Why accessible PDFs matter
When people think about accessibility, they often picture wheelchair ramps, automatic doors or accessible parking and toilets. But accessibility doesn't stop with the physical space. It extends to the digital documents and publications your business shares every day.
If you provide documents and publications such as brochures, reports, annual reports, lead magnets, forms, and price lists as PDFs, making them accessible means more people can read and use them independently.
And that's good for your audience, good for your brand, and increasingly becoming an expectation around the world.
What is an accessible PDF?
An accessible PDF is designed so that everyone can access the information it contains, including people using screen readers, screen magnifiers, voice control software or keyboard navigation.
Rather than just looking good on the surface, an accessible PDF is built with the correct structure behind the scenes so assistive technology can understand the content.
Think of it like building a house. The paint colours and furniture make it look attractive, but it's the foundations and framework that hold everything together.
Why should businesses care?
Making your PDFs accessible isn't just about compliance. It's about creating a better experience for everyone.
Accessible PDFs can:
Reach a wider audience.
Help people with vision, cognitive, and physical disabilities access your information.
Improve usability for people reading on phones and tablets.
Support an ageing population with changing eyesight.
Demonstrate that your business values inclusion.
Future-proof your documents as accessibility requirements and laws continue to evolve.
In New Zealand, there isn't currently legislation requiring most private businesses to provide accessible PDFs. However, it is getting talked about, and most other major countries already have accessibility requirements, and expectations continue to grow. Creating accessible documents now puts your business ahead of the curve.
What makes a PDF accessible?
There is much more to an accessible PDF than simply using a larger font or adding colour contrast.
A professionally created accessible PDF includes several important elements working together, including tags, a logical reading order, meaningful alt text for images, correctly structured tables and lists, and decorative elements marked as artifacts.
Tags
Tags are like invisible labels that tell assistive technology what each piece of content is.
They identify headings, paragraphs, images, lists, tables, and other elements so a screen reader can interpret the document correctly.
Without tags, a screen reader may read the page as a collection of unrelated text, making the document confusing or unusable.
Correct reading order
People naturally read a page from top to bottom in a logical sequence. Sighted people can use spacing and sizes to distinguish which part to read next.
But people who use a screen reader rely on the document's reading order to know what comes next.
If that order isn't set correctly, the software may jump from one text box to another, read sidebars before headings, or mix up columns, making the document difficult to follow.
Images, alt text, and artifacts
Not every image in a document serves the same purpose, so they shouldn't all be treated the same.
Images that add meaning to the document should include alternative text (alt text). Alt text provides a brief description of the image or explains the information it conveys, allowing people using screen readers to understand content they can't see.
For example, a graph should describe the key trend or takeaway rather than simply saying "graph". Likewise, a photograph that supports the content should explain what is relevant about the image.
Decorative elements, such as borders, background graphics, flourishes or images used purely for visual appeal, should instead be marked as artifacts.
Artifacts are ignored by screen readers, preventing users from hearing unnecessary descriptions and allowing them to focus on the information that matters.
Properly formatted tables
Tables need much more than visible rows and columns.
An accessible table includes correctly identified header rows (and sometimes header columns), allowing screen readers to tell users which heading belongs to each piece of data.
Complex tables often require additional structure to ensure they can be understood.
Proper lists
A list isn't simply text with bullets or numbers typed in front of each line.
True lists use the document's list structure so assistive technology announces the number of items and understands the relationship between them.
This makes instructions, checklists, and key information much easier to navigate.
Headings
Headings create a logical structure throughout the document.
Just like a website, screen reader users often navigate directly between headings to find the information they need.
Skipping heading levels or using bold text and a bigger font size instead of actual heading styles removes this important navigation tool.
Why design software matters
Many people assume that because they can export a PDF from Word, Canva or PowerPoint, they've created an accessible PDF.
While these programs have improved significantly, producing a fully accessible PDF, particularly one with complex layouts, often requires professional software and expertise.
For professionally designed publications, I use Adobe InDesign because it allows me to create the document structure from the beginning, including heading styles, reading order, image descriptions and tagging preparation.
The document is then refined in Adobe Acrobat Pro, where accessibility can be checked, tags reviewed, artifacts marked correctly, reading order verified, forms made accessible and any remaining issues resolved.
Together, these tools provide far greater control than most basic PDF export options.
Accessibility isn't something you add at the end
One of the biggest misconceptions is that accessibility can simply be added after a PDF has been designed.
While existing PDFs can often be remediated, it's far more efficient, and usually more cost-effective, to build accessibility into the document from the very beginning. And any accessibility fixes done in Acrobat have to be redone every single time there are changes made to the document.
When accessibility is considered during the design process, the result is a document that looks professional, works for everyone and requires far less time to fix later.
Every reader deserves equal access
Your PDFs are often one of the first ways people interact with your business.
Whether you're sharing a downloadable lead magnet, company profile, product catalogue, report, or guide, making it accessible means more people can read, understand, and engage with your content independently.
That's not just good accessibility. It's good communication.
Need help creating accessible PDFs?
I design professional, branded PDFs that are both visually engaging and built with accessibility in mind. Whether you need a new document designed from scratch or an existing PDF remediated to improve accessibility, I can help ensure your documents work for as many people as possible.
