PDF (Checklist)

A PDF is not usually a format in which content is created, but rather one in which it is provided. Formatting and accessibility settings must therefore already be applied in the source document before export. This PDF checklist shows what you need to consider in order to ensure accessibility.

Although the steps described here are a good and important first step towards greater accessibility, they do not fulfil the legal requirements for a PDF document. Those requirements call for a so-called UA-compliant PDF document, which currently can only be created using an additional paid tool, such as axes4 or CommonLook. For further information and more detailed guidance on creating UA-compliant PDFs, additional checklists are available, for example from Accessible Web Design (2006).

To meet all needs and enable you to use the content regardless of time and place, the checklist Accessible PDF (Word document) is available for download.