According to Adobe Systems Incorporated (2012), the PDF is "the native file format for the Adobe Acrobat family of products"; it was designed "to enable users to exchange and view documents easily and independently of the environment in which they were created" (Overview of Portable Document Format section). PDFs are a destination file format, meaning that they are typically created in some other application.

PDFs are the standard format for course readings. If a document is meant to be edited by students as part of an assignment, please provide a Word or Excel file because some students will not know how to convert a PDF into an editable document.

Two Sources for PDFs

Document Saved as a PDF

A PDF created from a document, such as a Word document, will work well for most students because it will enlarge nicely (for those using magnification) and convert easily to a readable file (for those using Read & Write Gold or other read-aloud tool). However, it will not work well for students who are blind (usually using JAWS) unless it is purposefully tagged for accessibility. Materials specialists usually convert PDFs to Word during accommodation work rather than trying to make the PDF fully accessible.

screenshot of a document saved as a PDF — Figure 1. Document Saved as PDF

PDFs Created from Scanned Materials

Poorly scanned documents create problems for all students because they are hard to read and are not real text that can be highlighted and searched, so they don't work with read-aloud tools and they won't convert to other formats with Ally or SensusAccess. Figure 2 is an example of a bad scan.

screenshot of a scanned PDF — Figure 2. Poorly Scanned PDF

Please reference the Obtaining and Improving Scanned Readings page in WCLD 101 for guidance on what to do with a poorly-scanned document.

PDF Best Practices

Use good quality PDFs for readings.
Reach out to the Accessibility Team to address poorly scanned PDFs.

References

Adobe Systems Incorporated. (2012). Adobe Acrobat XI accessibility: PDF accessibility overview. http://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/accessibility/products/acrobat/pdfs/acrobat-xi-pdf-accessibility-overview.pdf

Updated August, 2024