The Accessible PDF checklist should be used to ensure content on nsw.gov.au is accessible.
Step 1: Use the accessibility checker
You may need to turn on this tool in Adobe Pro via Tools > Accessibility
- Run a full accessibility check (all 32 categories) on the PDF in Adobe Pro
- Work through the results to fix any issues directly in Adobe such as tags, alt tags and bulleted lists
- Right mouse click on the issues raised 1 at a time and select fix
- Make sure your paragraph and list style tags have all been associated correctly. If a lot of issues are found by the checker, you may need to go back to the original source file
to edit it.
Step 2: Logical reading order check
A person looking at the document should be able to understand the right way to work through the
document. This is what tags are used for. We recommend installing Callas pdfGoHTML 2 to help with this task.
- If it is a very short document, you can check the tags in Adobe pro and follow them down the list to check the order. Otherwise, open Callas plugin in Adobe
- Select the Structured Tag view
- Split your screen so you can see the Calas view and your document at the same time side by side
- Work down the page and fix any issues in your pdf when you notice they are not correct in Callas. You can also check any hyperlink tags in the 'Basics view' in Callas.
Step 3: Colour contrast check
Check any colour in use on your PDF with a colour checker. We recommend the free Paciello Group colour contrast analyser recommended by Vision Australia.
- Sample all colour font on your PDF to check it passes the Normal Text AA check. Make any changes to colour that does not pass the check of 4.5:1 ratio
Step 4: Final edit
- If you have made any changes, complete a final check to make sure it is all correct
- Make sure in Adobe pro that the Document title, Summary and Author are entered
- Once all final checks and edits have been made, export your PDF and run the Accessibility checker one more time
More information on digital accessibility
More information on making PDFs accessible can be found on the Digital NSW website. To learn more about digital accessibility, visit the NSW Government Digital Accessibility and Inclusion Toolkit
Need any more help?
If you have any questions, or require assistance with anything mentioned on this article, submit a request via the webform.