How can I make

PDFs accessible?

There many ways to make PDFs accessible. To make a PDF accessible you have to use a tool to convert it first using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) so that assistive technology tools can be used.

Here are some ways:

Using OrbitNote:

Once the PDF has been opened, OrbitNote will prompt you to OCR the document with a "Let's Scan" button. Watch the video to the right for a tutorial! All images and formatting will remain as they appear in the original.

Scanning in OrbitNote.mp4

Using Google Drive and Docs:

Place the PDF in your Google Drive and open the PDF in Google Drive and select open with Google Docs. This will create an OCR version of the PDF, but some images and formatting may be disrupted.

Using Google Keep

Google Keep is a note- taking service available on multiple platforms. You can capture an image and grab the text allowing for accessibility tools (e.g. text-to-speech) to be used.

This will create an OCR version of the PDF, but some images and formatting may be disrupted.

Google Keep to OCR image with text

Accessible resources are available through the TDSB Virtual Library. Please connect with the school librarian to find out more.

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