Making an interactive PDF brochure accessible

An interactive PDF brochure can hold links, bookmarks and form fields. Someone using a screen reader or a keyboard finds their way through those parts by the structure hidden inside the file.

Start from a tagged file

W3C, which writes the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, explains that a PDF gets its logical structure when it is saved as a tagged PDF. The tags mark what each part is, such as a heading, a list or a link.

Start in the file the brochure was designed in, before it is exported. GOV.UK's advice is to make sure the source document is accessible before converting it to PDF.

Reading order and headings

W3C's technique for reading order says the tab order must reflect the logical order of the document.

GOV.UK notes that a single continuous column of text is easier to make accessible than a complex layout. For a form, its example is to lay the sections out one after another across the full page width, and avoid setting section 4 beside section 1.

Mark each heading with a heading tag, from H1 down. W3C notes that screen reader users can then pull up a list of headings and jump straight to the one they want. GOV.UK also asks writers not to skip heading levels.

Title, language and bookmarks

Links that say where they go

GOV.UK's guidance is that link text should make sense on its own, because some screen reader users list every link on a page to find the one they need. "Book a visit" passes that test, and "click here" fails it.

W3C's technique for PDF links says the simplest route is to create the links in the authoring tool, before the file becomes a PDF.

Form fields

A booking form or a feedback form inside the brochure needs a label on every field that a screen reader can announce. W3C calls labels that convey each control's purpose essential to form accessibility.

Check the tab order through the form too, so a keyboard user meets the fields in the order they are meant to be filled in.

Pictures, and words inside pictures

Give each meaningful image alternative text in its tag. Where an image contains words that help a reader understand the page, W3C says the alternative text should include those words.

GOV.UK goes further. Its guidance is not to use images containing text, because the text cannot be resized and screen readers cannot read it.

Check the finished file

Run the accessibility checker built into the software you export with. GOV.UK notes that most software comes with a basic one.

Then check it as a person would use it. W3C's advice on evaluation tools is that human judgement is required, because no tool checks everything automatically. Tab through every link and field, and listen to a few pages with a screen reader.

In Great Britain, the Equality Act 2010 gives anyone providing a service to the public a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people (section 29). Councils and other public bodies have further regulations, set out at interactivebrochures.uk.

Useful links