Creating Accessible PDFs with Word

For basic (i.e. read-only, content focused) PDFs, the steps are relatively simple:

1. Write accessible content
2. Save As a PDF, preserving accessible properties

1. Write accessible content

We direct you to read WebAIM's article "Microsoft Word - Creating Accessible Documents". Read Page 1 (which is linked) to understand the concepts, then read the appropriate section (Page 3: Windows Word 365 or Page 2: Mac Word 365) for your version of word to learn how to apply those concepts.

In summary:

• Use headings (See Windows - Headings, Mac - Headings)
• For every image, add alt text or mark decorative (See Windows - Alt Text, Mac - Alt Text)
• Add at least one header row/column to tables (See Windows - Tables, Mac - Tables)
• Write descriptive link text (See Windows - Links, Mac - Links)
• Use lists and columns (See Windows - Lists, Mac - Lists, Windows - Columns, Mac - Columns)

2. Save As a PDF, preserving accessible properties

When exporting to PDF, you must follow these steps to ensure correctly markup and metadata is preserved in the final PDF. Otherwise, the efforts to structure the content accessibly will be lost.

1. Open the "File" tab
   
2. Navigate to " Save As"
3. Select "More Options..."
   
4. Open the "Save as Type:" Dropdown
5. Select "PDF (*.pdf)"
   
6. Under the "Optimize for:" label, select "Standard (publishing online and printing)" if not already selected
7. Under the "Title:" label, add a title.
   • PDFs must have a title to be accessible (WCAG 2.1 SC 2.4.2). Always ensure you set an appropraite title. This is particularly easy to forget for documents where you are updating from a previous version with an existing title where it should be changed (for example, an agenda, or meeting minutes).
8. Click "Options..." to open the options menu
   
9. Verify the following options are selected. The other options are up to you, but these are critical for accessibility.
   • Check "Create bookmarks using:"
     • Select "Headings" option
   • Check "Document properties"
   • Check "Document structure tags for accessibility
   • Do not check "PDF/A compliant"
   • Do not check "Encrypt the document with a password"
   
10. Click "OK" to dismiss the options dialog, and "Save" to save the PDF

---

Feedback