Use Portable Document Formats (PDF) sparingly
PDFs aren't very mobile-friendly and aren't the most accessible format. If you possibly can, choose to put the content into a web page. Even a Word document is preferable, as it's easier to make accessible.
Make the source document accessible
The easiest way to make sure a PDF is accessible is to make the source document accessible before converting it to PDF.
- Use our guide to making any document accessible
- If the source is a Word document, use this Microsoft accessibility checker - and see How to convert a Word document to PDF
Adobe’s guidance on creating Accessible PDFs with Adobe Acorobat
Turn it into a web page
If you can't edit the source document, it may be easier (if you have the option) to turn the PDF content into an accessible web page. Web pages are easier to access on all devices.
How to convert a word processing file to a web page:
- Open the Save As menu
- Select Web Page (.htm)
- The resulting HTML file can be opened with any web browser such as Firefox or Chrome
Google Drive users
Saving a tagged PDF in Libre Office
Google Drive is not able to create tagged PDFs. Instead download the Google Document to open with Microsoft Word (.docx) or Libre Office (.odt file) which can export as tagged PDFs.