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Join us for PDFebruary as we declare February a month of making websites more inclusive by eliminating inaccessible portable document format (PDF) files. During PDFebruary, started at NC State as “Extreme Makeover: PDF Edition!”, with thanks to Wake Forest University for their help also, each week will have a dedicated theme to guide participants through eliminating inaccessible PDFs on their websites.

For many years, PDFs have been a document type used for all purposes, mainly for printing, where they excel at their usefulness. But now most of these same digital documents are read online and PDF as a format is unnecessary. Webpages are born digital and can be accessible from the start. PDFs are made for print and have to be fixed to make them accessible. PDFs can be barriers for individuals with disabilities and limit your audience. Revising or remaking PDFs into web content is an impactful way to make your websites more accessible.

Registration

Register now through January 31 and Join the PDFebruary fun by completing our online registration form!

Resources to get you started:

Schedule

Week 1 – PDF Inventory (February 3 – 7)

Participants will receive a form or sheet to list all of the PDFs on their website. Then they will be asked to go through this PDF inventory and remove any PDFs from their site that are outdated or unnecessarily redundant. Participants will also identify which of their PDFs can be converted to web pages or web forms.

Check in on Tuesday at 11 am (Zoom link will be provided)

Week 2 – PDF to Web Page Conversion (February 10 – 14)

Participants will learn the benefits of converting (when possible) inaccessible PDFs to accessible web pages. Participants will receive information on how to create accessible web pages.

Check in on Wednesday at 11 am (Zoom link will be provided)

Week 3 – PDF to Web Form Conversion (February 17 – 21)

Participants will learn the benefits of converting (when possible) inaccessible PDF forms to accessible web forms. Participants will receive information on how to create accessible web forms.

Check in on Tuesday at 11 am (Zoom link will be provided)

Week 4 – PDF Accessibility Review (February 24 – 28)

Participants will learn how to evaluate their remaining PDFs for accessibility and how to make them accessible.  In-person and online training on this topic will be available.

Participants will also be given information about vendors that their departments can hire to make their PDFs accessible if they do not have the in-house resources to do so.

Check in on Friday at 11 am (Zoom link will be provided)

Event Conclusion

Participants will share their updated spreadsheet of PDFs, noting which PDFs have been removed, will be converted to webpages or be made accessible.  Each participant that actively participates will receive a certificate of recognition from the Digital Accessibility Office.

Questions?

Please contact the Digital Accessibility Office – digital_accessibility@unc.edu