Accessible PDF project process

You are probably comfortably familiar with the project process for creating printed documents: brief, content creation, design and production. The process for producing accessible PDFs is similar but with crucial differences that will affect your project schedule and budget, so it is well worth understanding in advance.

The golden rule is to integrate accessibility from the very beginning. The sooner you consider it, the easier, more efficient, and cost-effective the process is. When accessibility is addressed later in the project, you may need to rephrase, redesign, or restructure problematic elements, leading to duplicated effort and extended timelines.

When working with design agencies on accessible PDF projects, I often find one of two scenarios has occured:

The initial brief included the requirement for accessibility, but the project team didn’t fully realise the implications of this until they were ready to export the final PDF.
The agency’s client added accessibility requirements very late in the project – sometimes even after signing off on the design.

In either situation, it’s essential to understand two things:

Accessibility affects all project phases. So if the requirement for accessibility is introduced later on, you will almost certainly need to make adjustments to the content and design before it is possible to meet accessibility standards.
Accessible PDFs require three additional phases in a project, impacting the project schedule and budget.

Accessibility affects all project phases

To produce an accessible PDF that meets WCAG or PDF/UA, you must build accessibility into all project phases, including content creation and design.

Accessible content

This means, for example:

Hierarchical headings. The content should fit into a neatly nested hierarchy of headings without skipping levels.
Accessible links. Include short URLs or meaningful text anchors that read as part of the content and explain what they link to.
Minimised use of acronyms and initialisms.
Minimised use of endnotes.

Accessible design

This means, for example:

Logical reading order. The content should be set out in one clear, logical reading order.
Meeting colour contrast standards. All information should be presented in colour combinations that meet minimum contrast requirements for accessibility.
Suitable type size. The text should be a suitable size for the target audience.

Importantly, the InDesign file should be built to optimise the accessibility of the PDF you can export and facilitate quick and easy remediation.

The three additional project phases for accessible PDFs

InDesign file preparation

When designing a file for print output, it’s unlikely that designers will set up files for quicker and easier remediation because there is simply no need to do so. For this reason, it’s almost always necessary to include the first additional project phase: preparing the InDesign file for accessibility. This phase focuses on content stacking order, text flow order, hyperlink set-up, and export tag mapping, for example. It aims to use as much of InDesign’s capabilities in creating an accessible PDF as possible to minimise time in the next project phase.

Remediation

Even when working with a perfectly prepared InDesign file with accessible content and visual design, it is rarely possible to export a standards-compliant accessible PDF. Further behind-the-scenes work is almost always required to fix tagging omissions or errors from the originating software. This work is called remediation – our second additional project phase.

Testing

The third and final additional phase is testing. With the file remediated, a series of tests determine whether it should behave as expected for the end user. I test using Acrobat’s accessibility checker, Acrobat Reflow, PAC24 and NVDA.

How it works in practice

Including the three additional phases, our project process looks like this: briefing, accessible content creation, accessible design, InDesign file preparation, exporting a PDF, remediation, and testing.

Clients work with me differently depending on their needs: asking for guidance or handing over the project at various points. An increasing number of agencies I work with have in-house design expertise and bring me on board during the design phase.

Outsourcing the design

This option is ideal for clients who do not have in-house expertise in accessible design. While some work might be necessary to clarify and correct the structure of the written content, it is usually minimal. The advantage of this option is that I can build the files ready for accessibility from the start, reducing the time needed to prepare the InDesign file before export. I can then handle remediation and testing.

Working together during the design phase

You are familiar with your client’s branding and design preferences. And you probably have a bank of work you’ve already done which you can draw on for new projects. Keeping design in-house can make a lot of sense in this situation. If you plan to do this, I always recommend collaborating during the design phase – especially if your designers lack confidence in accessible design. By sharing draft designs with me for feedback, I can identify accessibility issues early so you can find appropriate solutions for your client’s brand before final approval. Once the design is agreed upon, I can prepare the InDesign file for accessibility, export the PDF, and handle remediation and testing.

Hand over once the design is complete

In this scenario, you retain total control during the design phase, but it can be risky. I may need to make changes to the content structure and visual appearance of the design before it is possible to create an accessible PDF – duplicating the work you’ve already done. For example, the document may not have a complete and correct hierarchy, colours may not meet minimum contrast requirements or the type may be too small for comfortable reading.