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Accessibility

Document Accessibility

All electronic documents—including word processing documents, PDFs, presentations, publications, and spreadsheets—created or distributed by UM employees must be accessible. Follow the steps on the Digital accessibility guidelines webpage to ensure your documents are accessible for all users.

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Document Remediation & Review

IT’s Accessible Technology Services (ATS) provides document remediation services for several different types of documents. Documents will be reviewed and remeditated for accessibility and an accessibility report will be given to the requestor.

PDF Accessibility

The Portable Document Format (PDF) makes it possible to share a document and ensure consistent formatting across different platforms and applications. However, depending on how a PDF is created, it can have serious accessibility issues.

Many PDFs shared on websites, in emails, and in the learning management system have been scanned and are basically large image files stripped of any accessibility features. To be accessible, a PDF must be properly tagged, have correct reading order, include alt text for images, and have a title and language set in file properties. These accessibility issues in PDFs can be very difficult to fix without specialized skills and software.

  • The best way to create an accessible PDF is to create a fully accessible Word document (using properly formatted headings, alt text, links, and lists) and "Save As" a PDF. The "Save As" function carries over the accessible features of your document.

    Note: Do not Print to PDF. Creating a PDF does not preserve the document's accessibility features.

  • Office 365 for Mac can create accessible PDFs, but versions prior to Word for Mac 2016 cannot. Please look at some tips for from Portland Community College.

    Accessible Technology Services (ATS) will convert Word files made with Microsoft Office for Mac. Please send an email to ats@umontana.edu with the files attached and any instructions. Call IT Help Desk at 406-243-4357 with questions.

Fixing Inaccessible PDFs

If you do have an inaccessible PDF, there are some tools available to help you remediate them.

  • If you have an inaccessible PDF and do not have Adobe Acrobat Pro or access to the original word-processing file for the document, your PDF can be converted into a text-based PDF with UM's OCR document converter.

    1. Send the inaccessible image-based PDF as an email attachment to convertdoc@umontana.edu.
    2. ConvertDoc will convert the file from image to text using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software and send you an email with two attachments.
    3. Edit the RTF (rich text format) document attached to the return email.
    4. Add accessibility features such as headings and alternative text explanations for images.
    5. Save the document as a PDF.

  • With Panorama’s PDF Remediation Engine Max, many of the . These issues include untagged documents, scanned documents, heading structure, reading order, missing titles, alternative text for images, and color contrast.

    Panorama’s PDF Remediation Engine Max is integrated into the Canvas LMS, so inaccessible PDFs can be fixed directly in a Canvas course. Learn more in the Panorama Digital Accessibility Platform Tip Sheet.

    Panorama also provides a centralized, cloud-based digital media repository to help all UM employees organize digital content, see accessibility scoring for documents uploaded to the platform, and remediate inaccessible documents. .

  • If you have Adobe Acrobat Pro installed on your computer, you can convert an inaccessible PDF into an accessible PDF by following these steps:

    1. Convert to text - in Tools > Text Recognition. This is the most crucial step in making your document readable.
    2. Add tags to indicate heading structure - in Tools > Accessibility > Add Tags to Document. This is important for navigating long and complex documents, such as textbooks.
    3. Add alt text to images - in Tools > Accessibility > Set Alternate Text. If your document contains information conveyed visually, add alt text to describe that content.
    4. Set reading order - in Tools > Accessibility > Touch Up Reading Order. This step is essential for forms or other documents with complex layouts.
    5. Set language - in File > Properties > Advanced > Reading Options. This setting helps screen readers switch to the correct language.

    Additional Resources

Other Document Types

  • EPUB (Electronic Publication) is the industry standard for digital publication. It is a free, open standard digital book format with compatibility across different platforms and devices, and it provides a high degree of accessibility and optimizations.

    Whereas PDFs have a fixed position making them difficult to read on devices with small screens, EPUB has a more flexible layout that adapts to different devices and user preferences. Users can change the color, font size, background color of the display, and the publication will reorganize itself on a device depending on the user’s preferences.

    The EPUB format is designed with accessibility in mind, and one of the most effective means to create an accessible EPUB document is to start with and accessible Microsoft Word document then convert it to EPUB 3 Format by using "WordToEPUB" add-in for Microsoft Word.

    Steps

    Step 1: Install WordToEPUB from the .
    Step 2: Create an accessible document in Word.
    Step 3: Use the .
    Step 4: Select “WordToEPUB.” Additional Resources: Creating accessible Word documents Getting started with WordToEPUB The Importance of EPUB and the Need for EPUB 4 EPUB Accessibility

    Additional Resources

  • Creating accessible documents may be a little more complicated using a Mac computer. Office 365 for Mac can create accessible PDFs, but versions prior to Word for Mac 2016 cannot.

    If you're using a Mac and want to ensure your documents are fully accessible without Office 365, you can create and share Pages, Numbers, and Keynote files in their native format. These files have built-in accessibility features and will be read using VoiceOver.

    Mac-based software does not create reading order tagged-based PDFs. Documents created in Pages can be saved as PDFs, and any alt tags for images, tables, and links will be preserved.

    There are a couple of methods that can be used to create universally accessible word-processing documents using Macs.

    1. Word 365 for Mac as it is used on a Windows-based computer. This is the easiest and most reliable method.
    2. Mac word processing (Pages) documents can be opened in LibreOffice and “saved as PDFs.”

    Additional Resources

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