InDesign is an Adobe design program intended for professional use. InDesign is not available to everyone at the University of Oulu or Oamk; licenses are limited.

If you use InDesign to create PDF files to be shared in any of the University of Oulu’s or Oamk’s online service, you should make them accessible. (Note: this requirement only applies to documents created by staff, not to assignments made by students, for example. The only exception would be if the student designs their thesis in InDesign.)

To ensure that your InDesign PDF is accessible:

• Specify a document title for your file in its metadata.
• The text in the document must be real text, not an image of text.
  • Specify the primary language of the file.
• The text must have a structure, meaning that it must have logical and hierarchical headings.
  • Also, specify the language corresponding to the content in the paragraph style & character style
    • You should create separate styles for the English sections so that proofreading and spelling would work correctly. ALSO, the language must be correctly defined for those screen reader programs that know how to read it. This requirement does not apply, for example, to proper names or technical terms, even if their marking improves the experience of listening to the text.
  • Define an HTML tag that is suitable for all the styles you use and describes the structure of the content.
  • Create a table of contents for the file using bookmarks.
• There must be sufficient contrast between the text and the background.
  • Check the contrast between the background colour and text with, for example, WebAIM’s online service.
• The information must not be conveyed solely through the medium of colour.
• Make the text easy to read and skim through:
  • Remember to align the body text to the left margin. (Do not justify or centre the body text, see WCAG 1.4.8.; This is above the legal requirement but it is easy to fulfill and makes the text easier to read, so it is highly recommended!)
  • Write short paragraphs.
  • Use descriptive headings.
  • Pay attention to the intelligibility of the text.
  • If you use hyphenation, compound words should be hyphenated between two words.
• Images must have an alternative text.
• Mark parts that are unimportant to the content (e.g. decorations) as artefacts.

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Specify a document title for your file in its metadata

1. Select File, File
2. Enter a descriptive title for your file in the Document title
3. Press the OK button.

Tip: Note that you can also add other information to the metadata, such as your name and copyright information. By adding keywords separated by commas, you can find the files more easily in the future.

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The text must be real text, not an image of text

If you scan a file and create a PDF out of it, it will not be accessible. A PDF/X file is designed for professional printing and contains real text. Though better, it is not accessible, either. When saving your files as PDFs in InDesign, the best option is to proceed as follows:

4. Select File, Export.
5. Set Format to Adobe PDF (Interactive) and save. Check that the settings are correct:
   1. On the General tab, ensure under Options that you have selected the Create Tagged PDF and Use Structure for Tab Order
   2. On the Advanced tab, ensure that the document language is correct, and in Display Title, select Document title.
   3. On the Security tab, the Enable text access of screen reader devices for the visually impaired checkbox should always be selected, even if the file is protected.
6. Press the Export button to finish.

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