Templates

If you publish a pdf of a report or folder, it needs to be accessible. The checklists are adepted to SLU:s Indesign templates for documents.

• Checklist 1: Accessibility customisation in the Indesign template (pdf, Swedish only)
• Checklist 2: After export to pdf (pdf, Swedish only)

Tip: For example, if you need to publish a poster on the web and it´s not accessible, save it as an image and describe it in the image´s alt-text.

Pdf files are not automatically accessible to all. We therefore recommend that you avoid this format when possible. Instead, publish your content directly on a web page as html.

If you have no option but to publish a pdf file, a summary of the content helps the end-user decide whether to download the document or not.

The Act on the Accessibility of Digital Public Services (known in Swedish as the DOS Act) applies to all documents created after 23 September 2018. Any older pdf files that are important, or often downloaded, also need to be accessible. 

Creating accessible pdf files in Word

For a pdf file to be accessible, it needs to be created from an original document, usually Word, with correct formatting. A correctly formatted document has

• text and headings formatted only with defined styles;
• alt texts for pictures and all other non-text content;
• tables with a defined header row and alt text.

Pictures:

1. Click the picture to select it.
2. Right-click and select Format Picture.
3. Select Layout & Properties, then Alt Text. The alt (alternative) text is the text a screen reader will read for those who cannot see the picture.

Tables:

1. Select the table. 
2. Right-click and select Table Properties.
3. Click the Alt Text tab and enter your text in the Description field.
4. Then select Table Tools - Design from the main menu and check the Header Row checkbox.

Testing document accessibility in Word

Before you save your document as pdf, you can test it using Word’s accessibility checker. Type “accessibility checker” in the help field (lightbulb icon in the menu bar) and follow the instructions. Any warnings and errors will be displayed in a separate window together with instructions for how to fix them.

You can also listen to the pdf file to make sure it is understandable when read. To do this:

1. Open the file in Edge.
2. Right-click and select Read aloud.

SLU document templates

SLU’s document templates for Word have been edited for accessibility, but their current design does not allow for complete accessibility. If you run the accessibility checker on a document created with an SLU template, you will get some warnings and errors that cannot be avoided.

These are the most common ones:

• The placement of the logotype in the document header (Objects not inline).
• Empty table cells in documents where tables are used to structure the content (for example minutes).

Correcting a pdf file

If you need to correct accessibility issues in a pd file, you can do this using Acrobat Pro. However, it is quicker and easier to make sure you create your pdf from a properly formatted file to begin with.

Pdf files created in software other than Word

The accessibility requirements also apply for pdf files created from software such as Powerpoint or Indesign. The Microsoft accessibility checker is available in all Microsoft products. Indesign also has some inbuilt accessibility checks, including a checklist. However, the recommendation is to avoid publishing pdf files on the web and instead present the information on web pages.