PDFs can pose particular difficulties in improving the accessibility of digital content. The workflow below is a recommended process for working through your PDFs and finding a suitable accessibility solution.
Wherever you have publicly posted PDFs, it is recommended you provide an accessibility statement that state's your intent and effort toward providing accessible content, as well as a responsive avenue for reporting accessibility issues and requesting accessible versions.
Before you remediate
Find all the PDFs on your website, in you Canvas shell, or wherever they are hosted. List and identify as either Tier 1: Public-facing, Tier 2: Employee or student-facing, Tier 3: Single department or program facing, and Tier 4: Individual or direct communications.
If all your documents are public facing, consider prioritizing by highest web traffic. Otherwise you should prioritize remediation by tier in order of number 1-4. Once you've inventoried and identified, you'll need to consider what to do with each file.
Decision Tree
For each file, a series of decisions should be made about if and how it should be used, and what is the most appropriate file format. This graphic provides a visual representation of this process as is described in detail below.
Decision 1: Can it be removed or archived?
Remove
PDFs are static and will not update themselves. This opportunity to review your document for continued relevance. Is it strictly necessary for your work or communication? Is there newer, or alternative content that makes the PDF obsolete? If so, considering deleting the file and associating risk.
Archive
If the PDF is no longer current but needs to be kept for documentation, you can move it to a clearly identified "Archive" section of your website or digital platform. ADA Title II provides an exception that allows us to keep these files online without proactive remediation, however we must still respond to direct requests for accessible versions.
It is important to only archive content that is actually outdated and no longer used as a part of current workflows.
Note: A digital asset removal and archival tool is currently in development for SItefarm users, and scheduled to deploy in Spring 2026.
Decision 2: Can it be replaced?
Most PDFs originate as another file type. If you are able to locate an original Word Document, PowerPoint presentation, or web link, these will usually be more accessible than the exported PDF. Replacing your file with the original can save you lots of remediation time, if any is needed at all.
Note: Linking to third party content, such as html news articles, could also reduce risk by changing the owner of the content.
Decision 3: Can it be reformatted?
If you do not have an original or alternative file format, you may be able to extract relevant content from your PDF and recreate it in a more accessible format.
Begin by checking for text content. If you open the file in Adobe Acrobat or another PDF viewer, try clicking and dragging to select text with your cursor. If you are able to highlight the text, your file likely already contains text data. Try to copy the text, and paste it (without formatting) into a Microsoft Word, Google Doc, or HTML page. You can then apply proper formatting as appropriate.
If you are not able to select text, you may need to click "Edit PDF" to use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) in Adobe Acrobat Pro, or another tool before copying and editing.
Note: In all cases, you will need to check your pasted text for accuracy and formatting in its new file format.
Decision 4: Can it be remediated?
If you are not able to change the file to another format, you may need to use Adobe Acrobat Pro to review and remediate the PDF. If you must remediate the PDF manually, you will always need to check the tag hierarchy, reading order, color contrast, and alt text.
Note: UC Davis does not currently support or recommend use of any automated or batch PDF editors, however IT Accessibility Policy Program (ITAPP) is evaluating several for implementation.
Additional PDF Resources
Get Adobe Acrobat Pro
If you do not yet have access to Adobe Acrobat Pro, you can find information in the IET Knowledge Base: Acrobat Pro: Faculty/Staff.