Use the Adobe Acrobat Accessibility Checker

Introduction to using the Accessibility Checker Adobe Acrobat DC

Checking the accessibility of PDF documents is integral to ensuring full course accessibility for our students. There are many ways to determine the accessibility of PDF documents. One simple and effective method is to use the Accessibility Checker within Adobe Acrobat DC Pro. The resources on this page consist of a video tutorial and text directions for using the accessibility checker in Adobe Acrobat DC Pro. 

Step by Step Instructions for Using the Accessibility Checker in Adobe DC Pro

1. Open the document in Adobe Acrobat Pro
2. Select any text in the document and attempt to highlight a word or sentence. If the text cannot be highlighted move to the next step (documents with text that cannot be selected are inaccessible because they are images to Adobe Acrobat):
   • Note: Being able to highlight the text in the document is a good indicator of its accessibility; selectable text indicates a document is generally accessible because the program can read the words.
3. Raise your volume so you can hear Adobe attempt to read the document.
4. Select View from the menu
   1. Select Read Out Loud and then Activate Read Out Loud; this will close the view menu
5. Select View from the menu
   1. Select Read Out Loud;
   2. Select Read to End of Document
      1. If the document is accessible, Adobe will begin to read the document left-to-right out loud.
      2. If the document is inaccessible, Adobe will respond with the verbal phrase
         “Warning, Empty Page.”

Change Reading Speed, Voice, and Pitch of Read Out Loud

1. Select Edit, then Select Preferences.
2. In the categories list, select Reading.
3. In the Read Out Loud section, you can change the volume, voice used, pitch, and words per minute.
   1. To change pitch and words per minute, uncheck Use default speech attributes.