Article Type: Informational

Description: This article provides guidelines on how to ensure that PDF content meets accessibility standards, and outlines options for making PDFs accessible or replacing them with alternative formats.

Applicable to: Fort Collins, Pueblo, Spur, System

Affiliation: Students, Faculty, Staff, Guests, Community

Background:

CSU Employees are responsible for ensuring that any PDFs and documents they create are accessible to people with disabilities.  This includes all PDFs available on websites.  

• Americans with Disabilities Act
• State of Colorado House Bill 21-1110

Prerequisites:

• Check if the PDF is still required online.
• Prepare to update any links that reference the PDF file.

Details:

1. Evaluate if the PDF content still needs to be available online.

   • If it is not needed, delete the PDF and update any links referring to it.

2. Transfer the content in a PDF document to an accessible webpage whenever possible.

3. If transferring content is not feasible, create an accessible PDF by following CSU’s accessibility guidelines.

4. If the content cannot be transferred to a webpage or recreated as an accessible PDF:

   • Remove (delete) the PDF from being published online.
   • Update any links that refer to the PDF to prevent broken links.

Resources:

• CSU Accessibility Tutorials and Best Practices
• State of Colorado Guide to Accessible PDFs and Documents
• WCAG Guidelines for Accessible PDFs

Outcome: By following these guidelines, PDF documents will either be made accessible or replaced with more accessible formats, ensuring compliance with accessibility standards and improving usability for all users.