Seven tips for creating an accessible PDF from InDesign

Accessibility is a hot-button issue for companies with federal contracts and not just from a litigation concern. Why would any business exclude certain consumers and limit profits?

When exporting from InDesign,  go to the General pane inside the PDF print dialog box.

1) Make sure the Create Tags option is on. Tags add additional structure for screen reading software and help rankings with Google and Bing searches (SEO).
2) Turn on bookmarks and links. Most online PDFs are a hybrid optimized for interactivity and printing.
3) Leave Embed Page Thumbnails off. This feature is not really needed anymore.
4) If your document is longer than four or five pages, turn on Optimize for Fast Web View. This allows the browser to download one page at a time.
5) For accessibility, use captions with graphics that contain important content.
6) If you have graphics or photos that use transparency (i.e., drop shadows), use the PDF/X-1a preset. This option flattens transparency that can cause image quality problems.
7) If you are distributing PDFs for other people to print at home, keep your images RGB for better results.

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