To assess PDFs for accessibility, one must use the PDF Techniques for WCAG 2.0. First I describe the steps taken to do the assessment. Then, below, each technique is described.
Run a Full Check in the Accessibility tab in the Tools toolbar. (Step 2). The Full Accessibility check will check for alternate text of the images it finds. However it won’t check for meaningful alternate text. Nor will it distinguish between information-conveying images and decorative ones.
To check for alternate text, find information-conveying images and either mouse-over the images and check the appearing text, or check the Figure tag properties in the tag tree.
Only applies if document has bookmarks. Check that they work.
This should show up in the Full Accessibility Check in Step 2. In fact, it rarely comes up. It's usually an arrow or something.
To check for alternate text, find information-conveying images and either mouse-over the images and check the appearing text, or check the Figure tag properties in the tag tree.
Assume a pass. None of our forms are submitted so a form can't be rejected (by a computer) due to not being filled completely.
A table should be marked up as such. A table is full of <TR> (table row) elements. A table row will have either <TH> table headers, and/or <TD> data cell elements. It's pretty much the same as HTML. <TH> should not be empty. Empty cells should always be <TD> cells. And the whole thing should be encase in a <TABLE> tag. (Step 13)
Example:
Cost Per Year | ||
---|---|---|
Item | 2010 | 2011 |
Coffee | $500 | $550 |
Donuts | $300 | $230 |
Should be coded as:
<table> | ||
<tr> | ||
Empty <td> | <th>Cost Per Year | |
---|---|---|
<tr> | ||
<th>Item | <th>2010 | <th>2011 |
<tr> | ||
<th>Coffee | <td>$500 | <td>$550 |
<tr> | ||
<th>Donuts | <td>$300 | <td>$230 |
</table> |
Assume a pass. Never have seen this.
AAA requirement. We look for AA. Assume a Pass.
Find headings. Select each one, "Find Tag From Selection" in the Tags menu. The headings should be marked as <h#> headings. The heading level (ie: the "#") should start at 1, and increment by 1 level at a time. There should also be content between two headings at the same level.
So, <h1> content <h2> content <h2> content <h3> content <h2> content is fine.
<h1> content <h3> <h3> content <h5> content is not because it skips levels 2 and 4. Also, there's no content between the two <h3> headings.
Think of Headings as the hierarchical layout of the document. Headings act like chapters and sections in a textbook. On the Cover Page of the book is usually a page with the title in big, bold letters. That would be marked as <H1>. A textbook is generally divided into a small number of general sections. Each of those general section titles would be marked as <H2>. Each of those general sections will have a few chapters. Each chapter title would be <H3>. Each chapter is often divided up into sub-sections. Each of those sub-section titles would be marked up as <H4>. If those sub-sections had their own sub-sections (or chapter sub-sub-sections), the titles of those sub-sub-sections would be marked as <H5>.
Note that in the textbook analogy, each sub-sub-section relates to the first sub-section that comes above it. Each sub-section relates to the chapter it's in. Each chapter relates to its general section. And everything relates to the book as a whole.
Mouse-over form elements and check for a pop-up. (Step 9)
Only have seen this once. If a document has a link in it, check that's it's tagged as such. Assume a Pass. If links do exist, check the properties for the link tags.
Ensure the labels are meaningful. ie: Are they what they're supposed to be? (Step 9)
AAA requirement. We check for AA compliance. Assume a Pass.
On the main toolbar, click the Headers/Footers menu, and select "Update...". 99% of the time, Acrobat will tell you it couldn't find headers. Assume a pass. (Step 6)
Assume a pass because our forms do not have submit buttons.
Go to Document Properties (Ctrl+D) -> for the Advanced tab for the Language property.(Step 4).
The page numbers that appear in the page should match the page numbers shown in Adobe's page count.
Go to Document Properties (Ctrl+D) to check for the document title in the Description tab. (Step 3)
If you see any text on the page that's in another language, select that text, and click "Find Tag From Selection" in the Tags menu. Get the properties of that tag, on the Tag tab, click "View Tag...". Keep clicking on the top-most "+" boxes looking for a /Lang entry. Ensure it's correct. (Step 4)
Check to make sure the table semantic markup is correct. PDF6 ensures that tables are marked up as tables, not figures, or <div>s. PDF20 ensures tables are marked up correctly.
Look for lists. Check to see all items are encoded with <li> tags, and they're all included in one <L> tag. The list heading should not be included in the <L> tag. That's the most common failure for this checkpoint. (Step 11)
Applies to submittable forms. Assume a Pass.
Make sure you can actually fill in form fields.
As an aside, note SDE-0003-05-12(E).pdf on the last page, the red. That pure red-on-white is too low of a contrast, and doesn't pass general WCAG guidelines.