PDFs

There are many products available online that will create and convert documents to PDFs
for free.
However these tools lack important universal design features that allow you convert your
document to PDF in a easy to use and fully accessible manner.
College has a discounted license agreement with online suppliers Micromail for the use
of Adobe acrobat professional.
For information on how to buy or upgrade to adobe professional follow the link shown on
screen.
Adobe Professional compared to Adobe acrobat reader
Users should be aware that there is a difference between the free to download software adobe
acrobat reader and the paid for full product adobe acrobat professional.
Acrobat reader is a free-to-download product from the web and comes preloaded on all Trinity
College Windows machines.
As the title suggests this product only allows you to read the contents already created PDF
document.
This product does not allow you to create or modify existing documents to a pdf format.
To create a fully inclusive PDF document a user must convert using the full Adobe professional
product.
This product allow you add the correct formatting and layout tools easily and quickly and will
ensure your document is fully inclusive for all students & staff to access.
Converting a Word document to PDF:
Once you have completed the installation or upgrade of Adobe acrobat professional you
will find an option with MicroSoft Word to convert your document to PDF.
If you have created your original document using Microsoft Word and added the correct
style & structure as per our tutorial on Word, or via the information found at the url shown
on screen.
The good news is that Adobe PDF will transfer all the correct formatting into you pdf document
so you will not have to replicate the work again in acrobat pro.
Adding style and structure in acrobat professional
As stated earlier you can only modify a document with the full adobe acrobat professional product.
The adobe acrobat reader product only allows you to view the document, not make changes.
To add structure to an existing pdf navigate to:
Advanced > Accessibility > TouchUp Reading Order
This bring up the following tool kit –
From this Tool kit you can set different parts of your document to Text / headings / table
etc.
This tagging of chunks of your text is extremely important for users of assistive technology
software.
For example, for Computer screen readers for blind and visually impaired users.
This screen reader talks to the user, and advises them as to what is on the screen and
where they are positioned in a document, etc.
If a document is not structured a user finds it difficult to navigate text easily and cannot
engage with the course work and college documents in the same fashion as is available to a fully
sighted user.
The tagging and setting up of structure is very easily done and helps make the document
easier to read, follow and make it fully inclusive for all users. 
If you need more advice please contact us at the below details:
Accessibility checker
If you are unsure if a current pdf document is accessible or not, both the paid acrobat
professional and the free acrobat reader have a tool to check and provide feedback on the
level of accessibility within your document.
In Acrobat pro navigate to Advanced > Accessibility > Full check.
The full check available with the paid adobe acrobat professional enables you run a full
check on a document.
The software will also provide you with a full report on the level of accessibility
and links to information on how to eradicate the problems.
The following are example of the Accessible Full check, and the Accessible full check
report.