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- make sure you're using the new PHE templateUKHSA template and follow the guidance in our How to use the new PHE UKHSA template guide
- save it as a PDF/A
What is the PDF/A format?
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So saving our PDFs as PDF/As is a good first step to making PHEUKHSA's PDFs more accessible.
How to create a PDF/A in Microsoft Word
In a Word document, click the File tab at the top left
Then select Save as... from the menu.
Under the title field, click the format field to open a dropdown menu of possible formats and select PDF.
If you now clicked Save the Word doc would save as a basic PDF.
To make it save as a PDF/A, click Options under the title and format fields.
This opens the Options dialogue box.
- Tick the PDF/A compliant box.
- Make sure the Document structure tags for accessibility box is ticked.
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Click OK to return to the Print page and click Save to create a PDF/A.
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However, both these steps do not, by themselves, ensure that a new PDF meets WCAG 2.0 accessibility standards. That requires further checking.
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If you have selected Minimise size to create a PDF with a smaller file size, make sure to check that the 'Document structure' box is still ticked.
This is because minimising the size of a document can sometimes uncheck the Document structure tick box.
How to check that a pdf is properly tagged
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Open the pdf in Acrobat Pro and click on the label symbol, bottom left:
This is opens the tags panel on the left. If you click on the arrows, you can see what tagging there is. In this case there appear to be no headers:
So click on Tools top left, then Accessibility bottom right:
Click Autotag Document, top right:
Click 'Yes' in this window:
Now your document should have reasonable tagging.
But you might notice some elements that are still not be tagged. for example in this document, the heading 'Summary' is still tagged as a paragraph of body text (<P>):
So to make the word 'Summary' a header, you need to change it 'by hand'. Right click on the '<P>' in the tags panel, click on Properties at the bottom of the pop-up window and select your chosen tag (in this case Heading Level 4) from the 'Type' drop-down menu in the Object Properties window:
Click 'Close'. The word 'Summary' now appears as a Header 4 (<H4>) in the Tags menu:
Resources
- Adobe Acrobat, makers of PDFs, have a comprehensive Accessibility section, including tutorials, training, guides and videos
- Microsoft has created a suite of ten training videos about PDF Accessibility
- Wikipedia article giving a detailed technical explanation of PDF/A's features.
- Blog post introduction to the 8 types of PFD format.
- To check the accessibility of your PDF use the PDF Accessibility Checker (PAC)