<h1><small>Citi Retail Banking</small>
<br />Creating Accessible PDF's from Word</h1>

###### tags: `citip1t`, `a11y`

## Overview

Creating accessible PDF's from Word documents requires starting with properly formatted Word docs that follow the core accessibility principles:

- Properly designated headings and heading order
- Properly designated lists
- Properly structured tables
- Images with alt text
- Document language and title
- Color contrast compliance

Correctly styled Word documents, utilizing proper heading styles, provide structure to the document and to the subsequent PDF file that is exported, providing the structures required.

## Getting Started

### Workflow

It is important to set up a system of folders to keep the original/unaltered Word docs, audited/remediated Word copies, and the final PDF's organized.

I recommend creating a folder structure for each project, as follows:


## Audit and Fix Word Doc Accessibility Issues

If you are starting with an existing Word document, first perform a quick accessibility assessment.

Note: Copying and pasting content across Word docs can copy more than just text into your document. Word makes it easy to copy and paste copy and various styles and structures, which may lead to inadvertent structural issues in the Word document.

### View Document Headings

The preferred way to examine your document for proper structure is to use the [Navigation Pane](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-the-navigation-pane-in-word-394787be-bca7-459b-894e-3f8511515e55):

Open the Navigation Pane as follows:
- Open the **View** tab in the top nav bar
- Check the **Navigation Pane** option > Navigation pane opens in a left sidebar
- 
- In the Navigation Pane, click the **Document Map** tab
- 
- View the headings available in the document
- **Note:** if this is empty, there are no headings assigned in the document
- 

The Navigation Pane shows all copy in the page that is designated as a heading and their relative hierarchy. In the example above, "TERMS AND CONDITIONS" is the top level heading, followed by 7 child headings. Given this order, "TERMS AND CONDITIONS" should be a **Heading 1** and the child headings should be **Heading 2**.

#### View Document Styles

While the Navigation Pane does not show the heading level, the Styles Pane allows you to view the styles (e.g. headings, lists) in use on the page. Open the Styles Pane by clicking the button under the Home menu:


At the bottom of the Styles Pane, select the "Show styles guides" option:


The Styles Pane will show a color key for the styles in use on the page, and the document now highlights the styles in use, inline in the document:


Using this example, you can see that the titles "TERMS AND CONDITIONS", "Offer" and "Eligible Customers" are not styled as headings.

### Assign Proper Headings and Heading Order

**Heading Level Rules**

- One Heading 1 should exist in the doc. As the document title, the Heading 1 should be the first heading in the document with no copy preceding it. The Heading 1 should convey the document's purpose.
- Heading levels should not skip down by more than one level. For example, a Heading 1 should always be followed by an Heading 2 and should not jump down to a Heading 3 or Heading 4. Likewise, a Heading 2 should be followed by another Heading 2 (a sibling heading) or an Heading 3 (a child of that Heading 2). Levels can go up by more than one. For example, a Heading 4 can be followed by a Heading 2, indicating that the previous Heading 2 section has ended and a new section of copy has started.

### Fixing Headings

For each line of copy that appears to be a heading or title for a section of content, ensure that the appropriate heading style in the Styles toolbar has been applied. Note: Clicking the Style in the toolbar may change the style of the text. Instead, with the heading text selected, Control-Click the desired heading style and choose to "Update {heading level} to Match Selection".


### Examine List Content

Check the document for content that is or should be designated as list content. If a list appears in the document, click on the list items and ensue that the List tool icon is active. This indicates that the selected content is designated as a list:


Each list that appears in the Word doc should use solid circular bullets. Open or other types of bullets can be misread by screen readers.

### Provide Table Title and Description

Provide a succinct yet descriptive title for the table, and a more detailed description in the Table Properties > Alt Text tab.


#### Assign Table Header Row

Make sure that any table row that acts as a heading for the table is designated as the **header row** for the table.

To check this, click on the table, and in the Table Design tab, ensure that the "Header Row" option is checked:


### Examine Image Alt Text

Any images in the document that contain important information or provide important to the experience must have alt text.

To check our edit an image's alt text, right click an image and selecting Format Picture. Within the Format Picture dialog, select Alt Text and enter information in the Description field.

### Check Document Language and Title

In Office, select Tools > Language from the application menu to define the default language. To define a different language for part of the document, select each foreign language individually, then select Tools > Language to define the language for each.


In addition, make sure that the Word document has a title. Go to File > Properties, and select the Summary tab and check the Title. Add a descriptive Title if this field is empty.


### Check Color Contrast

Most Word document content is black text on a white background, it is important to check that any use of color is compliant.

In the example below, blue text is used with a light blue background. These should be manually checked using [Colour Contrast Analyser](https://developer.paciellogroup.com/resources/contrastanalyser/).


### Check For Extraneous Styles

When copying and pasting copy from one doc to another, extraneous styles can be transferred as well. These styles can include table cells or other formatting that degrades the accessibility of the document.

In the example below, the A0 and A4 styles are applied to this copy:

These extraneous styles can be removed as follows:

- Select the offending text
- In Word > Home tab, click the "Clear All Formatting" button


## Check Word Doc Accessibility

In the "Review" menu, select the "Check Accessibility" tool.

The Inspection Results pane will appear on the right. Address any reported issues and save.


## Export From Word to PDF

Once the Word doc has been checked and any issues fixed, creating a PDF is a matter of saving the file in PDF format.

In the "File" menu, select "Save As...".
- *Note:* Do not use "Print" and "Save as PDF", as this will create an inaccessible PDF.

Choose "PDF" from the File Format menu:

Make sure that the "Best for electronic distribution and accessibility" option is checked:


Lastly, click Export to export the PDF file.

## Check PDF Using Screen Reader

Using a screen reader, navigate through the PDF, checking to see that content order is logical, and that all headings, heading order, list content, tables, image alt text and document title are all present and make sense.

## Fixing Table Issues

See this article on [creating accessible PDF tables](https://www.adobe.com/accessibility/products/acrobat/pdf-repair-repair-tables.html).

## Sample Audit Findings

These are a few formatting issues that the Citi legal team should be aware of and avoid.

- **[Minor Severity] Open Bullets announced as "O" vs. "bullet" in VoiceOver**
- 
- ***Recommendation:*** Use closed bullets instead of open bullets
- **[Minor Severity] Random spaces are announced as "space"**
- 
- ***Recommendation:*** Eliminate spaces between list items
- **[High Severity]Table has meaningless title "Chart"**
- 
- ***Recommendation:*** Provide succinct yet descriptive title for tables
- **[High Severity]Section titles are not designated as headings**
- 
- ***Recommendation:*** Designate titles as headings using the available Word Styles:
- 
- In the example above, the headings should be:
- Heading 1: Terms and Conditions
- Heading 2: Offer
- Heading 2: Eligible Customers

## Resources

- ["Creating Accessible Documents in Microsoft Word"](https://www.washington.edu/accessibility/documents/word/)
- ["Creating Accessible PDFs from Microsoft Word"](https://www.washington.edu/accessibility/documents/pdf-word/)