Ideally provide documents in accessible HTML form unless totally unpractical to do so:
- The most appropriate uses of PDF are:
- When the PDF is in addition to HTML
- Long documents that are intended for printing – for which there is a HTML summary/abstract
- Legally restricted documents
- Foreign language publications (particularly if they use an alternative character set)
- Claim and application forms for downloading and printing
- Documents designed specifically for print, such as brochures, which require fine control over printing (although you could use print CSS on HTML for many print-friendly versions)
If using PDFs:
- Create an HTML summary/abstract whenever possible
- Use a table of contents for long PDF documents – this provides appropriate overview of the contents and navigation directly to different main sections
- Add appropriate metadata / document properties
- Warn in (or next to) the link that the document will be a PDF and state its size in Kb
- Provide a link to download Adobe Reader
- Ensure the source document and PDF has been made accessible
- Add structure and alt text in the source document creation application (for example, use headings and add alternative text from within Microsoft Word)
- Test and fix tags using Acrobat Professional
- Save as PDF – do not use ‘print as PDF’ to generate the PDF or structure is lost
Notes and discussion points
What is the issue with PDFs?
The main issue used to be (and to an extent still is) to do with accessibility. Although PDFs can now be made accessible, it tends to be harder work than producing accessible HTML. If there is the option to do so, use HTML instead
PDFs can break the usual flow of browsing by changing some of the available controls – but this is becoming less of an issue
If the PDFs are well constructed, there should be little issue with providing PDFs
What about when there are lots of old PDFs?
It may be not practical to make HTML summaries of old or legacy PDFs, or make these accessible. If this is the case:
- Prioritise very important and/or high traffic PDFs for making accessible
- Ensure all new PDFs are provided with HTML summaries and are accessible
More information about accessibility and PDFs?
- Visit the Webaim training materials for PDF – for PDF conversion, structuring appropriate documents using Microsoft Word (and other word processors) and a whole host of other accessibility tips
- Visit the Adobe access site for step-by-step information – for step-by-steps guides on creating accessible PDFs