{"id":6076,"date":"2026-01-19T14:20:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/?p=6076"},"modified":"2026-01-19T14:20:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:20:30","slug":"making-pdfs-work-for-everyone-simple-tips-for-inclusive-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/making-pdfs-work-for-everyone-simple-tips-for-inclusive-content\/","title":{"rendered":"Making PDFs Work for Everyone: Simple Tips for Inclusive Content"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">This blog is written by\u202f<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/profiles.cardiff.ac.uk\/staff\/penningtonh\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Heather Pennington<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u202fand\u202f<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/profiles.cardiff.ac.uk\/staff\/stewarta\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Alex Stewart<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u202ffrom the Learning and Teaching Academy.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">PDFs are widely used across\u00a0the university\u00a0to share information with students and colleagues, but\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0not always the most accessible option. Unlike web pages or properly formatted Word documents, PDFs often lack the structural elements that assistive technologies\u00a0such as screen readers\u00a0need to interpret content accurately. Issues like image-only scans, complex layouts, and missing tags\u00a0and Alt text\u00a0can turn a simple document into a frustrating or even unusable experience for some users. Whenever possible, consider alternatives like Word or HTML\/Ultra Docs, or ensure your PDFs are fully accessible and correctly tagged using tools such as Adobe Acrobat.\u00a0Here\u2019s\u00a0how you can make\u00a0sure PDFs work for everyone.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-contrast=\"none\">Preferred formats<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;335559738&quot;:160,&quot;335559739&quot;:80}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The easiest way to support accessibility is to try and avoid using PDFs altogether\u00a0or\u00a0supplement them with an accessible format. Use Word documents or HTML pages\u00a0(such\u00a0as\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/xerte.cardiff.ac.uk\/play_18321#buildingCourse\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Ultra Documents in Learning Central<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">), which are more flexible and inherently accessible.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">If PDFs are necessary<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;335559738&quot;:160,&quot;335559739&quot;:80}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Sometimes PDFs are unavoidable due to the nature of the content. In those cases:<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Tag your PDFs properly so screen readers can navigate headings, lists,\u00a0images,\u00a0and paragraphs.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Add bookmarks for longer documents.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">For scanned files, apply Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to create machine-readable text. You can\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/intranet.cardiff.ac.uk\/staff\/supporting-your-work\/libraries\/subject-support\/requesting-scans-of-course-readings\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">request accessible digital copies of course readings<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0through the University Library Service.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span data-contrast=\"none\">Creating Accessible PDFs in Word<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;335559738&quot;:160,&quot;335559739&quot;:80}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">If you\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have Adobe Acrobat, you can still\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/support.microsoft.com\/en-us\/office\/create-accessible-pdfs-064625e0-56ea-4e16-ad71-3aa33bb4b7ed\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">create accessible PDFs directly\u00a0in\u00a0Word<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. Be sure to\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/support.microsoft.com\/en-gb\/office\/make-your-word-documents-accessible-to-people-with-disabilities-d9bf3683-87ac-47ea-b91a-78dcacb3c66d\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">make sure your Word documents are accessible<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0before converting them to PDFs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-contrast=\"none\">Accessibility\u00a0tools<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;335559738&quot;:160,&quot;335559739&quot;:80}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">If you do use Adobe Acrobat\u00a0Pro, follow this\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.adobe.com\/accessibility\/pdf\/pdf-accessibility-overview.html\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Adobe Accessibility Guide<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0to make your PDFs as accessible as possible.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-contrast=\"none\">Need\u00a0help?<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;335559738&quot;:160,&quot;335559739&quot;:80}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">For more tips on enhancing accessibility explore the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/xerte.cardiff.ac.uk\/play_22925\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Digital Accessibility Guide<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0today and put accessibility and inclusion at the heart of your teaching and learning this year.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">If\u00a0you\u2019d\u00a0like more support or have ideas for future blogs, contact us at\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"mailto:LTAcademy@cardiff.ac.uk\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">LTAcademy@cardiff.ac.uk<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. Together, we can make digital content more inclusive for everyone.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This blog is written by\u202fHeather Pennington\u202fand\u202fAlex Stewart\u202ffrom the Learning and Teaching Academy.\u00a0 PDFs are widely used across\u00a0the university\u00a0to share information with students and colleagues, but\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0not always the most accessible option. 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