Key Takeaways
- Accessible diagrams are essential for creating inclusive PDF documents that work with screen readers and assistive technologies.
- Proper tagging, alt text, and logical reading order help diagrams meet PDF accessibility and compliance requirements.
- Color contrast, keyboard navigation, and static visuals play a key role in diagram accessibility.
- Rechecking accessibility after remediation ensures diagrams remain compliant and usable.
- Tools like PREP simplify the process of making diagrams accessible in PDFs at scale.
- Individuals with distance visual impairment with mild, moderate, and severe blindness.
- Individuals with near-vision impairment. These are the ones who have difficulty with close vision tasks such as reading.
How to Make Diagrams Accessible in PDFs
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Verify Diagram Accessibility With Accessibility Checker
Ensuring a PDF with diagrams is accessible is crucial before publishing it. An in-built PDF accessibility checker tool can aid in identifying accessibility issues with your document, including diagrams, graphs, and charts. The tool’s primary function is to verify if the diagram is accessible and highlight potential problems hindering accessibility for individuals with disabilities. Additionally, the tool explains the issue and offers suggestions for addressing and resolving it.
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Include Accessible Hyperlink Text in Your Diagram
Incorporating descriptive link text is crucial when adding hyperlinks to your diagrams and charts, as it ensures that users receive clear and accurate information about the destination page. By doing so, individuals who use PDF screen readers can easily navigate your document, significantly enhancing its overall accessibility.
Rather than relying on generic terms such as “Click here” or “Learn more,” use descriptive text that clearly explains the destination. This helps users of assistive technologies understand context without confusion.
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Summarize the Key Points of Your Diagram in Your Takeaway Title
Before creating a chart, it is best to summarize the key points in the title to make it more effective. The title should be specific, straightforward, and focused on the main message of the data. A clear takeaway title improves comprehension and supports better navigation for screen reader users.
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Add Alt-Text & Image Descriptions to Enhance Diagram Accessibility
When dealing with complex communication, it is necessary to add alt-text to graphs, shapes, and diagrams, enabling users with visual impairments to understand the content of diagrams and charts. To ensure maximum accessibility, keeping the alt-text concise and accurately describing the graph or chart’s purpose and scope is crucial.
By adding alt text and image descriptions to graphs and diagrams, users with disabilities can effectively comprehend the information in the diagram, enhancing the overall reading experience.
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Ensure Accessible Color Usage
Color plays an important role in diagrams, but it should never be the only way information is conveyed. To ensure accessibility:
- Follow WCAG color contrast guidelines so text and visual elements remain distinguishable.
- Use a simplified or single-hue color palette to help users with color blindness interpret data more easily.
- Add non-color indicators such as patterns, labels, icons, or line styles to differentiate data points.
These practices ensure diagrams remain readable for users with low vision or color vision deficiencies.
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Ensure Keyboard-Only Accessibility for All Users
When designing diagrams and charts, it is important to consider keyboard-only accessibility for individuals with visual impairments. This is because keyboard navigation is often the primary mode of interaction with the computer for these users. By keeping this in mind during the design process, you can ensure that your diagrams and charts are easily navigable for individuals who rely on keyboard navigation.
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Use Static Visuals in Your Diagram
When creating visualizations for individuals with visual impairments, static visualizations like bar charts or line graphs are typically easier to comprehend. It’s best to avoid using interactive or animated diagrams and charts, as they can be challenging for screen reader users to navigate. Opting for static visualizations can provide a better experience for keyboard and screen reader users.
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Re-Run the Accessibility Checker
After making updates to diagrams, it is important to re-run the accessibility checker. This final review confirms that alt text, tagging, reading order, and color contrast remain intact. Rechecking helps catch any new issues introduced during remediation and ensures the PDF meets accessibility standards before publication.
How PREP Helps in Creating Diagrams Accessible in PDF
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Select the diagram or image within the PDF.
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Press ‘I’ to tag the diagram or the image.
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You can also use the tag type drop-down menu to set the image tag.
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Now, select the tagged diagram or image you would like to make accessible. Click the ‘Alt Text' tag.
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Once you click it, a text box will appear. Click the category drop-down menu and select ‘Image’.
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Lastly, click the "Generate Alt Text" button to automatically generate alt text. A pre-filled prompt will be provided, which you can modify based on the level of detail needed in the description.
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Additionally, you can manually edit or enter the alt text if you need to make any further adjustments.
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Once satisfied, save the changes.
Simplify accessible PDF creation and ensure diagrams meet accessibility standards.
Conclusion
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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What types of diagrams are the most challenging to make accessible in PDFs?
Complex flowcharts, layered infographics, and data-dense diagrams are often the most challenging because they require clear structure, detailed descriptions, and logical reading order.
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What is the difference between alt text and a long description for diagrams?
Alt text provides a brief summary of the diagram’s purpose, while long descriptions explain complex visuals in greater detail for users who need more context.
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How can I test if my diagram is truly accessible?
Use a combination of PDF accessibility checkers (like PREP) and screen readers to review alt text, reading order, keyboard navigation, and color contrast.
