Extreme Makeover: PDF Edition 2022

Participants will learn the benefits of accessible documents and why converting PDFs to other formats, such as web pages, Google Docs, or Canvas pages, can enhance accessibility and maximize efficiency and audience engagement.

Participants will be provided with a Google sheet of their PDFs (WordPress inventory or their course PDFs) and can begin assessing their pending changes.

Week 1 Action Items

• Learn more about why accessible documents matter and how inaccessible documents, including some PDFs, can hinder engagement. Check out the “Learn More” section for recommended videos!
• Get to know your list of PDFs, provided to you on a Google sheet. Start identifying those items that are outdated or are otherwise ready to be removed. This first step can be very productive and satisfying!

Week 1 tips

Tips when working through your list of PDFs:

• If it’s out of date and no longer needed for the public, then mark it for deletion.
• If you are not sure which option will work best between web pages, Google Docs, or an accessible PDF, you can add more than one label on your sheet and we can help you decide as the Makeover continues.
• If your document is made for digital sharing and will be updated periodically, especially if it is primarily text, it is a great fit to move to a web page, or a Google Doc if a web page isn’t feasible.
• If you have an elaborately-formatted document that you anticipate your audience will print but also share digitally, consider putting up your info as a web page, then providing an optional printable and accessible PDF.
• For articles, such as scholarly documents, share a web-based version if you can. If a PDF is the only option, Week 4 will review how to identify the most accessible versions.
• We recommend transforming all PDF forms into more accessible web formats, like Google Forms. (covered in Week 3).

Participants will dedicate this week to assessing the inventory of PDFs on their Google sheet. This exercise is incredibly helpful because many people find there are old PDFs still available on their websites that are not only inaccessible, but outdated. Some can quickly be identified and deleted.

Participants will determine which PDFs are needed, to later convert them to an accessible format or improve the PDF’s accessibility.

Week 2 Action Items

• Update your Google sheet with which PDFs can be:
  • Deleted/removed from your website or course
  • Converted to an accessible format, such as a Google Doc, web page, Canvas page, or web form (Note: we suggest moving most items you keep to these formats!) 
  • Kept as a PDF and updated to include accessibility features
• Delete/remove any PDFs identified as outdated/no longer needed. (If needed, archive it elsewhere like in a Google Drive.)

Participants will begin to convert their PDFs to an accessible format or improve the PDF’s accessibility.

Week 3 Action Items

• Review your PDFs on your list that you marked “Convert to Google Doc” and follow these steps.
• Review the PDFs on your list that you marked “Convert to Google Form” and follow Accessible Google Form best practices.

Week 3 tip

If you think your PDF form needs features that are beyond those available in Google Forms, or you feel that your PDF would function better as a web page or a Canvas page, contact the Technology Accessibility Team to discuss your options.

Participants will learn ways to evaluate the accessibility of their remaining PDFs and ways to repair and enhance their accessibility.

Week 4 Action Items

• Watch the instructional segments listed in the LinkedIn Learning Extreme Makeover Collection, to learn about the basics of PDF accessibility and remediation within Acrobat. (All the segments are from the Creating Accessible PDFs LinkedIn Learning course, which is more than 5 hours long. This is a great full course to explore if you’re looking for a more comprehensive introduction to PDF Accessibility.)
• Choose a PDF marked for remediation on your worksheet and begin the remediation process using what you learned in the videos above as well as the resources shared on this webpage.
• Once you’re sure it is as accessible as possible, consider modifying the name of your PDF to identify that it has been made accessible. Remember: if you rename it for accessibility you should be certain it is accessible!
  1. Example: math_tutorial.pdf to math_tutorial_a11y.pdf

If you’re curious, check out this explanation of what a11y means.