Measuring PDF Accessibility PDF a11y Testing for the Rest of Us

Measuring PDF AccessibilityPDF a11y Testing for the Rest of Us

@dboudreaua11yBOS 2013

Deque Systems, Inc.

PDF AccessibilityWhat’s YOUR Strategy?

We’ve all read those comments before…

PDF Documents Suck!

…and no matter how often we read them…

Use Semantic HTML Instead!

PDF Documents Suck!

…they still come down to the same thing…

<Insert_Other_Comment_Here>Use Semantic HTML Instead!

PDF Documents Suck!

Stop complaining. PDFs are not going anywhere.

Learn to deal with them instead.

WHO CARES WHAT I, YOU, OR ANYONEELSETHINKS ABOUT PDFs?

Measuring PDF Accessibility

* It’s no different than testing regular HTML pages. * It’s based on the exact same W3C accessibility guidelines.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0

PDF Techniques for WCAG 2.0

Anybody Feeling Helpless Yet?

By the way…(It’s totally fine to feel clueless)

?

Breaking News!Not Everyone is a PDF Expert!

Shocking Truth!Not Everyone has access to a PDF Expert 24/7!

PDF Accessibility TestingA Proposal For the Rest of Us(Or how to fake your way into looking like a PDF expert in 16 easy steps)

Tools of the Trade Adobe Acrobat Pro Accessibility Checker

Runs on both Windows and MacOsOnly option to remediate accessible PDF documents

PDF Accessibility Checker 2 (PAC2)Runs on Windows (no need for Adobe Acrobat or Reader) Can be downloaded at http://www.access-for-all.ch

Scanned Documents

Is the PDF document made up of scanned images rather than text?

Report the document cannot be tested for accessibility, mention issues (if any) for document title and language, and mention the document cannot be tested for accessibility until there is actual text to work with (OCR’ed maybe).

A

Text-Based Documents

Can all the text in the document be selected?

If the document is not text-based, report this as an issue, and follow up with “Scanned Documents”.

If the document is text-based, follow up with “Tagged Documents”.

B

Screen readers!?We don’t wannause no stinkin’screen readers!!!

Though admittedly, that would really help… but between you and me, you can also leave it to the “experts”.

Faking Your Way Up the PDF a11y Ladder

1. Access Restrictions2. Tagged Structure (SC 1.3.1)3. Default Language (PDF16)4. Document Title (PDF18)5. Informational Images (PDF1)6. Decorative Images (PDF4)7. Bookmarks (PDF2)8. Content Reflow (SC 1.3.2)9. Tabbing Order (PDF3)10. Section Headings (PDF9)11. Lists and List Items (PDF21)12. Data Tables (PDF6)13. Hyperlink Text (PDF11)14. Meaningful Link Text (PDF11)15. Form Interaction (PDF23)16. Form Fields (PDF12)

Access Restrictions

Are there any access restrictions, such as password protection?

When opening the document, verify if a password dialog window is prompted.

Tagged Structure

Is the PDF structure tagged and are these tags correctly identified?

If it is untagged, only report language, title and permission issues (if any), and that the document is not tagged for accessibility.

If it is tagged, follow up with the next tests.

Default Language

Is the natural language of the PDF document specified?

In Acrobat, open the Document Properties dialog box, go to the Advanced tab and look for a language indication under Reading Options.

Document Title

Does the PDF have a meaningful and descriptive title (not just a file name)?

In Acrobat, open the Document Properties dialog box, go to the Description tab and look for a descriptive title in the title field.

Informational Images

Does the text alternative provided for every informational image convey the same meaning or purpose as the image?

Open Acrobat and use the TouchUp Reading Order dialog box to validate all informational images have an equivalent text alternative.

Decorative Images

Are purely decorative images marked up as artifacts, so screen readers can safely ignore them?

Open Acrobat and use the TouchUp Reading Order dialog box to validate that all decorative images are turned into artifacts (background images).

Bookmarks

Does the PDF contain bookmarks and are they helpful for navigating efficiently to various sections of the document?

Open Acrobat and look under the Bookmarks navigation panel to see if the document contains bookmarks and if these bookmarks actually help navigation.

Content Reflow

When Reflow mode is activated, does all the content reorganize naturally in a single, easy to read column?

Activate Content Reflow in Acrobat or Adobe Reader (Select View » Zoom » Reflow) and verify that content reflows naturally to a single full width column.

Tabbing Order

Can the document be navigated in a logical order that is consistent with the meaning of the content?

Using the keyboard, tab through the document to determine if the tabbing order allows for a logical reading order of the document's content.

Section Headings

Is content organized consistently using hierarchically and correctly structured headings?

Open Acrobat and look under the Tags navigation panel to see if elements that are visually presented as headings are also marked up as such and are used hierarchically.

Lists and List Items

Are lists and list items presented in the document really marked up as such?

Open Acrobat and look under the Tags navigation panel to verify that content presented as lists is also marked up as such.

Data Tables

Are the tables contained in the PDF marked up properly and are header cells and data cells explicitly associated?

Open Acrobat and use the TouchUp Reading Order dialog box to validate tables are marked up correctly and data and header cells are explicitly associated.

Hyperlink Text

Do hyperlinks have their link text marked up using Link annotations in the document tags structure?

Open Acrobat and look under the Tags navigation panel for each link element and make sure the link tag has a Link-OBJR tag assigned to it.

Meaningful Link Text

Do hypertext link names make sense to users out of their immediate context?

Look at the links in the document to determine if their purpose make sense out of their immediate context.

Form Interaction

Do form controls in the PDF allow for keyboard interaction?

Verify that form controls allow users to interact with a PDF document using only the keyboard, by filling in information or indicating choices, which can then be submitted for processing.

Form Fields

Can assistive technologies gather information about and interact with form controls in PDF content?

Open Acrobat and for each control, select the corresponding Properties Dialog box and make sure a value has been added to the tooltip field.

A Reminder PDF Accessibility

* Can assess web pages? Then you can test PDF documents.* Know WCAG? Then you’re already familiar with the PDF techniques.

A Light at the End of the Tunnel?So get out there and document those issues!

Keep Calm and Stop PDF Hate

PDFs – Show ‘em who’s boss!

You Can Do It!

Thank You!

Denis BoudreauWeb Accessibility Avenger

Deque Systems, Inc.@dboudreau

Photo Credits

http://www.flickr.com/photos/krawcowicz/4153762400 /

http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2013/04/19/1226624/084932-head-in- sand.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56012587@N02/8147194756 /

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56012587@N02/8205118436 /

http://www.flickr.com/photos/caravanhandmade/5205969032 /

http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalgovt/5710352302/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/justbane/3646397328 /

http://www.lesleylyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/confused1. jpg

http://harmonit.se/projekt/wp-content/uploads/office- batman.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41898910@N03/6162523696 /

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52309254@N02/5169873656 /

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hardingtheatre/7167664896/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/liliana1708/8642224555 /

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23043123@N00/268525273 /

http://www.benmoussa.net/images/ man.jpg

http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/keep-calm-and-hug-a-pdf /

http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/295/740/ 50d.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BAkSwD- CAAAl_Qf.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11391549@N02/2405054957 /

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