From our PDF Accessibility Webinar: The War on PDFs on April 29th 2021. The battle to encourage businesses to shift away from PDFs has been a long one. As many of us know, PDFs can often be problematic for users with accessibility needs and rarely comply with open standards. Videos from presentation: - Baking in Accessibility Throughout the Project Lifecycle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZaxyS4sYB4 - Stephen Fry Talks About Turning on the Subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-zISnJ-oao - Amazon Echo & Alexa - Morning Ritual: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHsO-rXrLLo

1. The War on PDFs
A UX focused Digital Transformation Agency, London, UK
Danny Bluestone, Founder & CEO @ Cyber-Duck Ltd

2. • Is there a war on PDFs?
• Are we moving to an accessible internet?
• How accessibility and PDFs fit into my world
• Are PDFs and the web broken?
• Do PDFs have a role on the web?
• Inclusive design
• Using methodologies
• Take aways
My talk today

3. Keen interest in design and computers since the 1980s. Digital practitioner since 1998. Prior to
starting Cyber-Duck I worked as a Web Designer, Web Developer, Flash Designer and a Digital
Producer. I have a Masters Degree in Design for Interactive Media (Creative Technology) from
Middlesex University. I started Cyber-Duck 16 years ago to bridge the gap between design,
technology and content.
About Danny Bluestone

4. Is there a WAR on PDFs?

5. It all started one evening. I changed a nappy, went for a run
and then saw a Tweet that made me think...
Am I declaring a war on PDFs?

6. We wanted to explore how our views on inclusive
design fit into the new guidelines from the
government.
Inclusive design

7. A digital agency focused on digital transformation
through UX and technology
WHO WE ARE
Quick facts: Started in 2005. Almost 80 staff. ISO accredited process. £7m revenue. HQ in Hertfordshire, UK
Our values: Inclusiveness + Excellence + Selfless + Relentless + Adaptive.

8. People with disabilities
One billion live with a disability*, making up around 15% of the global
population**.
13.9m have a disability - 1 in 5 (22% of population)
95.5m have a disability - 1 in 4 (25% of population)
* Data source: https://humanity-inclusion.org.uk/en/action/disability-the-global-picture. Many disabilities are invisible. So we don’t actually know if someone has a disability.
** These could include temporary disabilities but could exclude unreported numbers.

9. Are we moving to an
accessible Internet?

10. No other invention has been more pivotal since Gutenberg's
printing press in the 1400s*.
For most of us the entire world is visible, audible and “at our
fingertips” online. But people with disability have huge
challenges online.
Saying that, the internet is one of the best things that has
ever happened to people with disabilities.
* Source: https://webaim.org/intro/
The Internet
How can we live without the internet?
Sir Tim Berners Lee, creator of the World Wide Web - he said, "this is for everyone” at the London Olympics 2012
Image source: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/477170522997912730/

11. Transforming lives

12. MOTOR SIGHT
AUDIO VERBAL
Credit for original diagram: https://download.microsoft.com/download/b/0/d/b0d4bf87-09ce-4417-8f28-d60703d672ed/inclusive_toolkit_manual_final.pdf
Situational impairments

13. How accessibility and
PDFs fit into my world

15. In this user test from Sport England, PDFs are accessible but they are a lot more fiddly. Keyboard shortcuts do not work. With PDFs, blind
users need to be familiar with the document first unlike HTML where they can move at ease. A PDF should always have a table of content.
Ongoing work with Sport England
The real deal

16. Those that publish PDFs are able to make them accessible (to a point)
Video shows blind user engaging with a non-optimised PDF on an iPhone using Apple VoiceOver

17. HTML
Desktop: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mobile: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐
PDF
Desktop: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mobile: ⭐⭐⭐
Results from our HTML vs PDF test
Note: The PDF is not optimised

18. Are PDFs and the
Web broken?

19. “HTML was a joke for anyone who had ever been near the publishing
business. They have spent 20 years trying to fix that, and they are not
there yet. When Tim Berners-Lee invented the web, he made a
fundamental error in the design.”
-- Wharton, University of Pennsylvania, Interview 2013
Why the PDF was invented
In 1991, Dr John Warnock invented the PDF as a way to send documents from one point to
another in a universal format that anyone can open or print.
Source: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/adobe-acrobat-at-20-successes-second-guesses-and-a-few-miscues/

20. 1. Universal standard for consistent print design
2. Standardised format recognised by governments
3. Portability (easy to send, print, save and read offline)
4. Scannable format that supports OCR technology
5. Low barrier for production
Why they exist

21. So it is 2021
Are PDFs still popular?

22. Adobe's VP Engineering for Document Cloud
Adobe's VP Engineering for Document Cloud,
Phil Ydens, estimates there may be up to 2.5
trillion PDF documents in the world. The PDF
has ‘overtaken Catholicism’ but is ‘behind’
Islam.

23. Google trend data

24. https://mobile.twitter.com/chloeltear/status/138017828827080295 1
The problem with PDFs?

25. Do PDFs have a role
on the Web?

26. of navigation menus
do not work for disabled users.
— Shir Ekerling, CEO at accessiBe, 2019
https://accessibe.com/blog/knowledgebase/we-analyzed-10000000-pages-and-heres-where-most-fail-with-ada-and-wcag-21-compliance
Content is still inaccessible
98%

27. https://blog.usablenet.com/97-of-top-websites-fail-wcag-2-test-new-study-finds
97% of top websites fail the test for
ADA web accessibility
— UsableNet 2019
Content is not compliant

28. 1. Different formats - The internet is not just about PDFs. Users use Word and new formats like EPUB.
2. Different industries - Some industries may require a PDF e.g. annual report and informative poster.
3. The publishing experience - Depending on publishing abilities we may prefer PDFs (or not).
4. Testing is hard - Tool validation and testing is not enough.
5. PDFs are still popular - Data trends.
Unpacking the PDF dilemma

29. In stock markets, annual reports drive the PDF boom. This is probably due to the print heritage.
They are a snapshot in time considered to be robust, safe and ‘unhackable’.

30. EU-regulated listed companies must produce their annual reports as an
European Single Electronic Format (ESEF) file.
After 1 January 2020 and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) reporters must use Inline XBRL

31. Certain visually impaired users prefer
long-form PDF content due to
bookmarking and portability

32. But many PDFs are totally inaccessible
Credit: https://sbctc.instructure.com/courses/1578604/pages/fixing-inaccessible-pdfs-part-i

33. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/accessibility-requirements-for-public-sector-websites-and-apps
In the UK, if PDFs must be used in the public sector,
they need to comply with 2018 laws

34. In the USA, PDFs need to be Section 508 compliant and accessible.
Make sure your PDF text is machine readable.
Avoid using a digitally signed PDF. The PDF must
be tagged to ensure accessibility. Tagging a PDF
establishes logical reading order and structure.

35. Despite the amazing strides .gov.uk makes with its digital services, there are still remnants
of exclusion (or lack of knowledge?)
Ms Leadbetter, from Leicestershire, previously said formats like
an audio CD or emails with voiceover capability were far
preferable to printed letters and even braille.

36. Image credits: https://accessibe.com/blog/knowledgebase/what-are-screen-readers-and-how-they-enable-blind-people-to-surf-the-internet
So is there a War with PDFs?

37. 44.2% of blind people are employed compared to 77.2% for
those without disabilities*.
https://data.census.gov/cedsci/deeplinks?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffactfinder.census.gov%2Ffaces%2Ftableservices%2Fjsf%2Fpages%2Fproductview.xhtml%3Fpid%3DACS_17_1YR_B18120&prodType=tabl
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Public_art_-_Arnold_Cook,_Association_for_the_Blind,_Vic_Park,_Perth.jpg
Despite all the legislation, visually impaired users are sadly not a
priority for the private sector (as users, workers)

38. Image credits: https://accessibe.com/blog/knowledgebase/what-are-screen-readers-and-how-they-enable-blind-people-to-surf-the-internet
Yet blind users make a huge contribution to our society

39. “…We are seeing an increase in claims involving the
career and job-application portions of websites…”
David Raizman, an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Los Angeles

40. Inclusive Design

41. More than 7.5 million Americans, or 2.4% of the
population, are blind or have low vision (2019)*.
https://www.who.int/health-topics/blindness-and-vision-loss#tab=tab_1
Everyone that lives long enough, will experience at
least one eye condition in their lifetime

42. As designers we need to cater for four distinct abilities. Each category needs considered thought throughout the entire
design process, from strategy to design all the way to coding and optimisation:
Disability categories
Auditory
Hard of hearing
Cognitive
Learning & language
Motor
Use of limbs for control
Sight
Impaired or no vision

43. To make things better for blind people society needs to
transform on a social, attitude and environmental level.

44. Globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a near or distance vision
impairment*. Low vision users continue to struggle
* Source: World Health Organisation (WHO) https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/blindness-and-visual-impairment

45. A report by the National Federation of the Blind, said that less than 10
percent of the 1.3 million legally blind Americans read Braille.
New York Times - 2009
Assistive technology has changed.
Screen readers and audiobooks are gradually replacing braille in the UK
and USA.

46. ● PDF is no longer the right format for book publication as it falls short of the ePub specification.*
● ePub’s way of ‘reflowing text’ is better for those who need to increase the font size*.
● With ePub, users with dyslexia and learning disabilities are able to change the presentation.*
● ePub is better on structural grounds and far easier to author for accessibility than PDF is.**
*DAISY Consortium
** Madeleine Rothberg of the National Center for Accessible Media
Audiobooks are being complimented by ePub.

47. Can accessibility benefit from mainstream technology?

48. Mainstream technology like Alexa has indirectly
helped visually impaired users
Alexa helps low vision users set reminders, check the weather, get the news, use smart plugs,
control IoT, manage calendars, listen to music and read audio books.

49. But there are still limitations of Alexa's capability
to read the web (and PDFs).

50. What about assistive technology. Can it benefit everyone?

51. †Based on an academic study of 2,350 children, 34% became good readers with schooling alone. But when exposed to 30 minutes a week of subtitled film songs, that
proportion more than doubled to 70%. There are lots of studies about the benefits of subtitles. https://turnonthesubtitles.org/research/
Accessibility benefits everyone
Subtitles are intended to aid deaf users. Turn on the subtitles while children watch TV
and double the chances of a child becoming good at reading†.

52. Standards
Many countries provide laws around accessibility. The W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide an
international set of guidelines. The POUR guidelines, are the basis of most web accessibility laws in the world, are
based on four principles:
Perceivable
Available to the senses
through technology
Operable
Users can interact with
all the controls
Understandable
The content is clear
without confusion
Robust
Accessible to a wide
range of technology

53. Where does a modern CMS fit into all of this?

54. “As an inclusive community, we are committed to
making sure that Drupal is an accessible tool for
building websites that can also be accessed by people
with disabilities.”
Accessibility to the core!
—Dries Buytaert (2013)
Drupal (the CMS) is at the forefront of inclusive design

55. 1. Rallying cry around accessibility - The CMS and community of choice for accessibility (since 2013).
2. Drupal core - Nothing gets signed-off without a review of the accessibility team (Drupal Core has designed to support
the development of sites that comply with WCAG 2.0 and ATAG 2.0. ).
3. Module Contribution - There are various accessibility contributions towards non-core modules.
4. Many built-in features - Accessibility scanner, Accessible Inline Form Errors, Style Switcher, Automatic Alternative
Text, Bartik (underlining links) and form API allows accessible forms.
5. Not just HTML - Drupal guidelines emphasises accessibility on other document types (e.g. PDFs).
Why Drupal and accessibility

56. Using methodologies to a
more accessible web

57. In many countries, governments are driving
accessibility forward through inclusive design

58. Not all impairments are equal - the scale is large

59. Screen readers
(e.g. JAWS, VoiceOver)
Is considered severe visual impairment, or severe low vision
Is considered moderate visual impairment, or moderate low vision
Is considered moderate visual impairment, or moderate low vision
Is considered the best vision
Magnifying tools (e.g.
AppleZoom)
Contrast / text
(enabled CSS)
No aid
There is a range within visual impairment.
Visually impaired users will use a mix of magnifying tools and screen readers.
Both PDFs and HTML pages offer different experiences to visually impaired users.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_impairment

60. https://principles.design/examples/principles-for-accessibility
Inclusive Design Principles
To deliver accessible services, we need to utilise inclusive
design. There are various principles, checklists and guides
that organisations can follow to deliver accessible solutions
both for HTML and PDFs.

62. Come back to where you were in HTML
The § - section sign (in HTML) allows users to bookmark a place on an
HTML page and come back to exactly where they left the page. This is
extremely good for long form content as when a user closes the browser or
refreshes the page the user comes back to where they were reading. It is
genius.
—Mike Gifford, Drupal evangelist
Leveraging technology to deliver a better Web experience

63. Does this mean PDFs will disappear?

64. Some things will remain as PDFs
Certificates Legal documents Strategic minutes

65. https://www.washington.edu/accessibility/documents/word https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/indesign/using/creating-accessible-pdfs.html
https://www.cyber-duck.co.uk/insights/resources/pdf-accessibility-checklist
To create accessible PDFs, there are guides for Word and InDesign

66. https://airtable.com/universe/expEhmtGpSdd0qz8x/how-to-audit-your-pdfs
We also created a PDF audit template on Airtable

67. Back to HTML, design tools like Figma are creating accessibility kits

68. Besides screen reading empowerment what else can we
do to make content more accessible?

69. According to the UK’s National Literacy Trust - an
independent charity - the average reading age of a
sizeable proportion of the adult population (15%) is similar
to that of a 9-11 year old
Source:
https://literacytrust.org.uk/parents-and-families/adult-literacy/what-do-adult-literacy-levels-mean/
https://literacytrust.org.uk/parents-and-families/adult-literacy/
Make content easier to understand

70. Complex text is a huge barrier for users with cognitive or visual impairments.
The easier your text is to understand, the more inclusive it is.
Flesch-Kincaid is a test that measures reading ease.
Step 1 – Shorten your sentences.
Step 2 – Reduce the number of long words.
Step 3 – Write for your audience.
Step 4 – Make punctuation your friend.
Step 5 – Structure is important.
And… reduce technical jargon!
Source: https://readable.com/blog/5-steps-to-improving-readability/
Content needs to be more ‘inclusive’

71. What about AI in publishing?

72. Drupal is using AI to make accessibility easier for publishers

73. The importance of testing

74. Accessibility toolbars (e.g. like accessible / browsealoud / reciteme) are not a substitute for good
accessible design/development and research/testing - don’t rely on a 3rd party to make your site
accessible.
Inclusive design testing

75. We still have a long way to go...

76. Be welcoming, don’t discriminate and engage with
people. Create different user experiences and make
certain they have equally valuable outcomes.
Aesthetics matter.
—Sandi Wassmer, Visually impaired Designer / Entrepreneur
https://principles.design/examples/the-ten-principles-of-inclusive-design
Equitability: Be welcoming

77. Take aways

78. 1. Advocate change - Only together can we make more accessible content.
2. All content - Consider the POUR principles and bake them in from the outset.
3. Horses for courses - There is no one size fits all approach.
4. PDFs are here to stay - Especially around official documents and portability.
5. Accessible PDFs - You can make PDFs more accessible!
6. Assistive tech - Test, test and test. Employ specialist agencies or less abled users to test.
7. AI enhancement - When producing content, consider AI as for both users and publishers.
Take aways

79. Another talk from Cyber-Duck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZaxyS4sYB4

80. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
—Danny Bluestone, Cyber-Duck
“
“
Special thanks to all the team at Cyber-Duck, Mike Gifford from Civic Actions, Sandi
Wassmer and our friend Steve Green at Test Partners
@cyberduck_uk
@danny_bluestone
Quick resources to get you started:
PDF checklist: http://cybrd.uk/pdf-checklist
Audit template table: http://cybrd.uk/pdf-audit