Creating Accessible PDFs in Word
Guide our HR hero Hamza as he creates his first accessible PDF
Guide our HR hero Hamza as he creates his first accessible PDF
Hamza gets an email from his boss asking him to email the new recruits the company onboarding document as an accessible PDF by tomorrow.
"Oh no, I have no idea how to do that! What can I do?"
"My colleague Julia usually knows about this kind of stuff, I'll ask her"
"Of course, I'll be glad to help."
"I'll talk you through the 7 steps you need to do and tick them off one by one at the bottom of your screen like this"
"If you need any extra tips, click the button below. I love talking about accessibility:"
"Ok, I'm ready. Let's get started."
"This image needs a description adding to it called Alt Text."
"What should I write for the Alt Text?"
Good alt text gives screen reader users the same information sighted users get from images.
Describe what's important, not artistic details. For decorative images (design lines, patterns), mark them 'decorative' so screen readers skip them entirely.
Thomas, a screen reader user, hears "image, image of company building". Screen readers announce 'image' automatically so no need to include it at the start.
Priya, a low sighted screen reader hears "image, I M G underscore 3 8 4 7 dot J P G" and can't understand what image is shown.
You added the Alt Text: Modern looking company headquarters building with white panels and large windows
Hamza successfully learned about accessible PDFs
Want to go further? Test your PDFs with a keyboard and screen reader or ask colleagues with disabilities for feedback.