Adobe InDesign

Typically, headings of the same heading level should look the same. This allows readers to easily identify sections and subsections within your content. In doing so, your content will also appear more cohesive.

To create a new paragraph style:

1. Alt + W to expand the Window menu item on the ribbon.
2. Select and expand the Styles menu item.
3. Select the Paragraph Styles menu item. The Paragaph Styles side panel or dialog box will expand.
4. Select Create New Style. The new style will appear in the list as Paragraph Style 1.
5. Hover over Paragraph Style 1 and right-click to open the context menu.
6. Select Edit Paragraph Style 1 from the context menu. The Paragraph Style Options dialog box will open.
7. Select and open the Basic Character Formats tab.
8. Name the style and select options for the Basic Character Format fields: Font Family, Font Style, Size, et cetera.
9. Select the OK button.

In order for exporting to PDF to be accessible or at least easier to make the PDF accessible, basic paragraph styles should be mapped to P, heading 1 should be mapped to H1, heading 2 should be mapped to H2, so on and so forth.

1. Right-click on the Paragraph Style from the Paragraph style list to open the context menu.
2. Select Edit [paragraph style name] from the context menu. The Paragraph Style Options dialog box will open.
3. Select and open the Export Tagging tab.
4. In the EPUB and HTML section, set the Tag to an appropriate tag element.
5. In the PDF section, set the Tag to an appropriate tag element.
6. Select the OK button.

In order for exporting to PDF to be accessible or at least easier to make the PDF accessible, your paragraph styles need to be manually mapped to PDF tags.

To map your styles to tags so that they are compatible with assistive technology:

1. Alt + W to expand the Window menu item on the ribbon.
2. Select and expand the Utilities menu item.
3. Select the Tags menu item. The Tags dialog box will open.
4. Select the New Tag button and create H1, H2, H3, P, and Image tags.
5. Select and expand the More Options menu and select the Tagging Preset Options menu item. The Tagging Preset Options dialog box will open.
6. Ensure that in the Options section that Images is set to Image.
7. Select the OK button.
8. Select and expand the More Options menu and select the Map Styles to Tags menu item. The Map Styles to Tags dialog box will open.
9. For each Paragraph Style, you will have to map it to the appropriate Tag. Assign Heading 1 to H1, Heading 2 to H2, your paragraph style to P, so on and so forth.
10. Select the OK button.

To convey visual content to users with assistive technology, you must provide alternative text or equivalent true text nearby.

To add alternative text to an image:

1. Select the image.
2. Alt + O to expand the Object menu item on the ribbon.
3. Select the Object Export Options menu item. The Object Export Options dialog box will open.
4. In the Alt Text tab, set the Alt Text Source to Custom and type alternative text in the textbox.
5. Select the Done button.

To have decorative elements ignored by assistive technology, they must be properly marked as decorative. Decorative elements include background objects such as shapes, lines, et cetera.

To add alternative text to an image:

1. Select the image.
2. Alt + O to expand the Object menu item on the ribbon.
3. Select the Object Export Options menu item. The Object Export Options dialog box will open.
4. In the Alt Text tab, set the Alt Text Source to Decorative Image (no Alt Text).
5. Select the Done button.

Note: for decorative images to be properly exported to PDF as PDF artifacts, do not include the objects in the Articles dialog box, ensure that the Paragraph Style used for the image has PDF Tag settings set to Artifact, and the Paragraph Style is manually mapped to a Tag labeled Artifact.

To ensure that assistive technology is reading the document in an appropriate order, you must manually set the reading order of the document.

To set the reading order:

1. Alt + W to expand the Window menu item on the ribbon.
2. Select the Articles menu item. The Articles dialog box will open.
3. Select the Create New Article button. The New Article dialog box will open.
4. Set a Name for the article. You can put "Page 1," "Section 1," or something of the sorts.
5. Select the OK button.
6. Now that an Article is created, click and drag the elements from your document to the Articles dialog box in the order in which they should be read. A screen reader will read the content in the Articles panel from top to bottom.
7. Select the More Options button and enable "Use for Tagging Order in Tagged PDF."

1. Alt + F to expand the File menu item on the ribbon.
2. Select the File Info menu item. The File Information for [document file name] will open.
3. In the Document Title field, type the Heading 1 text in the textbox. This is so when a screen reader is toggling between applications, it will announce the document title instead of the document file name.
4. In the Author field, type your name.
5. Select the OK button.

1. Alt + F to expand the File menu item on the ribbon.
2. Select the Export menu item. Your file explorer will open.
3. Set the Save as Type to Adobe PDF (Interactive).
4. Select the Save button. The Export to Interactive PDF dialog box will open.
5. In the General tab, in the Viewing section, ensure that View After Exporting is enabled.
6. In the Options section, ensure that Embed Page Thumbnails, Create Tagged PDF, Create Acrobat Layers, and Use Structure for Tab Order are enabled.
7. In the Advanced tab, in the Accessibility Options section, set the Display Title to Document Title.
8. Select the Export button.

Problem: a new line starts a new paragraph. So when you export your design to PDF, it separates what is supposed to be 1 paragraph into many paragraphs which you then would have to combine so a screen reader does not read it as separate paragraphs.

Solution: modify the style settings of the text so the text does not hyphenate. This can be accomplished by turning off the hyphenate setting.

Problem: a new line starts a new paragraph. So when you export your design to PDF, all of the blank lines with create paragraph tags in the tags pane, which you will then have to delete.

Solution: modify the style settings of the text so that padding is added after the paragraph or heading. This can be accomplished in the Paragraph Formatting Controls.

Problem: users may not be able to tell which caption belongs to which image. This can create confusion.

Solution: place numbers on the images so users can better assume which caption belongs to which image.

Problem: small font sizes can be difficult to see for users with low, or no, vision.

Solution: use a minimum font size of 11.