PWS Ltd web editorial services

Creating accessible PDFs

One day training course

Course outline

The following is an outline of a typical PDF accessibility training day. However, please note that courses can be tailored to individual requirements.

Session 1 — Optimising source documents in Word, OpenOffice Writer or InDesign

This session covers techniques for structuring source documents correctly using Word/OpenOffice Writer or InDesign. It also highlights potential problems in document production processes and demonstrates how to avoid them. Topics include:

Using styles to create properly structured templates
Headings, lists and links
Tables of contents
Images and alt text
Designing data tables for accessibility and usability
Colour contrast issues and understanding colour blindness
Footnotes
Text formatting issues
Meta data
Bookmarks
Converting to a tagged PDF

Session 2 — Acrobat Professional

This session looks at the various accessibility tools available in Acrobat Professional and provides practical examples of common PDF accessibility problems and solutions. Topics include:

Understanding the document view, Reflow view, and the tags output
The TouchUp Reading Order tool, order panel and tag tree
Headings
Tables of contents
Links and destinations
Lists
Images and alt text
Fixing footnotes, abbreviations and acronyms, URLs and the language of parts
Data tables: from simple to complex and beyond
Adding meta data and specifying document language
How and why to avoid opening PDFs in a browser
OCR: dealing with scanned documents
File size optimisation
Document security

Accessible PDF forms

Please note that PDF forms can be included in a one-day course. However, as the basics of PDF forms accessibility take a minimum of half a day to cover properly, this topic is more often included in our advanced two-day course, or as a dedicated one-day creating accessible PDF forms course.

Paul Bennun, The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

"The accessible PDF course was a real eye-opener. The practical advice given will be a great help in keeping all our documentation accessible … An excellent course. Eloquently delivered by a presenter capable of catering for an audience of varying knowledge levels. A definite thumbs up."

Recent clients