nsw.gov.au is a mobile first website. This means a majority of people that visit the website do so from mobile phones. Downloading, and reading or filling in a PDF on a mobile can be difficult.
If a website visitor has a disability and needs assistive technology to read a website and access the PDF, the website may not be able to use or understand that content if it is not structured correctly,
The following guide provides recommendations on how to improve PDF accessibility should you need to add PDFs for download to nsw.gov.au.
- Where possible for smaller length PDFs it is recommended you consider a standard page or webform (online form) rather than a PDF
- If you need to use a PDF, make sure the source document is accessible first before you create the PDF
- If you can't access the source document used to create the PDF, then you can still try to improve the document by following the checklist and instructions below
- If you use a third party vendor to make your PDF you can also ask them to follow the below vendor advice checklist to improve your document accessibility.
Note: You may need Adobe Acrobat Pro or DC (not Acrobat Reader) to make changes directly to an existing PDF.
Accessible PDF checklist for nsw.gov.au content
Read the Accessible PDF checklist for nsw.gov.au content and follow the steps to check that your PDF is accessible.
Making an existing PDF accessible
Page content
- Content should be tagged and structured
- All annotations (for example links or forms) need to be tagged
- Tab order must be in the right reading order
Forms
- Form fields must be tagged
- Field descriptions should be included
- Alternate text for any images in use
- Alternate text for figures in use
- Make sure alternate text is nested
- Hide annotation
Tables
- If a table is required and goes over more than 1 page, make sure headings repeat on the following page/s
- Ensure Rows are correctly set
- Appropriate table tags in use - TH and TD
- Headers to be set at table and row headings
- Avoid merged cells
- Create a table summary to give context to the table. For example, an ABS data sheet with 50 columns and 400 rows would have a summary saying something like 'Demographic data for X age ranges across greater Sydney broken into electorates'.
Lists
- List items need to be tagged correctly - Lbl and LBody
- Use system bullets, not special characters or icons
Headings
- Follow the appropriate nesting order H1, then H2, then H3
- Consider a table of contents for documents longer than 4 pages
How to check accessibility in the PDF & common fixes to apply
Accessibility check
- Follow the steps on Adobe’s site to check accessibility. Use the Accessibility checker with the source document first to reduce any changes you may need to make later (for example, a Word document).
- Manually fix any accessibility issues, you can right mouse click and select Fix straight from the checker results
- Consider installing Callas GoHTML adobe plugin for the manual check of reading order (you may need request the plugin from your IT department)
- Consider installing Paciello Group free colour contrast checker for colour contrast ratio checks (check with your IT to get this installed if necessary)
Common issues to look out for
- Logical Reading Order and Colour Contrast will always need a manual check
- Primary Language needs to be set to English
- File > Properties > Advanced tab > Reading Options > Language > English
- Title field can be fixed in the checker.
- Right click ‘Title > Failed’
- Dialog box will pop up asking for title input if not already set
- Untick ‘Leave as is’ and input title, click 'ok'
- If the title has been set elsewhere, this will automatically fix when clicking fix
- Bookmarks will pass as long as there is 1 bookmark in a document with 6 or more pages
Accessible PDF advice for vendors
The NSW Government aims to meet the latest standard of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines at an AA level. If you engage a 3rd party vendor to provide a PDF, you can request that they ensure the following minimum accessibility standards have been accounted for in the document to ensure we continue to meet the AA requirements.
Vendors are requested to:
- Aim to achieve a PDF/UA standard while meeting WCAG 2.1 AA compliance.
- Use PNGs or JPGs instead of vectors for logos for web optimised PDFs.
- Ensure all images have the appropriate Image Alt Tag applied. Advice: If you could not see the image how would it be described to you.
- Use Heading style markups for all headings.
- Apply paragraph spacing, not set hard returns to space out documents.
- Ensure tables are correctly set up as data tables with set row and column headings.
- For tables, reduce the use of merged cells wherever possible.
- Consider colour contrast before setting a colour palette for the document, it must pass the colour contrast ratios set by WCAG as well as adhere to the NSW Government Brand Guidelines.
- When there are PDFs of more than 20 pages, bookmarks must be applied.
How to add title and description to a PDF file
In Adobe Pro
- Go to File > Properties
- Document properties dialog box will open and add Title in the title field and Description in the subject field.
How to add a title and description to MS Word document
In Microsoft Word
- Go to File > Info
- Click on Show all properties
- Add Title in the title field and Description in the description field
Note: You can also add other important details like Company, Author, Last Modified details, etc. to the word document.
How to correctly create a PDF from an MS Word document
When you are ready to create your PDF once you have checked your Word document’s
accessibility, and added your document title and description
- Go to File > Export
- Select Create PDF/XPS
- Click the Create PDF/XPS button
- Be sure to save your PDF with a file name that includes you agency/project name and an en dash (–) between words.
Your PDF is now ready to upload to the CMS as a Media file.
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.