PDF Document Accessibility Application

PDF Document Accessibility Application landing page

The PDF Document Accessibility Application is a CSU System-Wide tool that assists with the remediation of some inaccessible content in PDFs, such as missing tags, incorrect reading order, ALT Text, table structure, and other frequent barriers. 

When to use the PDF Document Accessibility Application
  • Check accessibility (a report will be generated)
  • Automatic tagging
  • Optical Character Recognition (OCR) of a scanned PDF
  • Automatic adding of alternative text (ALT text) to images 
Before you begin

Ask yourself: 

  • Can I replace this PDF with a permalink to the library database or another electronic version?
  • Do I have access to the original source file (Word, PowerPoint or Google Doc)?

If either answer is yes, do not use this application. Instead, use a permalink or remediate the original source file.

How to use the PDF Document Accessibility Application
  1. Log in with your SJSU credentials.
  2. Upload your PDF documents.
  3. Review the report to see what was automatically remediated and what still needs to be manually fixed.
  4. Download the processed PDF. (The title will be: PROCESSED_your title). Please note, files are not saved, so be sure to download it.
  5. Essential Final Step: Use Adobe Acrobat to remediate any remaining issues. The following must be manually checked: reading order, color contrast, tables and
    auto-generated alternative text (ALT text).

Please follow the guidance in Create and Verify PDF Accessibility in Adobe Acrobat to fix the remaining issues.

Questions? 

Contact cfeti@sjsu.edu with any questions.

For assistance remediating multiple files, such as in an LMS course, fill out the digital content remediation assistance request form.