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1

In the document properties, enter NCI CBIIT as the Author. In the Keywords field, enter 508 Compliant as one of your keywords.

2

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

3

1. Select all pages in the document.
2. Right-click and then select Page Properties.
3. Select Use Document Structure.

4

Run an accessibility full check using the Adobe PDF option.

1. Select Advanced > Accessibility > Full Check. The Accessibility Full Check dialog box appears.
2. Keep the defaults, which includes the checking option of Adobe PDF.
3. Click Start Checking.

5

Fix any problems reported by the accessibility checker. Documents from Word tend to have more problems than documents from FrameMaker. For example, alternate text you add to images in Word do not always carry over to Acrobat. In this case, you would need to add the alternate text again in Acrobat. Use the accessibility checker report as a troubleshooting guide to narrow down problem areas. Our goal is for Acrobat to tell us that we have no accessibility errors. Beyond that it is useful to test the document using a screen reader. See this table for ideas suggestions for ways simulate simulating the experience of a person using assistive technology.

To begin post-processing in Acrobat, select Accessibility > TouchUp Reading Order. In the TouchUp Reading Order dialog box, click Show order panel, then do the following.

• Confirm that each numbered box in the document is properly tagged.
• Add alternate text as needed to figures as needed.
• Remove nonessential content, such as ornamental page borders, from the logical structure tree as needed (files from Word tend to create a lot of nonessential tags that can be deleted in the PDF).
• Note that when you remove the tags (such as by using the Delete Item Structure or Clear Page Structure commands), you cannot undo that action. Save your file often.

6

Once the steps above result in a PDF with no accessibility errors according to Adobe, set the scope of your tables. Adobe does not require you to set the scope but it is one more thing that you can do quickly to prepare your PDFs better for assistive technology.

1. Select Accessibility > TouchUp Reading Order.
2. Scroll to your first table and click the number in its upper-left corner.
3. On the TouchUp Reading Order panel, click Table Editor to select the table.
4. Select the cells that serve as column headers. You can also repeat these steps for cells that serve as row headers, if your table has that type of structure.
5. Right-click and select Table Cell Properties.
6. Keep the Type as Header Cell and from the Scope list, select Column. This tells a screen reader that it is to associate column headers with the cells in that column.
7. Click OK.