Drupal PDF Accessibility Review

 

In January 2024, the US Access Board published a final rule updating accessibility requirements for information and communication technology (ICT) covered by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Document accessibility on publicly facing campus webpages is an ongoing concern addressed by this refresh. Ensuring the accessibility of PDF files on our SF State websites is crucial for creating an inclusive and equitable digital environment for all users, including individuals with disabilities. The SF State Disability Programs and Resource Center has developed a comprehensive PDF accessibility scanning process to help Drupal content managers determine which PDFs hosted on their respective domains should be reviewed and remediated for accessibility. By addressing the accessibility issues in these documents, we not only comply with legal requirements but also demonstrate our commitment to providing equal access to vital information and resources. This initiative enhances the user experience, supports our university's mission of inclusivity, and ensures that all members of our community can fully participate in and benefit from our digital content.

The following information will help you nagivate PDF accessibility reports generated by the DPRC. 

The SF State ATI will provide access to Equidox, an easy to use PDF remediation platform sponsored by the CSU Chancellor's office. 

 

Report

The DPRC has produced PDF conformance scans of each drupal domain. Each scan is formatted in an excel file and stored in a folder named after each drupal domain. 

Scan results are available here: https://sfsu.box.com/v/sf-state-pdf-scans

These reports are only available to Box users with SF State accounts.

Getting Started

With so many PDFs hosted on SF State websites, determining which PDFs to remediate can be confusing. However, not all PDFs scanned for accessible conformance will need to be remediated. By law,  State governments are allowed to prioritize content. 

Categories:

  • High Priority
  • Low Priority
  • Broken Links

High Priority:

  • PDFs that are used for university business processes, that contain forms, or that contain vital information about university services are always high priority.
  • Fliers containing information about future events and dates.
  • Any PDF located on high traffic pages (e.g., the homepage).
  • Box.com PDFs that are not downloadable.

Low Priority:

  • Contains out of date information and/or no longer actively used.
  • Does not contain critical information about university processes or access to services.
  • PDFs linked from “/node/” or “/index.php/” path segments.

Broken Links:

  • Broken links to PDFs that no longer exist should be removed.

Upon review of a Drupal site PDF report, a content manager will be asked to decide how to proceed regarding the state of a PDF.

  • Ignore: This PDF is either already accessible or does not qualify has high priority. PDFs highlighted in blue can be ignored. 
  • Remove: This PDF is no longer relevant and should be removed from the site.
  • Remediate and replace: This PDF is not sufficiently accessible and should be remediated and replaced.

The final column in each excel report allows a content manager to indicate if a given PDF is high or low priority. As the DPRC can not determine if a PDF is high priority, we ask that content managers update his information as they review a report. This information will be collected by the DPRC and encorporated into successive scans. 

A Microsoft Excel Screen Shoot

Domain PDF scans are available in the form of an Excel document with two sheets:

  • Scanned PDFs
  • Failure

Deciding which PDFs to remediate will be challenging. To make this decision easier for non-technical users a refined selection of PDF UA failure conditions are aggregated.

  • Violations: The violations column lists the total number of categorical PDF UA violations detected in the document. 
  • Failed Checks: The total number of violations found in the document. A higher count indicates a less accessible document.
  • Tagged: Reports if the document has tags. Untagged documents are never accessible.
  • PDF Text Type: A rough indication if this document contains images of text. “Image Over Text” or “Image Only” indicates this PDF may have serious accessibility issues.
  • Has Form: PDFs with forms are always high priority. This reports if a PDF contains a form element.
  • Errors/Page: Total violations divided by the page count. This is a good way to sort your PDFs for priority; a higher number indicates poor accessibility.

To help direct you towards less accessible PDFs, rows highlited in red indicate that a PDF likely has accessibility issues worth addressing. 

The failures sheet reports the following issues.

  • The link to this PDF returns a 404 error, and the associated file doesn't exist. Please remove this link
  • The PDF is linked to a box.com URI that is set to deny downloading. We can't scan a PDF for accessibility if it can't be downloaded. Please adjust this setting.

Self Remdiation

Understand Accessibility Requirements:

  • Familiarize yourself with the PDF/UA (Universal Accessibility) standards and the specific requirements under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
  • The key aspects include ensuring the document is tagged properly, has a logical reading order, provides text alternatives for images, and is navigable.

Use Accessibility Tools:

  • Utilize tools like Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, which offers comprehensive features for checking and fixing accessibility issues in PDFs.
  • Other tools such as the PAC (PDF Accessibility Checker) can be used to validate the compliance of your documents with PDF/UA standards.
  • Request an account for Equidox. Please email access@sfsu.edu to make a request.

Basic Remediation Steps:

  • Add Tags: Make sure your PDF is tagged. Tags are essential for screen readers to interpret the content correctly.
  • Text Alternatives: Provide text descriptions for non-text content like images, charts, and graphs.
  • Reading Order: Check and adjust the reading order to ensure it matches the logical flow of the content.
  • Forms: Ensure form fields are interactive and have clear labels. Use the “Prepare Form” tool in Adobe Acrobat to add necessary form tags.
  • Headings and Structure: Use proper headings to create a structured and navigable document.

Check Your Work:

  • After making the necessary changes, use the accessibility checker in Adobe Acrobat or another tool to ensure that all issues have been addressed.
  • Pay attention to the “Errors/Page” metric in your report to identify and prioritize documents with the most significant issues.

Training and Resources:

Testing:

  • Test the remediated PDF using screen readers like NVDA or JAWS to ensure that users with disabilities can access the content effectively.

Submit to DPRC

The DPRC will accept PDFs for accessibility remediation and will issue a chargeback to recover costs. PDFs remediated by the DPRC will be returned to you in their respective reports box.com domain folder. When requesting PDF remediation through the DPRC, please specify the domain hosting these PDFs. Simply copy/paste the location from the report and the DPRC will begin the remediation process. Please allow 2 weeks for delivery.

Rough Cost Estimate:

  • Basic $5 per/page
  • Simple Forms $50 per/page
  • Rush +50% over base price

Please email access@sfsu.edu to make a request.

Request a Consultation

If you would like consultation regarding a report. Please email access@sfsu.edu.

Remove or Replace the PDF

In some cases, it may be more practical to remove or replace a PDF rather than remediate it. Consider the following options:

Remove the PDF:

  • Outdated Content: If the PDF contains outdated information or is no longer relevant, it may be best to remove it from the website.
  • Broken Links: If the PDF link is broken or the document no longer exists, update or remove the link from your site to improve user experience.

Replace the PDF:

  • Alternative Formats: Consider using alternative formats such as HTML pages or Qualtrics/Drupal forms, which are inherently more accessible and easier to maintain.
  • Updated Documents: If you have an updated version of the document, ensure it is accessible before uploading it to replace the old version.