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How Can We Make PDFs Accessible?

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Content Information

If you do use PDFs on your website, make sure it meets federal accessibility requirements.

  • Make sure your PDF text is machine readable. Do not use image-only PDFs.
  • Avoid using digital signed PDFs, or locked files.
  • Add alt text for images, charts, graphs, and other visuals to describe the information displayed.

Book navigation for How Can We Make PDFs Accessible?

Book links for How Can We Make PDFs Accessible?

  • When Should We Use a Document?

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  • Naming Documents (File Names)

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  • Table of Contents
    • Writing for Iowa
    • Basics of Good Web Writing
    • Writing for All People
      • Creating Inclusive Experiences on the Web
      • Create a Structural and Visual Hierarchy
      • Use Closed Captioning and Transcripts
      • Add Alt Text to Images
      • Make Forms User-Friendly
    • Writing Page Titles
    • Meta Descriptions and Title Tags
    • Writing for Microcontent
      • Accordions
      • Link (Visual) Collections
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      • Statistics
    • FAQs Best Practices
    • Creating Your Main and Footer Navigation
      • Guidelines for Structuring Navigation
      • Tips for Naming Navigation
    • Managing Documents and PDFs
      • Questions to Consider for Documents
      • Why Choose a Web Page (HTML) Over a Document (PDF)?
      • When Should We Use a Document?
      • How Can We Make PDFs Accessible?
      • Naming Documents (File Names)
      • Linking to Documents
      • Grouping Many Documents on a Page
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    • Social Media Guidelines
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    • Version Details and Recent Updates

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