SLU news

How to easily create accessible pdf documents

Published: 23 September 2020

From 23 September 2020, all digital material published at SLU must follow the regulations regarding digital accessibility. This also applies to pdf documents, which often are not accessible enough.

It is much easier to create a correct pdf "at the source" than to correct it afterwards. Therefore, before you submit your material as a pdf, you need to make sure that it meets the set requirements, so that everyone can access the information in it.

So how to create an accessible pdf?

The most common way ofcreating a pdf is to save a document from Word as a pdf file. 

Before doing so, check that the document meets the accessibility requirements by using Microsoft's help function, entering "accessibility" in the search box. Then you will receive suggestions about what needs to be done directly in the document. Make the neccessary changes before you can save the document as a pdf.

The most important points are usually to

  • use the built-in heading formats, and to use them in the correct order (in descending order)
  • enter alternative texts for images and non-text based content
  • define header row and alternative texts in tables.

 

Read more about digital accessibility at dig.se/en.

Related pages:


Contact