Making PDFs Accessible with Abobe Acrobat Pro

NOTE: All faculty have access to Abobe Acrobat Pro for free through SUNY Downstate. Send a license request to help@downstate.edu.

 

Why Accessibility Matters

Accessible PDFs ensure that all students, including those using screen readers or assistive technologies, can read and navigate course materials. Properly structured PDFs are also required under federal accessibility regulations and institutional policy.

The good news: Acrobat Pro includes a built-in Accessibility Wizard that walks you through most of the process.

Before You Begin

Accessibility is easiest when it starts at the source.

If possible:

  • Create documents in Word, PowerPoint, or another authoring tool

  • Use built-in headings and styles

  • Export to PDF using “Save as PDF” (not “Print to PDF”)

If you’re working with an existing PDF, continue below.

Step 1: Open the Accessibility Tools

  1. Open your PDF in Acrobat Pro.

  2. Select Use guided actions in the side menu.
    Use guided actions option in Abobe Acrobat Pro

  3. Choose Make Accessible.
    Make accessible option in Abobe Acrobat Pro

  4. Click the blue Start button.
    Start button in Abobe Acrobat Pro

Step 2: Run through the Accessibility Wizard

  1. Set Descriptions
    Descriptions dialog box in Abobe Acrobat Pro
  • Title: Ensure the document has a meaningful title.
  • Subject: enter a short summary of the subject of the document
  • Author: (optional) enter the name of the document author
  • Keywords: enter keywords relative to the content of the document 

  1. Recognize text - General Settings: If your PDF is scanned as an image, this step will convert it into text. (Note: If you can’t highlight text, it’s not readable by screen readers yet.) 
    Recognize text - General Settings dialog

  • Document language: Select the correct language (e.g., English). This step is important — screen readers rely on this to pronounce words correctly.
  • Output: leave on Searchable Image
  • Downsample to: leave at 600 dpi
  1. Detect Form Fields (If Applicable)
    Set form fields dialog
  • If your PDF includes fillable fields, allow Acrobat to auto-detect form fields and make them keyboard-accessible and identifiable by screen readers
  1. Set Reading Language: Confirm the correct language of the document
    Set reading language dialog

Step 3: Add Alternative Text to Images

Images must have alternative text (alt text). This is often the most important step in making your document accessible.

Why this is important: Adding descriptions (alternative text) to images in PDFs ensures that people who use screen readers can understand the information conveyed by those images, making the document accessible to users with visual impairments.

 

  1. When the following dialog appears, click the OK button.
    Abobe Acrobat Pro adding alternate text to images
  2. You will be prompted to enter text describing each image in your document. It is important to provide a description that would make sense to a visually impaired person. If an image is purely decorative and alt text is not required, you can check the Decorative figure checkbox.
    Dialog prompting entry of alt text for an image in Abobe Acrobat Pro

Step 4: (Optional) Run the Accessibility Checker

  1. If you wish, you can generate a report to confirm that your document is accessible:
    Image of the accessibility checker in Acrobat Pro
  2. When finished, click the Done button and save your PDF. Congratulations, your document is now accessible!
Print Article