Operable (UDL 4.1)

Overview

Users can interact with the content and environment effectively and without barriers.

Navigable/selectable content (i.e radio buttons, checkboxes, fillable fields)

To effectively test document keyboard accessibility, focus on verifying that all interactive elements can be reached and operated using only the Tab, Spacebar, Enter, and Arrow keys. Videos demonstrating these techniques and addressing common issues are available on YouTube. In the following video by Pope Tech, a form is checked for keyboard accessibility.

Locked or restricted content

Locked or protected documents, especially PDFs or Word documents with editing restrictions, can pose accessibility barriers for screen reader users. Screen readers rely on the underlying structure and text of a document to interpret and read it aloud. When a document is locked or secured, this structure can be compromised or inaccessible to the screen reader. 

Solutions and Workarounds:

• Request an accessible version:
  If possible, request an unlocked or editable version of the document from the sender/originator. 

• Use OCR:
  If the document is a scanned PDF, use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to convert it into a readable format. Several websites and tools offer OCR services.

•  Recreate the document:
  If other solutions fail, consider recreating the document in an accessible format (e.g., Word or HTML). 

Headings and subheadings

Headings are important to give documents a structure for navigation. Use Styles in Word to designate headings (H1, H2, H3, etc). Use Autotag in Adobe Acrobat to detect and tag headings, which can be modified as needed. Here are a couple of videos on how to do that.