Adobe Acrobat Accessibility Checker

From your Adobe Acrobat desktop application you can use the Prepare for accessibility tool to check and make a PDF accessible. It prompts you to address accessibility issues, such as a missing document description or title. It looks for common elements that need further action, such as scanned text, form fields, tables, and images. You can run a Prepare for accessibility action on all PDFs except dynamic forms (XFA documents) or portfolios.

Please note this function is only available on the Adobe Acrobat Desktop app. It will not work on the web app or with Adobe Reader. If you need assistance accessing or installing Adobe Acrobat please create a ticket.

Open the PDF, and then, from the global bar in the upper left, select All tools, select View more, and then select Prepare for accessibility.

Prepare for accessibility panel with a list of available actions appear on the left panel.
From the left panel, select Check for accessibility.
From the Accessibility Checker Options dialog, select the options as required and then select Start Checking.
Once the check is complete, it displays a panel on the right that lists the accessibility issues.
Select each issue type drop-down to view the details and make fixes, as suggested.
- Since the Accessibility Check feature does not distinguish between essential and nonessential content types, some reported issues may not affect readability. We suggest that you review all issues to determine the ones that need correction.

The report displays one of the following statuses for each rule check:

Passed: The item is accessible.
- Skipped By User: Rule was not checked because it wasn't selected in the Accessibility Checker Options dialog box.
- Needs Manual Check: The Full Check/Accessibility Check feature couldn't check the item automatically. Verify the item manually.
- Failed: The item didn't pass the accessibility check.
To view a complete report of the check, from the left panel, select Open accessibility report.
It displays a detailed report in the right panel.

Fix accessibility issues

To fix a failed check after running the Prepare for accessibility check, select ellipsis in the Accessibility Checker panel on the right and select one of the following options from the context menu:

Fix: Acrobat either fixes the item automatically or displays a dialog box prompting you to fix the item manually.
Skip Rule: Deselects this option in the Accessibility Checker Options dialog box for future checks of this document, and change the item status to Skipped.
Explain: Opens the online Help where you can get more details about the accessibility issue.
Check Again: Runs the checker again on all items. Choose this option after modifying one or more items.
Show Report: Displays a report with links to tips on how to repair failed checks.
Options: Opens the Accessibility Checker Options dialog box, so you can select which checks are performed.

For Accessibility Issue information see Adobe PDF Accessibility Issue Types

Common Issues & How to Fix:

If you have converted a Word Doc to a PDF you should check the following to verify your PDF is accessible:

In the Adobe Acrobat Desktop app go to Menu>Document Properties then within the Document Properties pop up box you will need to verify the Title and Author are filled in within the Description Tab and within the Initial View tab verify Show is set to Document title.