Future Ready Nebraska Conference: The Challenge of PDF Accessibility (and Solutions)

PDF files are everywhere in K–12 education—from worksheets and handouts to district resources and curriculum materials. While they are easy to share and print, they are often one of the most difficult formats to make accessible for students with disabilities. Many PDFs are created by scanning paper documents or exporting from other tools in ways that are hard (or impossible) to navigate with assistive technologies like screen readers. In this session from the National Center on Accessible Digital Educational Materials & Instruction (NCADEMI), we’ll review some practical tips to making your own documents more usable for everyone as well as some ideas for what you can do with PDF files from other sources that you didn’t create. Participants will have an opportunity to share specific PDF challenges they are experience and will leave with clear, realistic approaches to creating more accessible digital learning experiences.