PDFs and Word documents

PDFs

Our general advice, if you are thinking of using a PDF on the University of Derby website, is … don’t.

Or, in friendlier terms, consider whether it is the best format for your content.

PDFs are difficult to make web accessible. It can be done but it’s not a simple task, particularly with PDFs that have a lot of visual design.

Our advice is:

Alternative formats

A web page

The most user-friendly and accessible format would be to present your content on a web page as text and images. The advantage of this would be:

The first point is particularly relevant for users on mobile devices. Accessing the content is not a simple task for them. They may have to download it, find it in a folder, find an app to open it (even install a new app), reflow the content to fit in their screen (if it will do this), or resize it and scroll in two directions to read it (if they have to do this last one, it means the content definitely does not comply with the accessibility regulations). If it were on a web page, they’d just need to go to that page. Seamless.

Our Annual Impact Report is an excellent example of how content that would previously have been presented in a PDF can be presented on the website.

Image and transcript (for an image-only PDF)

An image-only PDF is probably the most inaccessible thing you can put on the website. Never do this. An image-only PDF is a document that consists of an image of text. Images of text cannot be read by a screen reader. Your image-only PDF may be, for instance, a signed certificate and needs to show that it has been signed. We can do this on a web page by adding the image of the certificate as an image embed with appropriate alt text and then adding a transcript of what the certificate says.

Examples of document images with transcripts:

The Word alternative

When we have a particularly large PDF document that has been created specifically for commercial printing, eg a prospectus, the work involved in making this PDF accessible would be huge. Providing a simple, text-only accessible Word document as an alternative format is an option we have used alongside the full PDF. A secondary advantage of this is that you are providing a document with a much smaller file size.

Why are you using a PDF?

It’s an obvious question. PDFs are created for a variety of reasons. The most common is that a PDF (portable document format) is a useful way of sending a document, leaflet, brochure or prospectus to a commercial printer. A PDF is a great format for this.

But, if you’re not printing your content, don’t create a PDF just because that’s the way you’ve always done it. Even when you are producing a PDF for print, adding the PDF to the website may seem like an easy way of recycling your content but it is not the best way to present it to an online audience.

What’s wrong with your PDF?

There may be nothing wrong with your PDF. If you’ve checked it for accessibility using the automated tools available and carried out manual checks for reading order, colour contrast and correct alternative text, you’re golden.

But … consider again whether or not it really is the best way of presenting the content on the website.

A PDF may be the best format for your content because it is designed specifically to be downloaded and printed (for instance by schools). But you still need to ensure that it is accessible content so everyone understands what it contains.

Word documents

Our guidance for Word documents is similar to that for PDFs.

Is it the best format for presenting your content? Our advice is, again, to consider publishing your content on a web page.

For us to publish the content as a Word document, it must have passed all the automated accessibility checks in Word and any relevant manual checks.

Additional information

What the regulations say

Any office file formats published after 23 September 2018 must comply with the accessibility regulations.

Any office file formats published before 23 September 2018 must comply with the regulations if they are needed for active administrative processes.

Checking your PDF for accessibility

The learning and teaching team have created some guidance on creating accessible documents as part of the digital handbook, with notes on checking for accessibility.

There are automated checks you can run in Adobe Acrobat via the Accessibility tool in the Tools tab. You need to run a full check. You will be given a list of compliances and failures picked up by the automated checks. But there are still two important checks that can only be carried out manually. These are to check contrast ratio and reading order. And you will need to check that any graphics and/or tables have the information available in an accessible format.

Contrast ratio

Contrast ratio describes how clearly the foreground (text) stands out against the background (block colour, images). We have some guidance on dealing with contrast ratio on T4 pages and you need to give similar consideration to your PDFs.

Reading order

Visually, your reading order is generally defined as left to right and top to bottom, and also by heading size (eg in a PDF for print sometimes you will have your main heading at the bottom of a page as part of the design concept).

You need to ensure that your visual reading order is consistent with the reading order presented to someone who is using assistive technology, such as a screen reader. There is a “read out loud” tool within View in Acrobat that will follow the reading order but the simplest way to check your reading order is correct is to have two copies of the document, open one as normal and “reflow” the other (Review > Zoom > Reflow). Your reflow version will show you the order the text will be read out by a screen reader. Check that it makes sense. NB panels inserted into a page can be a particular problem.

Graphics etc

Graphics tend to be presented as images, often including images of text, so it is important that the content expressed within them is also presented in an accessible format.

The most basic standard of the accessibility regulations is that all non-text content has a text alternative that serves the equivalent purpose.

Checking your Word document for accessibility

There is a check accessibility tool in Word under the Review tab. This will carry out automated checks and give you the opportunity to amend the content. You will also need to carry out manual checks for contrast ratio and correct alternative text.