PDF Remediation Service

Service Description

ITS provides assistance with making PDF documents accessible. If you have a PDF that needs to be remediated to meet accessibility standards, our team can help ensure it is properly tagged and formatted for screen readers and other assistive technologies.

 

PDF Screening Process

Due to limited resources, we've implemented a screening process to prioritize documents that cannot be made accessible at their source.

The key principle is: If you created the document and have access to the original source file (e.g., a Microsoft Word document, Google Doc, PowerPoint presentation, Apple Pages document, or Keynote presentation), you are expected to make it accessible in that source program before exporting it to PDF.

Here’s how the screening works:

  1. Identify if you have the source document:

    • YES, I have the source document (e.g., .docx, .pptx, .pages, .key, Google Doc/Slide) and I am the creator/owner:

      • Please use the accessibility features within your source application to make the document accessible.

      • Once the source document is accessible, then export or save it as a PDF. This "born accessible" PDF will generally require no further remediation.

      • The centralized remediation service will not accept PDFs for remediation if the source document can be made accessible by the owner.

    • NO, I do not have the source document:

      • This might be because the document is old and the original is lost, it was received from a third party who cannot provide the source, it's a scanned document where OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is imperfect or impossible, or you otherwise have no way to access the original editable file.

      • In these cases, the centralized PDF remediation service is here to help. Please proceed with submitting your PDF to the service according to the submission guidelines.

This process ensures that our remediation efforts are focused on PDFs that truly require manual intervention because their source files are unavailable.

Making your source documents accessible

Creating accessible documents from the start is the most efficient and effective way to ensure everyone can access your information.You'll create materials that are usable by a wider audience and reduce the need for downstream PDF remediation. 

 

Standard Source Programs

For the most common types of documents, see the Knowledge Base article Top Tips: Create Accessible Documents. It covers: 

  • Microsoft Word

  • Microsoft PowerPoint

  • Microsoft Excel

  • Google Docs

  • Google Slides

  • Google Sheets

  • Apple Pages

  • Apple Keynote

Contact us if you have a source format not listed above, because there may be a way to make the document accessible with that format. For example, LaTeX has a tagpdf package that produces tagged PDF files.

NOTE that if you are an instructor with a Brightspace course page, you can verify for yourself if your created documents are accessible by uploading them, and checking their Yuja Panorama score.  

 

Audience

  • Students
  • Faculty
  • Staff

Location(s)

  • Technology Hub

Contact the ITS Help Desk at (607) 777-6420 or Submit a Request for additional assistance.