Adobe Acrobat

Accessibility Settings of PDF Tools - Part 2

Zoom and Reflow

Individuals with low vision may use assistive technologies such as magnification software or accommodations such as larger fonts, high-contrast mode, or a combination of both. In Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader, a user can magnify (zoom in) or reduce (zoom out) as well as customize the viewing settings to suit his or her needs.

To access the zoom tools:

  1. Start Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
  2. Open a PDF file.
  3. Do one of the following to 'Zoom In' (magnify) the view:
    • Press the 'Z' key or the combination of Control + 'plus' key.
    • From the 'View' Menu, select 'Zoom in.'
    • On the toolbar, select the magnifying glass with the plus sign (+).
  4. Do one of the following to 'Zoom Out' (reduce) the view:
    • Press the combination of Shift + 'Z' keys or the Control + 'minus' keys.
    • From the 'View' Menu, select 'Zoom out.'
    • On the toolbar, select the magnifying glass with the minus sign (-).
Zoom Control

As you zoom in for a closer view, the font size is increased and the amount of content that can be viewed at one time is effectively decreased. When the content's width becomes larger than the size of the viewing window, typically a scrollbar appears indicating that more content is available off-screen and forcing the user to repeatedly scroll back and forth to view the content. To make viewing magnified content easier, Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader offer the ability to resize (or reflow) the content of a structured PDF file to the viewing window.

To reflow a structured PDF file:

  1. Start Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
  2. Open a PDF file.
  3. Do one of the following to 'Zoom In' (magnify) the view until a scrollbar appears:
    • Press the 'Z' key or the combination of 'Control (Ctrl)' + 'plus' key.
    • From the 'View' Menu, select 'Zoom in.'
    • On the toolbar, select the magnifying glass with the plus sign (+).
  4. Do one of the following to re-align the content to appear in the viewing window:
    • Press the combination of 'Control (Ctrl)' + '4' key.
    • From the 'View' Menu, select 'Zoom > Reflow.'

Note: The ability to 'Reflow' is not offered when a PDF file is unstructured and in some previous versions of Adobe Reader.

Acrobat Reflow

Alternative Text in PDF

Documents today contain varied media including images, video and sound, which can be embedded into a document with only a few steps. Just as these kinds of media have grown, the size and variation among the audience for whom these documents were intended has grown as well.

Acrobat works closely with Microsoft Office to ensure that the document is consistent while being converted into the PDF format. This allows the alternative text that was specified for an image to carry over into the PDF.

Some images, such as a decorative border or background, do not need text equivalents. The general rule is if the image does not convey important information, then a text equivalent is unnecessary.

Adding alternative text in Acrobat

If the only file available is the PDF and not the original document it is still possible to add alternative text to images. Your PDF file will fall under one of two categories; either it contains tags or it does not.

To determine if your document has tags:

  1. Under the 'View' menu, then select 'Navigation Panels', then select 'Tags'.
  2. In the tags window, if you see 'Tags Root', then the structure is in place, and you can continue to add alternative text to images. If you see 'No Tags Available', you must first make it accessible.

To add alternative text for images in Acrobat:

  1. Select the 'View' menu, then select 'Navigation Panels', then select 'Tags'.
  2. Locate the image in the tree hierarchy. This should be a name similar to 'Figure'
  3. Right-click on 'Figure' and select 'Properties'.
  4. This should bring up a dialog box allowing you to type in the alternative text.
  5. Type in the alternative text and select the Close button.

High-Contrast Mode

Individuals with low vision may have difficulty reading documents with dark-colored text on a light-colored background. High-contrast mode allows the option to change to a light-colored text on a dark-colored background. Windows operating systems offer high-contrast mode in their accessibility suite and these high-contrast settings can be carried over into Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader. The user also has the ability to customize the settings to suit his or her needs, including increasing the font sizes.

Normal vs High Control Mode

To set up high-contrast mode:

  1. Start Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
  2. Do one of the following to open the Preferences dialog box:
    • Press the combination of 'Control (Ctrl)' + 'K' keys.
    • From the Edit Menu, select 'Preferences.'
  3. In the dialog box, select 'Accessibility' from the left column.
  4. Select 'Replace Document Colors.'
  5. Select 'Custom Color' then choose the desired color of the background and text User Preferences for Document Colors
  6. Select 'OK' to close the dialog box and save the settings.

Acrobat High Contrast

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