PDF Accessibility of Research Papers: What Tools are Needed for Assessment and Remediation?

Abstract

Trillions of documents online are in PDF format, but only a small amount of these PDF documents include the necessary markup to make them accessible for people with disabilities. This paper presents the results of three related data collection efforts: a survey (with 61 participants), interviews (with 6 participants), and usability testing (with 6 participants), to learn more about what tools are needed for content contributors, to assist them in the assessment and remediation of accessibility in PDF documents. The paper provides suggested features and usability needed for software tools to support PDF document accessibility, as well as implications for content creators, scientific publishers, as well as the creator of the PDF format, Adobe.