Hello PDF, goodbye accessibility
Access to content is more important than format.
We will be able to look at the issue of digital accessibility and its importance for the thinking, design and development of digital products from various perspectives. We can question its value for the business, its relevance for users or even its applicability, in what are the dynamics of project teams on a day-to-day basis. However, a well-founded opinion will hardly be able to question its importance for the construction of digital products, really and truly, accessible and transversal to a wider audience.
On the other hand, it is quite true that the subject is far from simple. In addition to norms, validations, and checklists, the scope of the topic and its integration, whether in the most strategic decisions, or in the simplest everyday processes, makes the implementation of a true and structured accessibility policy, touch a series areas of the company’s life.
Day-to-day documents
Digital accessibility is not a topic that should be confined exclusively to what digital products are, be they websites or mobile applications. Many of the day-to-day processes of any team can and should integrate concerns that effectively make all information accessible, especially when much of that information can be shared more widely with users.
One of the very recurrent themes in any team and that is usually forgotten when we talk about accessibility, is the creation, edition and publication of information through PDF files. Removing from this equation all the internal work documents of the teams (which could still make for a long conversation). Not infrequently, we see many digital products, full of useful information for users, confined in PDF files online.
PDF files
Let’s be clear on this topic. PDFs, although a very popular and extremely useful file format (it’s true), are terrible for accessibility. Do you have questions? For example, have you ever tried using a screen reader to consult information from a PDF online? Try it! I’m sure that experience will be very valuable the next time you think about publishing a PDF file online with useful information for users.
However, it is also important to clarify another idea. It is not impossible to have an accessible PDF file. There are several ways to make this “Portable Document Format”, launched in 1993 and developed by Adobe Systems, into an accessible file. In fact, one of the initial premises was to create a universal file format, which could be viewed in the same way regardless of the brand of computer or operating system. However, technological evolution and the proliferation of types of devices have greatly complicated this equation, making PDF a solution today with some weaknesses in a number of aspects.
Even so, there may be many techniques, tricks and suggestions — such as the use of Pandoc — that can make it possible to create a useful PDF file for all types of users, including those with some type of disability. However, the cost/benefit curve is immense in this case and the work of creating an accessible PDF may not be worth insisting on this format for sharing some type of information.
PDF Challenges
To say that publishing a PDF file, in our digital product with some kind of useful information to use it, may not be a good practice, may raise some doubts. After all, if we look closely, it’s not such an uncommon practice. But trying to deconstruct the mass use of this online file format, there are some topics that are very expensive to PDF and that can somehow justify the search for other solutions.
1. Structure and language
One of the recurring challenges with online PDF documents, not necessarily related to the format, is the structure itself. As it is a format with almost no space limitations, it is quite common for online PDF files available to users to lack simplification, both in terms of structure and language.
2. Screen readers
Reading a PDF by a screen reader application is always a very complex experience. Either the file is extremely well built and respecting a series of good practices, or it will be almost impossible for the information entered there to be clear through this type of use.
3. Responsive
Any PDF file is going to be quite complicated, offering a relevant reading experience when consulted via a mobile device. Not being a responsive information query format, this option will make life very difficult for the user depending on the mobile device he may be using.
4. File weight
The weight of the PDF file can also be an issue. Depending on the length of the document (which should be, regardless of the format, as succinct and clear as possible) it can generate files with quite a few megabytes in weight, which for many queries (especially via mobile) can be a big problem for users.
5. Different converters
One of the main problems with PDF files and the justification for some of the above problems is that they can be generated using different converters. Although the final format is always a PDF, the way to generate it differs a lot between software and therefore makes it almost impossible to standardize a series of assumptions that make reading this format more universal and, consequently, more accessible.
Possible alternatives
It only makes sense to share a PDF file online if that document is needed for printing. This is the true mission of the file, to provide a document that can be printed by users and used in that specific way. That said, the basic assumptions for building an alternative to the use of PDF files to share information with users are quite simple. At least the basic concepts.
Firstly, it is essential to understand what essential information to share with users and what is not so relevant. The information that it may make sense to share with the product’s users is quite different from that which may appear in any internal company document. It is essential to work on this information, adapting it to the needs of users and not taking the easy path of simply sharing internal work documents.
On the other hand, it is essential that all content and information relevant to users is converted into a web-friendly format . This means that the content must be easily read by any web browser. Technically speaking, this means that all content published online must at least follow HTML semantic best practices.
No technical knowledge
When creating an alternative to PDF files in a web-friendly format, choosing only essential information for users, we can often run into the lack of technical knowledge. It is true that to share some content online, in many cases, professionals with specific skills will be needed. However, it is equally true that there are now many alternative online tools that allow, in a very simple way, to create different types of “online documents”, but in a much more advantageous format for accessibility.
When searching online, it won’t be difficult to find solutions. To facilitate this search, here are some suggestions for tools that, in a very simple way, allow you to publish online, the content that we could most likely make available to users, through any PDF file.
Any of these solutions, or many others available on the market, above all guarantee better accessibility of the contents when compared to PDF files. In addition, they also allow you to create and edit documents online, further enhancing online publication and sharing in a much simpler way.
More accessible documentation
Putting aside the use of the PDF format to provide online information to users, it can challenge teams to look for different solutions for their content. Whether through the use of some of the suggestions of previous tools or others, it is fundamental in this work not to lose sight of some care in structuring and pagination of information.
Care to be taken into account when creating online content pages for users and which must follow some good practices in the field of accessibility. It is important to bear in mind that all these good practices not only guarantee better accessibility of the contents, but are also a very valuable contribution to a number of other areas, such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
1. Structure and language
When structuring information, it is essential to try to simplify all the contents to be communicated as much as possible. Whether through the language or the chapters that make up this information, it is of the utmost importance and a decisive contribution to accessibility, that all this can be done in the most effective and direct way possible.
2. Titles and subtitles
Related to structure, when building the content itself, creating a clear hierarchy for information can be a big step. It is very important that the structure of the contents is easily understood and titles and subtitles can be an important instrument in this mission.
3. Image alt text
The alternative text is a small description associated with each of the images, relevant to the content and which will allow any screen reader to pass this information on to users with special needs. This text can easily be inserted in any editing tool, through the “Alt Text” option.
4. Color contrast
In pagination of contents, especially in the case of texts, it is very important to guarantee an excellent contrast between the background and the text itself. For this, it is possible to use tools that allow you to test the color contrast and thus guarantee the best possible reading of the contents.
5. Keyboard Navigation
It is very important to ensure that all content can be viewed on any device. However, in many cases, users with special needs use the keyboard to navigate the information. Before choosing a tool for editing and publishing content, it is essential to ensure that keyboard navigation is good and easy.
All the suggestions for good practice described above focus essentially on aspects related to editing and paging information. It is important to realize that this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to accessibility. If we look at accessibility as something “essential for some, but useful for all”, the scope of the theme becomes completely transversal.
It is very important to build a solid knowledge base about accessibility in digital project teams. Accessibility is not a topic exclusive to PDF documents. It goes way beyond that. It is a theme that must have a 360º application, whether in digital products or in all processes and team dynamics. This is the only way to truly ensure that digital accessibility is not just another set of tasks in project management, but a sincere concern with a valuable contribution to the (accessible) identity of brands.
Read and share more about at www.dxd.pt
