Preparing PDFs for Use on the BCIT Public Website

On any BCIT-issued Windows laptop, you can print to PDF right from any Office 365 product (Word, PowerPoint, etc.).

In Word (or any other Microsoft Office software), with the PDF-to-be file open:

1. Click File in the menu, then click Print.
2. Choose Microsoft Print to PDF in the Printer selector.
3. Review the settings and preview the document. When ready, click the Print button.
4. Choose where to save your file and edit the filename to meet filename standards, then click Save.
5. In Adobe Acrobat, click the Menu hamburger icon, then Open.
6. Navigate to the location you chose to save the file to, select it, and click Open.

With the new PDF open in Adobe Acrobat, set the document properties and security settings as described in mandatory Step 2 below.

To create a PDF document you’ll need Adobe Acrobat (not Adobe Acrobat Reader).

In Adobe Acrobat:

1. Click the Menu hamburger icon, then Create > PDF from File.
2. Browse for and open the file you want to create a PDF from. Acrobat will briefly open and then close the document’s “parent” software (Word for .docx files, PowerPoint for .pptx files, etc.) in order to process the document and create the PDF.
3. If needed, navigate back to Adobe Acrobat and you should be able to see the new PDF open in a tab.
4. Click the Menu hamburger icon, then Save to save the new PDF file.
5. Choose where to save your file and edit the filename to meet filename standards, then click Save.

With the new PDF open in Adobe Acrobat, set the document properties and security settings as described in mandatory Step 2 below.

Note: If you are creating a fillable PDF form, you will not be able to set document properties as outlined below. This is a known problem. Just submit the file without document properties set in that case.

1. Click the Menu hamburger icon, then Document Properties.
2. If the window does not open automatically to the Description tab click on the Description tab.
3. In Title Case (capitals letters at the beginning of most words), set the Title to: BCIT – Your Department – Document Title
   • Example: BCIT – IT Services – Preparing PDF Documents)
4. In the Author field put BCIT – Your Department – Your Name.
   • Note: Your name is optional.
5. Click on the Security tab of the Document Properties dialog.
6. Click in the Security Method drop down and change it to “Password Security.”
7. The Password Security – Settings dialog will then pop up automatically. Click the checkbox next to “Restrict editing and printing of the document.”
8. Type a password into the Change Permissions Password field.
   • Important: Remember this password – you’ll need it again shortly.
9. Change the Printing Allowed field to “High Resolution.”
10. Check off the Enable copying of text, images and other content checkbox.
11. Click the OK button.
12. An alert dialog might pop up warning you not all software will respect your security settings. Click the OK button to close it.
13. You then get a Confirm Permissions Password dialog. Retype the same password that you used above.
14. You then might get another alert dialog reminding you to save. Click OK again to close it.
15. Save for changes to the file.

At a high level, the process of creating accessible PDFs consists of a few basic stages:

1. Consider accessibility before you convert a document to PDF.
2. As needed, add fillable form fields and descriptions, and set the tab order.
3. Add other accessibility features to the PDF.
4. Tag the PDF.
5. Evaluate the PDF and repair tagging problems.

Make PDFs accessible (using Acrobat Pro)

The Prepare for accessibility tool walks you through the steps required to make a PDF accessible. It prompts you to address accessibility issues, such as a missing document description or title. It looks for common elements that need further action, such as scanned text, form fields, tables, and images.

1. In the All tools sidebar, click Prepare for accessibility.
2. Click Check for accessibility.
3. Ensure that all Checking Options are selected, then click the Start Checking button.
4. The Accessibility Checker results will display in a pane to one side of the document. Headings with issues will note the number of issues next to them.
5. Click to expand each of the headings with identified issues to view the results and work through suggested steps to address them.

Note: A list of available actions is displayed under the Action List in the right-hand pane.

A good way to check the accessibility of a document is to use tools that your readers will use. Even if you do not have access to those tools, Adobe Acrobat provides an automated way to check the accessibility of a PDF file. The Full Check/Accessibility Check feature in Acrobat checks a PDF for many of the characteristics of accessible PDFs. You can choose which accessibility problems to look for and how you want the results reported.

With your PDF open in Acrobat Pro:

1. Click on the Tools menu, and then Accessibility. The Accessibility toolset is displayed in the secondary toolbar.
2. In the secondary toolbar, click Full Check/Accessibility Check. The Accessibility Checker Options dialog box is displayed.
3. In the Report Options section, select options for how you want to view the results. You can save the results as an HTML file on your system, or attach the results file to the document itself.
4. Select a page range if you prefer to check individual pages of a document.
   Note: When you have a large document, running a full check/accessibility check one page at a time can be more efficient.
5. Select one or more of the Checking Options.
6. Click Start Checking. The results are displayed in the Accessibility Checker panel on the left, which also has helpful links and hints for repairing issues. If you created a report in step 2, the results are available in the selected folder.

Because the Full Check/Accessibility Check feature cannot distinguish between essential and nonessential content types, some issues it reports don’t affect readability. It’s a good idea to review all issues to determine which ones require correction.

The report displays one of the following statuses for each rule check:

• Passed: The item is accessible.
• Skipped By User: Rule was not checked because it wasn’t selected in the Accessibility Checker Options dialog box.
• Needs Manual Check: The Full Check/Accessibility Check feature couldn’t check the item automatically. Verify the item manually.
• Failed: The item didn’t pass the accessibility check.

Note: In addition to Full Check/Accessibility Check, Acrobat provides other methods to check PDF accessibility:

• Use Reflow view to quickly check the reading order.
• Use Read Out Loud to experience the document as readers who use the text-to-speech conversion tool experience it.
• Save the document as accessible text and then read the saved text file in a word-processing application. This exercise enables you to emulate the end-user experience of readers who use a braille printer to read the document.
• Use the Reading Order tool, Order, Tags, and Content panels to examine the structure, reading order, and contents of a PDF.

Fixing accessibility problems in your PDF

To fix a failed check after running Full Check/Accessibility Check, right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (Mac OS) the item in the Accessibility Checker panel. Choose one of the following options from the context menu:

• Fix: Acrobat either fixes the item automatically, or displays a dialog box prompting you to fix the item manually.
• Skip Rule: Deselects this option in the Accessibility Checker Options dialog box for future checks of this document, and changes the item status to Skipped.
• Explain: Opens the online Help where you can get more details about the accessibility issue.
• Check Again: Runs the checker again on all items. Choose this option after modifying one or more items.
• Show Report: Displays a report with links to tips on how to repair failed checks.
• Options: Opens the Accessibility Checker Options dialog box, so you can select which checks are performed.