New Solutions for Creating Accessible PDF Documents with Adobe ® InDesign ® CS5.50 pages

Adobe InDesign CS5.5 White Paper

New Solutions for Creating Accessible PDF
Documents with Adobe® InDesign® CS5.5

Table of Contents
1t Requirements for
Accessibility
1t The InDesign CS5.5to-Accessible PDF
Workflow at a Glance
3t Step-by-step Guide to
Creating an Accessible
PDF
14tAdditional Resources`

Producing a PDF from InDesign that’s machine-readable, and optimized for screen readers and assistive
devices—generally referred to as an “accessible” PDF—is critical for compliance with accessibility standards
and regulations such as WCAG 2.0 and Section 508 of the U.S. Government’s Rehabilitation Act. In addition,
producing accessible content plays a key role in optimizing PDFs for successful indexing by Internet search
engines. InDesign CS5.5 overcomes many of the obstacles to the efficient production of accessible PDFs which
existed in previous versions, enabling a simplified layout-to-accessible-PDF workflow that dramatically
reduces the time and effort required to produce accessible PDF documents. Most of the necessary tasks have
been shifted from Acrobat to InDesign, allowing hierarchical and structural information to originate in the
InDesign file, making updates and revisions faster and easier as well.
To accomplish the tasks described in this white paper, you will need:
•t Adobe InDesign CS5.5 software—to prepare a document for accessible PDF export using the processes
described in this white paper.
•t Adobe Acrobat Professional—the Acrobat-specific steps required to finalize the accessibility process cannot
be accomplished in the free Adobe Reader application.
Optionally, you may also need:
•t Access to Assistive Technology (AT)—for testing and verifying results beyond Acrobat’s built-in accessibility
accommodations.

Requirements for Accessibility
An electronic document is accessible if it can be used by people with disabilities such as blindness, low vision,
or limited mobility. An accessible PDF document can be navigated by persons with disabilities when using
Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader. These users can use third party assistive technology such as screen readers,
or in some cases the built in accommodations found in Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader. This requires the
tagging of all document content based on its hierarchical structure (headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, etc.),
and the correct ordering of that content in a linear path from start to finish. An additional requirement for
accessible documents is the identification and description of non-text content (such as graphics and images)
for users with disabilities.

The InDesign CS5.5-to-Accessible PDF Workflow at a Glance

•t Paragraph Styles mapped to Export Tags

•t Language assigned

•t Images anchored in text flow

•t Tab Order set to Use Document Structure

•t Alt text assigned to images

•t Accessibility check

•t Bookmarks/TOC/Hyperlinks/Cross-references
•t Content order defined in Articles panel
•t File metadata added