Website PDF QA Process

The new website PDF QA process ensures that any PDF uploaded by faculty, staff, or students is truly necessary and meets required accessibility standards. Before submitting a PDF to Marketing and Communications, users must confirm that a PDF is the appropriate format and provide a clean accessibility report generated through Adobe Acrobat’s automated checker. If issues are found, the document must be remediated and rechecked, with additional resources available for more complex accessibility fix

Summary

The goal of establishing a quality assurance (QA) process for faculty, staff, and students uploading PDFs to the website is to determine whether the PDF is truly necessary, and to ensure it meets accessibility standards. This document outlines the required steps individuals must follow to review and confirm the accessibility of their PDF before it is published.

Faculty, staff, and student's responsibility

If a faculty or staff member wants to upload a PDF onto the website, they must first determine if a file type other than a PDF will work, by using the PDF Decision Tree. If it is determined that a PDF is still the best format, the user MUST ensure that the PDF has been reviewed for accessibility and provide a clean accessibility report. When they submit their request to COP Marketing and Communications they must provide the accessibility report. If a report is not provided with the document an email will be sent to them showing how they can produce the report.

Creating a clean accessibility report

1. Open your PDF in Adobe Acrobat
2. Select “Prepare for accessibility” from the Tools bar.
   1. If “Accessibility” is not an option, from the menu bar click on “View > Tools > Accessibility”.
   2. 
       
3. Select “Check for accessibility”. 
4. On the Accessibility Checker Options screen:
   1. Select the box for “Create accessibility report” and choose the location where you want to save the report.
   2. Uncheck the “Attach report to document”, if selected. This separate file must be included with the original document when emailing to Marketing and Communications.
   3. Under Checking Options, use the default options selected.
   4. Click “Start Checking”
   5. 
5. Review the output of the report to ensure all areas pass the automated accessibility check.
   1. Please note, the logical reading order and color contrast will always need a manual check. Be sure to review these two areas to ensure they meet required standards.
   2. You may also select “Open accessibility report”, right below the “Check for accessibility” option. This will allow you to view the report that you will send separately.
      1. The accessibility report will pop up on the right side of the screen for you to view.
      2. 
          
6. If the PDF passes in all categories, you can submit your PDF to be uploaded to our website.
7. If the PDF does not pass all categories, please make the appropriate changes to your source document or PDF, to fix the reported issues and rerun the automated accessibility checker.  

Resources for PDF Remediation

Below are several resources on how to remediate a PDF. If you have a complicated document (i.e., one that may have graphs or charts) please submit a digital accessibility ticket at go.osu.edu/copa11y.

• Producing Accessible PDF Documents – OSU Digital Accessibility Services provides faculty and staff guidance on producing and understanding accessibility requirements for PDFs
• Evaluating PDFs for Accessibility – OSU Digital Accessibility Services guide to evaluating preexisting PDFs for accessibility.
• Remediating PDFs for Accessibility – Section 508 provides a quick 18-minute video giving you an overview of fixes to document’s properties, adding and adjusting PDF tags, adjusting the logical reading and tab order, and adding alternative text.
• Common PDF Tags and Their Usage – This Section 508 guide provides commonly used tags and why they are used.