Create an accessible ACM submission using Adobe Acrobat Pro XI

Shari Trewin, August 2014

This page gives step-by-step instructions for how to add basic accessibility information to a PDF document intended for ACM. ACM publications are read (and reviewed) by many people. Making your paper accessible will help to promote the equal participation of people with disabilities in science and engineering.

These instructions are also available as a captioned video.

Note: If you are using Word on a PC, start by adding accessibility directly to your Word document. It will be automatically transferred into every PDF you generate.

These instructions are for Adobe Acrobat Pro XI. Please see Adobe’s best practices for detailed instructions covering more versions of Adobe Acrobat.

Steps

  1. Check fonts are embedded
  2. Set title and language
  3. Add tags
  4. Add alternative text for figures
  5. Set tab order
  6. Mark table headers

We encourage you to go the extra mile, especially for a camera-ready paper.

Step 1. Check fonts are embedded

Font embedding is an ACM requirement. If fonts are not embedded, your PDF will need to be regenerated, and you may lose accessibility that you have added.

How to check fonts are embedded:

  1. Open your pdf file in Adobe Acrobat Pro XI
  2. Type Command-D to bring up the document properties dialog.
    (Menu option: File->Properties)
  3. Select the ‘Fonts’ tab.
    'Document Properties' dialog.  The dialog has 6 main tabs: Description, Security, Fonts, Initial View, Custom, and Advanced
  4. Check that all of the fonts have ‘Embedded Subset’ in parentheses after the font name. There is one exception, illustrated below. The font ‘Times-Roman’ with type=1 and Encoding=custom is generated when tags are added to a pdf document by Adobe Acrobat Pro. It does not appear in the document and does not need to be embedded.
    'Fonts' tab of 'Document Properties' dialog.  Fonts are listed in a scrollable box labelled 'Fonts used in this document'. The first font visible is 'Symbol (Embedded Subset) Type: TrueType, Encoding: Roman'.  The second is 'Times-Roman, Type: Type 1, Encoding: Custom Actual Font: Times-Roman, Actual Font Type: TrueType'

If fonts are not embedded, regenerate your pdf with embedded fonts BEFORE going further with accessibility.

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Step 2. Set title and language

  1. Type Command-D to bring up the document properties dialog.
    (Menu option: File->Properties)
  2. Select the ‘Description’ tab.
  3. Fill in the ‘Title’ field with the paper title.
    'Description' (1st) tab of 'Document Properties' dialog.  'Title' is the first text entry field in the tab.
  4. Select the ‘Initial View’ tab.
  5. In the ‘Window Options’ area, in the ‘Show’ drop-down box, select ‘Document Title’.'Initial View' (4th) tab in 'Document Properties' dialog. 'Window Options' is the 2nd of 3 areas, and 'Show' is the 4th item in that area.
  6. Select the ‘Advanced’ tab.
  7. In the ‘Reading Options’ area, in the ‘Language’ drop-down box, select ‘English’.
    'Advanced' (6th) tab of 'Document Properties' dialog.  The 'Language' drop-down is the 2nd element within the 'Reading Options' area, the 3rd area of 3.

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Step 3. Add tags

Tags allow assistive technologies used by people with disabilities to interpret the document. To check if your document is tagged:

  1. Type Command-D to bring up the document properties dialog.
    (Menu option: File->Properties)
  2. Open the ‘Description’ tab.
  3. Look for ‘Tagged PDF: Yes’ among the set of advanced properties.
    'Description' tab of 'Document Properties' dialog.  In the 'Advanced' area of the 'Description' tab, the item 'Tagged PDF: Yes' is highlighted.

If the advanced properties list has ‘Tagged PDF: No’, follow these steps to add tags:

  1. Go to the ‘View’ menu.
  2. Select ‘Tools’
  3. Select ‘Accessibility’
    View menu, with Tools submenu opened. 'Accessibility' is the 11th of 12 options.
  4. The accessibility tools will open in a panel on the right.
    Page with tools panel open on right. 'Accessibility' is the 8th of 8 options. It contains 9 options: Change reading options (unavailable), full check, open accessibility report, add tags to document, set alternate text, run form field recognition, add tags to form fields (unavailable), touch up reading order, setup assistant
  5. Select ‘Add tags to document’.
    Accessibility tools. 'Add Tags to Document' is the 4th of 9 options

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Step 4. Add alternative text for figures

    1. Go to the ‘View’ menu.
    2. Select ‘Tools’
    3. Select ‘Accessibility’
      View menu, with Tools submenu opened. 'Accessibility' is the 11th of 12 options.
    4. The accessibility tools will open in a panel on the right
      Page with tools panel open on right. 'Accessibility' is the 8th of 8 options.

 

  • Select ‘Set Alternate Text’.
    Accessibility tools with the 'Set Alternate Text' option (5th of 9) circled
  • Select ‘OK’ in the dialog box.
    'Acrobat' dialog box saying 'Acrobat will detect all figures in this document and display associated alternate text' with Cancel and OK options.
  • Provide a written description that captures the content and function of the image as succinctly as you can. This is what will be spoken to readers who cannot see the figure. You do not need to repeat any information that is already in the document text or figure caption.
    'Set alternate Text' dialog box, containing: left and right arrows to move between images in the document;  a title 'Image 1 of 1'; an 'Alternate text' text entry field; a 'Decorative figure' check box; 'Save & Close' and 'Cancel' buttons.
  • Repeat for all images in the paper. Click the right arrow to move to the next image.
    'Set alternate Text' dialog box with right arrow highlighted.

 

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Step 5. Set tab order

  1. Select the Page Thumbnails icon at the upper left of the document view.Top of document window, with 'Page Thumbnails' button in left hand toolbar highlighted.
  2. Click on any page.'Page Thumbnails' view open on left of document. It shows each page of the document. One page is selected.
  3. Type Command-A (or Ctrl-A on a PC) to select all the pages.
    'Page Thumbnails' view open on left of document. It shows each page of the document. All pages are selected.
  4. Right click to open the context menu.Context menu with 14 options.
  5. Select ‘Page properties’Context menu with 14 options. 'Page properties is the 14th.
  6. In the ‘Page Properties’ dialog, select the ‘Tab Order’ tab.'Page Properties' dialog. It has 2 primary tabs: Tab Order and Actions. Tab order is highlighted.
  7. Select ‘Use document structure’.'Page Properties' dialog. The 'Tab Order' tab is selected. 'Use Document Structure' is the 3rd of 4 options.
  8. Click ‘OK’ to close the dialog.

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Step 6. Mark table headers

  1. Right-click on a table in the document.Context menu with 8 options. 'Table editor' is the 6th.
  2. Select ‘Table Editor’ from the context menu. If there is no ‘Table Editor’ option, then open up the ‘Touch Up Reading Order’ accessibility tool, to see the document markup. If the table is marked as a table, try right-clicking on the table again with the ‘Touch Up Reading Order’ tool open. If it is not, use the ‘Touch Up Reading Order’ tool to mark up the table.Closeup of context menu. 'Table editor' is the 6th of 8 options.
  3. The cells of the table should be outlined, and labelled either ‘TH’ (table header cell) or TD (table data cell). If the cells are not correctly outlined, then use the ‘Touch Up Reading Order’ tool to mark up the table.Table in the document with overlaid TD and TH markup.
  4. If any cells of the table are not correctly identified as header or data cells, right-click on the cell, and select ‘Table Cell Properties’.Context menu. 'Table CellProperties' is the first of 2 options.
  5. In the ‘Table Cell Properties’ dialog, select the type of cell: Header Cell or Data Cell.'Table Cell Properties' dialog.  In the 'Type' area, the radio boxes 'Header Cell' and 'Data Cell' are highlighted.
  6. If the cell is a header cell, indicate the scope – whether it is a header for the row, column, both or neither.'Table Cell Properties' dialog.  In the 'Type' area, the 'Scope' drop down box is opened.

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Go the extra mile

Following these additional steps will make your paper even more accessible.

  • Use the ‘Touch Up Reading Order’ tool to check the reading order and mark up headings. This makes your paper easy to navigate.
  • Run the accessibility checker to see if there are further accessibility issues in your document. The checker produces a report that provides help with fixing many accessibility problems.The 'Full Check' option is the 2nd of 9 options in the Accessibility Tools

For more information please refer to Adobe’s accessibility resource center.

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