Raising the awareness of Web Site Accessibility and Marketing.
Webcredible got some press recently with their survey of UK retailer websites. According to their study, 35% of retailers fail to meet the Disability Discrimination Act. In disabled access tests, the average score was 57%, but H Samuel topped the list with a 76% accessibility rating.
Webcredible offers the the details of this December 2007 report as a PDF, “Accessibility for Ecommerce High Street Retailers 2007“, free with email registration.
Nielson Group offers research data as a gift for the New Year.
Jacob Nielson, whom I have long admired for his excellent research into web usability, is offering a fantastic PDF report for free on his website. I am not sure if this is a limited time offer, so go download it NOW.
The report addresses factors that are usually overlooked when companies create accessible websites – usability. Having first-hand experience with testing accessible yet unusable designs and programming, this document is a must read. Simply creating a website that is accessible does not make a website easy to use. In some cases it can make it more difficult. Often overlooked, usability is a prime component of accessibility. While most people focus on the physical aspects of accessibility, there are also the cognitive aspects where people need the site to be simple, consistent, and understandable.
Bottom line: Being technically accurate in accessibility is great for machines, but not always good for users.
Beyond ALT Text: Making the Web Easy to Use for Users With Disabilities
75 Best Practices for Design of Websites and Intranets, Based on Usability Studies with People Who Use Assistive Technology
The following is another interview that I did with Lee Laughlin. Lee is the owner of Fearless Events, an event planning service. I met Lee when I was speaking at a seminar and we immediately became friends. I have learned a great deal about accessibility simply through our conversations together.
Lee has albinism, a condition of low pigmentation, which also affects vision. Just as the lack of pigment in the skin, the lack of pigment reduces the number of “cones” in the retina. You haven’t lived until you’ve ridden in a car with her and her telescope glasses. Lee was a fascinating choice for this article series, as I believe that most of us understand blindness to a degree, but most do not understand or even grasp how extensive low-vision affects people and websites. In many of the accessibility consulting jobs that I have done, low vision is always overlooked as art of the project.
This is a shame, as it affects more than the elderly, as some would claim. This affects one of the fastest growing segments of the American population, the baby boomers. It also affects countless other people because of other conditions such as albinism, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and many others.
I hope you learn from this interview, as I have learned from Lee as well.
MB: How long have you been using the internet?
LL: Since 1994
MB: What is your preference of search engine?
LL: Google
MB: Which engines are more accessible than others, in your opinion?
LL: I like Big.com if I have a headache or am suffering from eye strain.
I typically stick with Google because of the uncluttered interface. Everything else is too cluttered.
MB: Have search engines been an obstacle for you? How so?
LL: No, just the opposite, a boon. Growing up, there were many things that I had difficulty reading (e.g. phone books). The Internet has opened up a whole knew world for me and search engines have helped me organize it.
MB: What is the best color combination/contrast for you to be able to see pages the best?
LL: I prefer a black background with yellow or white text
MB: Has search improved in the past few years?
LL: Yes and no. I think the results you get are much more accurate and relevant, but some SE’s insist of Feature overload.
MB: What assistive technology do you use?
LL: Apple’s built in screen enlarging software.
MB: Do they help or hinder your use of search engines?
LL: It reduces the field of view, so an uncluttered interface is critical.
MB: What are specific things you would like to see improved in search queries, results, and services?
LL: I’d love to see the ability to store interface preferences in a cookie. I want to go to Google and automatically have it show up as light text on a dark background. I can do it through the OS, but in many applications, it is a hinderance. So If Google would let me do it, that would be great.
MB: Have you tried the Google Accessibility search at labs.google.com/accessibility? If so, what are your thoughts about this beta search service?
LL: I just looked at it. I suspect if I used a screen reader it might be useful.
MB: How can I best describe to others what you “see”?
LL: Simple answer, a lack of detail at a distance. Detailed answer, http://www.albinism.org/publications/What-We-See.html
MB: Can you tell me a little bit about albinism and how it affects your vision?
LL: I have a difficulty seeing details at a distance. I also have problems reading small print and light and glare are an issue as well. I have nystagmus (an uncontrollable and irregular motion of the eyes). The world doesn’t move, but my brain has to work harder to provide a stable image. Eye fatigue is can be an issue. Compared to most people with albinism, I have fairly good vision and am able to get by with minor modifications.
MB: You are obviously tied into the albinism community – what kind of support is available, and how does news of new features disseminate to the end user?
LL: Well, truth be told, in this case, we’d align more with the Low Vision or Blind Community and hope for trickle down from them.
MB: What resources does the average user in the albinism community have available to learn of new features or find assistance?
LL:Depends on how technically savvy they are. Newsletters, organizational memberships (i.e. American Council for the Blind or National Federation of the Blind). It they are still “in the system”, meaning they are connected to an agency that serves the blind or visually impaired, they might get the info from a rehabilitation counsellor or agency newsletter.
MB: You had said that you just went to the accessible search, but had you heard about it prior?
LL: Nope.
MB: Do search engines or sites do a good job of notifying people of their new features?
LL: NO!
MB: Do any web-based businesses or technologies communicate to the National Albinism community or leadership for guidance or assistance in order to make their products or user experience better?
LL:No, not with us, but they might with American Council for the Blind (Nat’l Federation for the blind is a little more militant, so my guess is people would avoid them). You could also post to the Albinism Online Community.
Sweet Home Chicago
I‘ve been back from Search Engine Strategies in Chicago for a few days, and things are starting to finally get back to normal. It didn’t help that I made the drive from Chicago to Canton, Ohio in one of the worst snowstorms to hit the Midwest in a couple of years. What is normally about a 6 hour drive turned into an 11-hour drive. That made for a very long night.
Anyhow, SES Chicago ranked up there with the most fun I’ve had at a conference. It was mainly because I was in Chicago and had access to a few good sushi places for lunch. But also, I was able to visit Blues, Kingston Mines and Buddy Guy’s Legends in consecutive nights. Being a blues fan, I was in heaven, especially when Buddy Guy was able to get up and sing a song for us during the last night. Loved it.
SEO OverKill
I presented at a new session entitled “SEO Overkill”, which was focused on helping search engine optimizers pull back on their “optimization methods” such as keyword stuffing. The entire session was very good; as this was also the first time I was able to share the platform with Heather Lloyd-Martin. Having known her for years, this was an added benefit and we had a lot of fun. Heather has a book on copywriting for the web that I highly recommend.
I tackled the issue from a design standpoint that users scan web pages, and screen reader users are the same. I then played examples of what a screen reader user would hear upon loading a keyword-stuffed page. After that, I showed the same page displayed in a handheld device, such as a Blackberry or a Palm, and then a web-enabled phone. All with the same results; any text or keywords stuffing that is hidden on a browser is shown in other devices like the screen readers or handheld devices.
Being that it was the last session of the day, I think people enjoyed the topic. I had fun presenting it. It still amazes me that at four-day conferences on Search Engine Optimization, I think that I am still the only speaker that focuses on Accessibility as Optimization. I think that may be changing however, as I think I’ve been evangelizing a few others at the conference about accessibility.
Here is my PowerPoint presentation for SEO Overkill if you are interested in taking a look. Any comments or suggestions are always welcome.
Andy Hagans published an excellent article recently, “High Accessibility Is Effective Search Engine Optimization.” I would highly recommend that anyone wanting to optimize their site read this article first to get a sense of how important search engine optimization can be for accessibility, and how important accessibility is to search engine optimization.
My take on this:
Is I’ll always say, search engine optimization (SEO) is more than just rankings. Those SEO’s that claim that as the goal need to grow and understand that simply gaining rankings does not create a successful web presence. True SEO understands that the user is the most important factor in the web site planning, and accessibility is one method of ensuring that you are taking care of all users, regardless of access level or device.
SEO & Accessibility: friend and foe?
The Priority 1 checkpoints are not only good optimization and necessary accessible elements - they are just pure good practice for any site. “Professional” SEO and accessibility are hand-in-hand partners in meeting the needs of users. Unfortunately, attempts at SEO can render a site unusable for most assistive devices, such as screen readers. SEO’s who rely on stuffing keywords into any available tag or attribute do more to alienate users than help them.
Phase 2 Checkpoints : Marketing
In building on Andy’s fine article, I would like to bring out a group of accessibility checkpoints in the Priority 2 section. These are even more than accessibility and SEO. These checkpoints surround the marketing and presentation of the site’s content. Realizing that users scan pages, both in reading visually or in using a screen reader, these elements are critical in allowing easy scanning of the site’s content:
2.2 Ensure that foreground and background color combinations provide sufficient contrast.
I can’t say enough about high contrast text on the web. I seem to be able to find at least one web site a week using blue text on a light blue background, or even worse, blue or yellow text on a black background. I am also noticing a lot more light grey text on white backgrounds, which maybe seems “artsy”, but gives users headaches. No one will read your content if you make it difficult for a user to focus on the content. The text on the site needs to be big enough and contrasting enough to allow for easy reading. Unless you want to hide your message, make it easy to read.
10.1 Do not cause POP-ups or other windows to appear.
‘Nuff said.
12.3 Divide large blocks of information into more manageable groups where natural and appropriate.
Most of what I learned about web design, I learned from my past life of being a Journalism student. When I decided to make my first website back in 1996, I had no specific web design training, so I did what I knew, which was using cues from newspaper layouts and implementing that into my designs. Fortunately, newspapers make good use (well, most) of headlines subheadings, and paragraph headings in order to allow readers to scan an article quickly. These same elements allow a user to scan the page quickly in order to find relevant information, without having to read word-for-word.
13.1 Clearly identify the target of each link.
Don’t use “Click Here” and “More Info” in your links. I don’t want to rant about usable anchor text again.
13.2 Provide metadata to add semantic information to pages and sites.
While metadata is not the SEO technique it once was, it still provides the search engines with semantic information to determine relevance, not rankings. The keywords can help the engines better classify your site’s content. The description can also help with building relevant data, but is also sometimes used for the snippet of information contained in the search engine results pages. A well-written description can result in a very positive marketing message in the snippet, which can help attract click-thru’s to your site.
13.3 Provide information about the general layout of a site (e.g., a site map or table of contents).
This technique is very helpful to both users and search engines. For users it provides the “index” to the site’s contents. Anyone can quickly get a layout of the pages in the site within a click and see if the information they need is available. This also gives search engine spiders the ability to quickly access the most internal links within the site.
13.4 Use navigation mechanisms in a consistent manner.
Accessibility requires consistent navigation for users that may have a cognitive disorder, but consistency of navigation is something that should be maintained at any level. Navigating a web site should never be a game for the user; it should be an intuitive process, as clear labels and consistent placement provide security for any user, regardless of access or device.
What have we learned?
More than just accessibility and search engine optimization, the accessibility checkpoints also provide a comprehensive outline for marketing a website. A consistent, easy to read layout of the content and navigation can help a site in building conversions, not just rankings. Ultimately the measure of any website is the number of conversions, be it sales, leads, ad clicks, etc. When site owners and managers start to realize this, the emphasis will be where it counts - on the bottom line and how to improve it.
Fortunately, the means of improving the conversion-ability of a web site is contained in the WCAG guidelines and can be expanded upon with basic usability principles and good advice. My goal is that designers and programmers or anyone with an interest in a web site would print out the WCAG guidelines and post them near their computer. They are not difficult to follow, and in most cases, it’s just common sense.
It never fails to amaze me when I browse sites. One of the most critical factors on the page that affect everything from rankings, accessibility and usability is overlooked. Many times it is abused to the point of ridiculousness.
What I am talking about is the small, but powerful concept of anchor text; the contextual text that hyperlinks to another page or another site. The problem is the amount of sites that employ the following use of anchor text:
Click here
More info
Skip intro
To me, this is a ghastly oversight, especially when “click here’s” are littered throughout the page. These are links that are supposed to describe what you will find when you click the link. There are three reasons for eliminating this harmful practice from your site; Usability, Accessibility and Search Engine Rankings. When you over look this simple potential for greater success, I am sure that you will spend a few hours working on removing these unusable road signs in your site.
Concerning usability, an anchor text link of “click here” or “more info” provide no information as to what the visitor will find on the other side of those links. The goal of usability is for a site visitor to easily find their way through a site without thinking. Each step is clear and logical; information is easily found and communicated. “Click Here” provides an action, but not a reason.
For accessibility, this creates a headache to anyone using a screen reader or other assistive device to access the page. Most assistive technology allows users to bypass the navigation and go directly to the content. These programs also allow users to list the links on the page, which allows them to quickly navigate to the content. Imagine hearing a page’s link list with “click here” repeated 5 or more times in a row. With no clear description to the page of content – where does that leave the user?
Lastly, using anchor text is a rankings gold mine. Internal page links can have a positive affect on your rankings if they are structured properly. I can’t imagine that many site managers are striving for top rankings for “click here”, but it seems as through there is a competition. You can affect your rankings by changing the anchor text to be more descriptive of the content and using keywords in the description.
On of the better examples I have seen in a use of content in anchor text is the American Cancer Society’s web site, cancer.org. In developing their navigation, they identified the five major groups of visitors that come to the site and the particular interests they have. By identifying their markets and the unique concerns of each group, they were able to formulate descriptive anchor text links into the site. This allows users to quickly find the information they need.
Nick Usborne’s book, “Net Words”
From a search engine rankings standpoint, employing user benefits in your text, and especially your text link is beneficial. Searchers tend to look for solutions to their problems. When a site is focused on the needs of the users, in the language of their need, it not only increases the chances for your site to rank for those terms, but also your site’s ability to connect with those users and increase your chance to convert them to buyers.
The next time you go to write “click here” in the text of your page, stop and ask yourself; Why should the user click this link? Does it properly describe the benefit to the user? Think through your strategy and rewrite that link.
If you are using color-based charts and graphs to convey important information, you need to take into account that about nine to twelve percent of the male population suffers from some form of color deficiency. Some estimates place the level of color blindness as high as 20% among the white male population. However, less than one percent of women suffer from color blindness.
Most color blindness takes the form of red-green confusion, while the minor forms are mostly blue-yellow confusion. While most websites will not create large obstacles, communicating information or instructions through graphics or color codes that use rely of these colors or the difference of colors will cause confusion.
A great resource for understanding how your web pages would appear to those with color blindness is Visicheck blindness. Any obvious problems will become apparent. If you would like to explore further, Visibone provides designers with color-blindness web color charts. There are diagrams which show how those with color blindness perceive web-safe colors.
If you suspect that you or someone you know may have color blindness, here is the link to the Ishihara Test for Color Blindness.
Some things to remember:
Using these elements will also create better methods for the search engines to use the information on the page. Search engines can read the color instructions in the HTML, but cannot us it as a basis for judging graphic elements. As more information is added to explain graphics and highlight specific areas of text, this will also help in naturally implementing keywords to target your specific business or venture to the search engines. It will also go far in assisting users to understand your site and your purpose.
Access for All.
On May 9th, 2005 Stevie Wonder presented two versions of his new music video, “So What the Fuss?. While a new video release is hardly headline material, this one was special. The video includes a second track which includes an audio description narrated by Busta Rhymes, for the purpose of blind or low vision people to experience a descriptive music video. Using a new video music technology, Stevie Wonder has made it possible for music fans “apply their vision to my video thanks to the descriptive technique? regardless of handicap.
In a March 2005 Associated Press news article, studies showed that 15 million Americans suffer from Macular Degeneration, a genetic defect that is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. That number is expected to dramatically increase as the baby-boomer population ages. In addition to this startling story, there are numerous causes of vision-related disabilities. Many vision problems are not included in the typical blindness estimates as they are from other disorders, disease, and trauma or associated with other genetic causes.
Web site programmers, marketers and planners must take into account the growing awareness of these needs when they set out to plan their web sites. Simply designing a site to perform the basic functions will not suffice. Careful understanding of who will be using the site, how they operate and the necessary considerations could eliminate problems from the start and create goodwill for the company. While Web accessibility seems to be a polarizing issue, it is becoming one that will be inescapable as the internet community progresses. The majority of the US population is growing older, and recent studies have shown that failing eyesight is one of the foremost symptoms in the aging of our society.
Adhering to a few specific ideas, the question of creating an accessible website is very easy. When looking at the bigger picture, we can also see that this also fits into the realm of search engine optimization. Search engine spiders are really the most handicapped of all users that will visit your site. They cannot see images, JavaScript links are usually difficult or simply not seen, content is not viewed through a style sheet, and multimedia is not seen or heard. Colored graphs, charts and text are also not “seen?.
If your main goal is to expose your website to the greatest amount of people and have it understood by them, then the Accessibility Priority Checklist from the WAI should be your resource. The data contained in this check list could easily transform your web presence into one that is an all-inclusive platform for users. In addition, following the basic principles of this checklist can also assist your web site in gaining rankings from the search engines.
Search Engine Optimization is on the cusp of mainstream corporate thinking (i hope), and accessibility guidelines can also assist those efforts. Unique page titles, descriptive link text, page-specific metadata, sitemaps, and additional text and mark-up based elements that convey alternative information. In additional to basic optimization techniques, common sense marketing techniques also assist users to understand the information presented on a web site. Simple usability-based marketing techniques include; consistent navigation, consistent organization of information, arranging content for manageable readability, text equivalents for multimedia, common sense search functions for different skill levels, and obvious conversion points.
Sadly, however, many optimizers take advantage of elements that are used to make browsing easier for low-vision users and create a difficult experience. These elements are designed to enhance a person’s ability to learn more about the content of a page; instead they are treated to a barrage of repetitive keywords. Simply repeating keywords in links, titles and meta data in order to boost rankings can create a page that is difficult to navigate, harder to understand and almost impossible to use for users dependant upon assistive technology. Interestingly enough, these types of pages do not tend to rate highly with non-disabled users. Even users with full vision use the same elements of the page to determine value of the page. Making the effort to create well-written descriptions, links and titles can create a page that connects with the user because of the writing, but can also create additional relevance and allow access to all.
From a page design standpoint, avoid repetitive links, such as the “click here? link, which provides no information as to the destination page or content. Seeing that link outside of context provides no information. Avoid blinking text or page elements. Allow the users to control this, as repetitive blinking can potentially cause a seizure in some ailments. Also allow users to use the site and enter or control information with additional devices other than a mouse or with modified keyboards.
Planning accessibility makes sense and it not an unreasonable expectation. Careful implementation of accessibility guidelines simply creates a better website presence that can also enhance your standing in the search engines, as well as connect with the greatest majority of web users.
Adobe Reader 7 is a free download and is upgraded with a host of accessibility features. Unfortunately, they may be easily overlooked. There are few guides and even fewer people noticing the features the new Reader version brings. The features allow a greater majority of users to view documents regardless of vision or access.
The best place to start setting up Adobe Reader 7 for accessibility is the Help option in the toolbar. The last option starts the “Accessibility Setup Assistant”, which opens a help box to start options for viewing.
Screen readers are mainly used by blind or extreme low vision users, but not limited to vision accessibility. Many users with cognitive difficulties, such as Dyslexia, rely on screen readers to help them better follow the content on the screen.
Screen magnifiers are becoming more prevalent, as they not only raise the text size in web documents, but also in all applications on the computer. Screen magnifiers come in many styles, some are similar to magnifying glasses and highlight areas of content, and others “blow up” a section of the screen to the entire monitor viewing area.
Choosing all accessibility options is recommended for most users and Adobe will then move into installing the additional features.
Screen Reader
The voice option is not nearly as full featured as the JAWS, Window Eyes or other screen readers, but there are keyboard commands to provide real full page or read one page options. The Read Aloud Feature makes use of the Microsoft Sam voice, which can be quite monotonous. However, I was pleasantly surprised, as the voice contained many inflections at what seemed to be appropriate times.
It was actually easy to listen to after some minor tweaks to the pitch and rate. This can be done through the Edit > Preferences> Categories> Reading. The user also has the option to override the tagging commands contained within the document as well.
Contrast
In the Preferences> Categories> Accessibility is another great feature that increases accessibility for any user. The first allows the user to replace the document color format with a high-contrast format. Or, if the user already has a pre-defined windows color scheme to enhance readability, they can select that scheme, or set up a custom scheme. The art feature is particularly effective, as it can also render line art as a black and white image, allowing a high contrast image to be seen by anyone with color-blindness or who simply prefers to see graphs or art in a non-color format.
Reflow
Reflow is an important feature that allows readers who use large text options or screen magnifiers to view the document at a higher text size or increased document size, yet without the horizontal scrolling that is typical when increasing the document size.
Enabling reflow allows documents to be seen without horizontal scrolling. This is particularly effective for alternative devices accessing PDF’s, such as PDA’s, BlackBerry devices or Web-enabled phones.
By eliminating the horizontal scrolling, larger documents can be easily read by only a vertical scroll. The implications for this expand far beyond accessibility, as they can be used by all PDF users. There have been many times I have attempted to read PDF’s on a Palm device, only to get frustrated by getting lost in all of the cross-scrolling. Access Reflow in Adobe Reader 7 through View > Reflow. Or press Ctrl + 4.
Text Zoom
The default zoom can be set anywhere between 8% and 6400%. This is done in the Edit >Preferences > Page Display in the Magnification settings. Again, this is a feature that is helpful to any Adobe Reader user.
Multimedia
Adobe Reader 7 makes many strides in making accessibility options available, and the latest is through the multimedia options in Edit > Preferences > Multimedia. There are options to;
Of course, these features are dependant upon creators to implement multimedia that includes these options.
Summary
There are many other features, such as Rich Text printing and pointers, and I am sure there will be many more to come. This is a big first step and the features are very comprehensive. As with any program, and especially in this case, users will be dependant upon the creators of the PDF documents to place accessibility features in these documents. Many of the features will help all users, not just those that rely on assistive technology.
The main issue will be getting those who create these documents to make them easier for all users, but also they need to be aware of the features that are available. Sadly, I believe that most users are not aware of the simplest things they can do to make a PDF more web-friendly and user friendly.
How To: PDF Accessibility
PDF’s are used in masses across the web. Many times, sites will rely on PDF’s to communicate information, which can be good for users to download and read later, however, PDF’s have major usability problems for web site marketing and accessibility.
Marketing Problem 1
The marketing problem comes from the PDF User Trap. PDF’s tend to rank very well in search engines. As a result, many users will click on the PDF, just as they click on a typical search engine result. The downside starts immediately when the user has to wait 20-30 seconds for the PDF reader to load and start-up. Delays when trying to find information can be priceless, as many users just don’t want to be bothered with waiting. However, when the PDF application starts, the user is locked in, they can’t stop it or leave.
Marketing Problem 2
The next problem comes as the user starts to look through the PDF. If it is interesting and has good content, there is no immediate way for the user to get to the company website. This is because very few PDF’s are built with hyperlinks embedded in the document. The hyperlink could be a very valuable resource for users to get to the main web site. Most users will not edit the URL field to get to the website, as they tend to rely on the back button. When a user hits the back button, they are now seeing the results page again, with your result back alongside competitive web sites. You had them at your site – but they couldn’t get any further. This is how the PDF becomes a user trap.
Accessibility Problems
For many users, PDF’s are much more frustrating than this. As PDF’s can also incorporate many images, they lack elements that web sites include, such as alt text for images, or document structure. Many screen readers are unable to handle PDF’s if they are not “properly? constructed and can cause frustration. For many users, the only option is to upgrade their assistive software, at a potential cost of hundreds of dollars.
Creating an accessible PDF is not difficult, and can be done by changing settings in the standard PDF creation, typically in Adobe. Creators can also test the accessibility of their PDF documents.
How to Create an Accessible PDF
The best means of creating an accessible PDF document is to start with a tagged source file. Starting with this, any device should be able to access the document. With accessibility, the benefit of creating accessible documents is that the documents are open to be read by multiple devices. PDA’s and phones are included in this list.
Fortunately, tagged document formats are included in Adobe programs and Microsoft Office. By “tagged,? the most basic explanation is that the document has some sort of underlying structure such as header information, text and graphic display commands and alt text. The best example of this is a web page, which has make-up language to position elements, designate text size, font style and more. To see the Tag structure of your document, select View > Navigation Tabs > Tags.
The tags create a logical order and structure to your document. Allowing the reader to follow the document as the author intended. A tagged format also allows a PDF document to be reflowed. Reflow is an important consideration for those who have to re-size the document for readability and for viewing on handheld devices. Reflow allows content to be structured for viewing without horizontal scrolling, allowing the user to only rely on the vertical scroll to see the content.
Microsoft documents embed this and will carry tagged data through PDF creation. Be sure this option is selected in the document settings set-up screen. Other programs, such as Quark, need to be converted to a PostScript file and then converting the PostScript file to a PDF in order to maintain the tagged format. Web Pages saved as a PDF must also select “Create PDF Tags? in the settings.
Tagged Documents
To create tags in current documents, it can be as easy as opening a PDF document. , From the toolbar in Acrobat 6, select Advanced > Accessibility > Add Tags to Document. Adobe will create the logical tag structure in the document, which will enable a logical flow of information and the reflow feature. You may want to review the tag structure for accuracy.
Acrobat will also allow you to check documents for accessibility compliance. There is a Full Check and a Quick Check. Don’t waste your time with the quick check, the full check doesn’t take much longer and you are better off knowing what to do to improve your documents. In the toolbar, select Accessibility > Full Check. The resulting checklist will notify you of improvements that can be made to allow for a more accessible document.
This not only allows you to better communicate with all of your web site users, but it also allows search engines to better search your documents for information and context. You can benefit, as always, by creating more accessibility options that help you market your website more effectively.
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