Unfortunately, not all PDFs are created equal and not all of them can be picked up by screen readers. For a document to achieve such digital accessibility, it needs to be open to changes.

Going in line with the popularity of Microsoft Word, PDF files can take many forms, from bills to invoices, policy statements, user guides, and other types of documents.īecause of its universality, the Portable Document Format (PDF) needs to be optimized for screen readers and visually impaired users. While at first people were using Adobe to access these files, PDFs were later turned to the International Organization for Standards (ISO) as an open standard (ISO 32000:1:2008).Ĭreated by Adobe Systems, PDFs continued to advance with modern features like encryption, digital signatures, rich media, and annotations. The Portable Document Format (PDF) is a commonly used format for a document around the globe. The format first emerged in the 1990s, allowing people to read content on a range of devices. We all know that PDFs are used all around the world. Why Do PDF Documents Need To Be Accessible? Accessible PDFs comply with standards like WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1, HHS, and PDF/UA, all of which ensure that a document meets all necessary accessibility features. An accessible PDF file makes it easy to create and edit the tags without knowledge of HTML. In terms of website and PDF accessibility, there are many similarities between HTML tags and PDF tags. So, the tagged PDF files are the ones that are accessible, while the untagged ones remain inaccessible for disabled people. The assistive technology used in a PDF document enables “tagging” the files, which is precisely what makes them accessible and in line with the regulations. PDF accessibility is a must if you want to ensure that you are giving every user equal access to information. The main target audience here is obviously vision-impaired users that may assistive technology like a screen reader to read the PDF content through text-to-speech or Braille printout. Along with websites and other forms of electronic presence, PDF documents can also be read and accessed by people with disabilities.

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