appropriate document structure tags. However, it appears that not all elements in our source files result in correctly structured tags. The Acrobat Accessibility Checker identifies these tags and it will be a learning process for all of us how many tags we need to fix. |
Alternative text descriptions | We must do this in our source files. |
| Anchor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Both ePublisher and Acrobat contain accessibility tools that help spot glaring accessibility errors and remind us of accessibility issues that require manual checks. Using accessibility tools like these is really just one of the first steps toward Web accessibility.
Other accessibility tools are available for free on the web, though this document does not review them. See http://www.webaim.org/articles/freetools/compare.php for a full review of free, online accessibility tools.
redit Credit for the content of the following two sections goes to WebAIM (http://www.webaim.org/articles/freetools/).
...
It is important to remember that accessibility tools can only partially check accessibility through automation. Of the sixteen standards in Section 508, only seven standards can be partially evaluated automatically. Similarly, of the combined 65 checkpoints in WCAG 1.0 Priority 1 through Priority 3, only nineteen can be partially evaluated automatically. The real key is to learn and understand the web accessibility standards rather than relying on a tool to determine if a page is accessible or not.
Using the Adobe Acrobat Accessibility Tool
Creating a tagged PDF with alt-text specified for each graphic from FrameMaker or Word is the first step in creating a truly accessible PDF file. We must also post process the PDF file to complete that process.
...
Some of these accessibility errors require post-processing of our PDFs. Files originating in Word tend to have more accessibility errors that result in post-processing than do those files originating in FrameMaker.
Our goal is to have no accessibility errors and to see the following message box:
Using the WebWorks ePublisher Accessibility Report
You can use the WebWorks ePublisher Accessibility report to identify accessibility warnings or errors in your online help files.
To view the accessibility report, do the following.
...
Other Resources
Adobe(R) Accessibility Quick Reference Card Blog http://blogs.adobe.com/accessibility/2008/03/reference_card_for_accessible.html
...
