Accessible PDF Files and other documents

Last Updated February 2026

All documents, including PDF (Adobe Acrobat’s Portable Document Format) documents are required to be accessible. We recommend making your content a Web page instead of a PDF whenever possible.

There are other benefits in addition to making screen readers and other assistive technologies work better. An accessible PDF is always going to rank higher on search engines than a PDF that is not accessible. At any time, a technological variable may cause your document not to display as you would like. Following the steps in this tutorial will help you to ensure your content is presented consistently.

Resources curated by the University’s Deputy ADA Coordinator for creating accessible Word documents and PDFs

On this page:

• Key Points
  • Images and ALT Text
  • Document Headings
  • Table Markup
• Basic Tips
  • Start in Word and Save as PDF
  • Remediating a PDF
  • Other Recommendations
• Learn More, including about other file types

Key Points

• Don’t convey information exclusively through color or images. Some people use screen readers or may be colorblind. If using visuals (like holidays on a calendar), it’s best to convey information through more than one way (like in a list or table).
• Use programmatic headings. Use heading styles so navigation is possible. This also makes it easy to make quick style changes later on.
• Logical reading order. This ensures that screen readers can easily navigate the document.
• Always use ALT text for images unless they’re purely decorative.
• Don’t scan documents or use ‘Print As’ to create a PDF. It results in an untagged, inaccessible graphic.

Images and ALT Text

Make sure to always use alt text to describe an image. In Word, select the image and go to the Picture Format tab (or right click and select Edit Alt text). If the image is purely decorative and not informative, like a logo, you can mark it as decorative.

If you want to have visual elements (e.g. color-coded holidays on a calendar, images with text) you need to also present that information as a readable list or table. In this case, it’s best to screenshot the visual element and paste it in the document as an image.

Document Headings

Use headings hierarchically in your document like you would on a website. This ensures that assistive technology can easily navigate the content. In Word, these are found under Styles in the Home tab.

Table Markup

As mentioned below we recommend starting in Microsoft Word then saving as a PDF. Word has limitations on making tables accessible (especially more complex ones), but there are some basics steps you can take to facilitate accessibility. Once your table is created, go to the Table Design tab where you can “categorize” the cells (you can select multiple cells at once and do this). Most importantly, make sure you mark the header row so screen readers will read the header. If there are also headers in the first column, you can indicate that as well. For complex tables, please seek additional resources.

Basic Tips

Versions of Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat may be different. The location in menus and terms used may not be the same as described below but we usually find they are similar. If you do not see the exact option in the exact location, look around the tool to find something similar.

Start in Word and Save as PDF

The easiest way to make an accessible PDF is to start in Word and convert the document to a PDF format after you’re done. In Word, use the Tools to Check Accessibility and see Microsoft’s documentation on Best Practices for making Word documents accessible.

To preserve accessibility from Word to the PDF, make sure to save the document as a PDF (as opposed to using ‘Print As’) and on:

• Mac: Make sure “Best for electronic distribution and accessibility” is selected.
• Windows: The basic settings are fine, but you’ll want to click Options to make sure “Document structure tags for accessibility” is checked.

Remediating a PDF

Adobe Acrobat Pro has tools that you can use to make a PDF more accessible. For more information on PDF accessibility, visit the Adobe Acrobat User Guide.

• Go to Tools and search for Accessibility related options. You may need to open more or look under various tabs. Last time I looked it used the terms “Prepare for accessibility”.
• Review the tags and tag order by going to View to Show the Side Panes associated with Accessibility.

Explore the options in these sections. Review and make sure to fix the reading order. Review and make sure images have ALT text descriptions. There should also be an option to run a check of the the file.

We do not recommend using PDF for forms. If your PDF is a form, you can make it interactive by going to Tools > Prepare Form (under Forms & Signatures). However, we recommend using Qualtrics for more accessible and secure forms. 

Other Recommendations

• We recommend that you provide the file size and type next to a PDF link. Not all visitors will be happy about downloading a file, especially a large one. It’s best to keep documents under 1 MB. Be sure to reduce and optimize the file size as much as possible.
• It’s best to use descriptive contextual links in your document.
• Qualtrics is a great way to create online “fill in the blank” forms instead of PDF files. They’ll be accessible and the results are automatically stored in easy to access reports.

Learn More,  including about other file types

For a deeper dive into accessible documents UTLearn provides a course for working with Word, PowerPoint Presentations and PDFs

Deque’s blog on Everything You Need To Know About PDF Accessibility

WebAIM’s article on PDF accessibility

Adobe’s Accessibility, Tags and Reflow

LinkedIn Learning course: Advanced Accessible PDFs (free for UT employees)

Techniques for adding ALT Text to images, providing headings, and link annotation for PDFs in Acrobat Pro.

The Office of the Texas Governor has tutorials on Accessible Communications.

UNC has information on Microsoft Word Accessibility