Special Accessibility Cases

Most documents follow a straightforward path: author in Microsoft Office, export to PDF, verify accessibility, publish. But some documents present situations that fall outside that standard workflow — footnotes, headers and footers, scanned content, PDFs from external sources, and inaccessible legacy files all require specific handling. This page covers those situations and explains how to approach each one.

Topics on this page:

• Footnotes and Endnotes
• Headers, Footers, and Page Numbers
• Scanned Documents
• PDFs From External Sources
• Remediating Legacy Documents

Footnotes and Endnotes

Before You Add Them

Before inserting footnotes or endnotes, consider whether the information they contain could be incorporated into the body text instead. Footnotes add navigational complexity for screen reader users — the reader must follow a link to the footnote, read it, and then navigate back to their place in the document. If the content is important enough to include, it may be important enough to include in the main text where it is encountered naturally.

This is especially worth considering in WVDE documents, where academic-style footnoting is uncommon. When footnotes do appear, they are typically simple citations or brief clarifying notes that could often be absorbed into the paragraph or placed in parentheses.

Using Word's Built-In Footnote Tool

If footnotes are necessary, always use Word's built-in tool rather than creating them manually.

To insert a footnote: go to References > Insert Footnote. Word automatically creates a superscript reference number in the body text and a corresponding footnote at the bottom of the page, with links in both directions — from the reference to the footnote, and from the footnote back to the reference point.

These links transfer correctly to the PDF on export, allowing screen reader users to navigate between the reference and the footnote text.

Do not create footnotes manually by typing superscript numbers and matching text at the bottom of the page. Manually created footnotes look identical visually but have no link relationship between the reference and the note. When exported to PDF, a screen reader user has no way to navigate between them — and adding those links in Adobe Acrobat after the fact is time-consuming and error-prone, particularly in documents with many footnotes.

Verifying Footnotes After Export

After exporting to PDF, verify that footnote links transferred correctly:

• Footnote reference numbers in the body text should be tagged as links that navigate to the corresponding footnote
• Each footnote should include a return link back to the reference point in the body text

If footnotes were created using Word's built-in tool and exported correctly, these links should be in place. If footnotes were created manually or if links are missing, see the Remediation in Adobe Acrobat section for steps to add and verify links.

Headers, Footers, and Page Numbers

Headers and footers — the recurring content that appears at the top and bottom of every page — require attention both before export and after. When handled incorrectly, they can interrupt the reading experience for screen reader users, clutter the tag tree with repeated content, or leave important structural information inaccessible.

Headers, Footers, and the Tag Tree

When a document is exported to PDF, page headers and footers typically export as tagged content. This means a screen reader navigating the document will encounter the header and footer text as part of the reading flow — on every single page. Page numbers, document titles, section names, and dates repeated in headers and footers add no new information after the first page and should be artifacted in Acrobat so they are skipped by assistive technology.

After export, verify that header and footer content has been correctly handled:

1. Open the Tags panel and check whether header and footer content appears as tagged elements (typically P or Span tags). 
2. If header or footer content appears in the tag tree, right-click each content item and select Create Artifact > Page Artifact. If the page title is in the heading, and does not appear anywhere else in the document, see When the Document Titles Is Only In the Header before artifacting the content on the first page.
3. Verify that no header or footer content remains in the document tree — it should not appear in the reading order visible in the Order panel

When the Document Title Is Only in the Header

Some documents place the document title exclusively in the page header rather than on the first page of content. This creates a specific accessibility problem: if the header is artifacted (as it should be), the document title disappears from the reading experience entirely. Screen reader users navigating the document would never encounter a heading that identifies what the document is.

For general guidance on setting the document title, see the Document Settings page. For guidance on using Heading 1 correctly, see the Document Headings page.

If the document title appears only in the header, choose one of the following approaches before artifacting the header:

Option 1 — Return to the source document: Add the document title as visible body text on the first page, styled as a Heading 1 using Word's built-in heading styles. Re-export using File > Save As > PDF. This is the preferred approach.

Option 2 — Correct in Acrobat: If the source document is not available, locate the first instance of the header title text in the tag tree. Change its tag type to H1 using the Tags panel — right-click the tag, select Properties, and change the Type to H1. Then artifact all subsequent instances of the header title on following pages.

In either case, the document title should appear exactly once as a Heading 1, on the first page of the document, before being artifacted in the header on all pages.

Scanned Documents

Why to Avoid Scanning

A scanned PDF is an image — a photograph of a page. It contains no text, no structure, and no tags. Screen readers cannot read it at all. From an accessibility standpoint, a scanned document is completely inaccessible unless it has been processed with optical character recognition (OCR) and carefully reviewed.

Whenever possible, avoid using scanned documents entirely. If the content exists in a digital source file — a Word document, an original PDF, or any editable format — use that instead. Request the source file from the originating organization before resorting to scanning or OCR.

When Scanning Is Unavoidable

If no digital source exists and the document must be made accessible, OCR is required. OCR converts the image of text into actual selectable, readable text that screen readers can access. However, OCR is not infallible:

• Recognition accuracy varies with scan quality, font type, and page condition
• OCR frequently misreads unusual fonts, low-contrast text, handwriting, and damaged pages
• Numbers, punctuation, and special characters are particularly prone to recognition errors
• Tables and multi-column layouts often require significant manual correction after OCR

Running OCR produces text, but it does not produce an accessible PDF on its own. After OCR, the document still requires tagging, reading order verification, and correction of recognition errors before it meets accessibility standards.

For steps to run OCR and begin remediation on a scanned document, see the Scanned Documents and Bookmarks page.

Evaluating Whether Remediation Is Worth It

Before committing to OCR and full remediation of a scanned document, evaluate the effort involved:

• How long is the document?
• How complex is the layout?
• How accurate is the OCR likely to be given the scan quality?
• Is this document critical enough to justify significant remediation time?
• Could an alternative format — a brief web page summary, a link to an accessible source — serve users' needs instead?

For heavily scanned legacy collections, full remediation of every document may not be practical. Prioritize documents that are most frequently accessed, most critical to users, or most requested.

Working With PDFs From External Sources

WVDE frequently publishes documents that originate from other organizations — federal agencies, state entities, partner organizations, and vendors. These documents may arrive as PDFs that were not created with accessibility in mind.

Before Committing to Remediation

Before spending time remediating an externally sourced PDF, work through these questions:

Is the source document available? Contact the originating organization and request the source file — a Word document, InDesign file, or other editable format. Remediating from the source is significantly faster and more reliable than remediating the PDF directly. Many organizations will provide source files on request, particularly for government-to-government communication.

Does the document already exist in an accessible format elsewhere? Check whether the originating organization publishes an accessible version on their own website. If so, linking to their version rather than hosting a copy eliminates the remediation burden entirely and ensures users always access the most current version.

Is this document actually necessary to host? Consider whether the document serves a genuine need for your audience, or whether a brief description and a link to the source would serve users equally well.

When Remediation Is Necessary

If a PDF from an external source must be made accessible and no source file is available:

• Assess the document's complexity and estimate the remediation effort before beginning
• Note any issues that cannot be fully resolved in Acrobat and document them
• If persistent accessibility gaps remain after remediation, consider whether the document should be published at all, or whether a note explaining the limitation is appropriate
• Provide feedback to the originating organization about accessibility issues — this is especially appropriate for recurring documents from partner agencies

Converting Existing Inaccessible PDFs

WVDE's existing document library includes many PDFs created before current accessibility standards were established. Remediating this legacy content is an ongoing effort. When you encounter an inaccessible existing PDF that needs remediation, use the following decision process:

Is the Source Document Available?

Yes — return to the source. Open the original Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file, apply the accessibility practices described throughout this guide, and export a new PDF. This is always faster, more reliable, and produces better results than remediating the PDF directly. Even a document that requires significant restructuring in Word will typically take less time than the equivalent remediation in Acrobat.

No source available, and the document is simple or critical. Proceed with remediation in Adobe Acrobat. Simple documents — short, single-column, text-heavy with few images — can often be remediated efficiently. Documents that are critical to users (frequently accessed forms, key policy documents) justify the additional effort even when complex.

No source available, and the document is complex. Evaluate the effort against the benefit. A densely laid-out financial report, a heavily designed brochure, or a multi-page form with complex tables may require hours of manual remediation in Acrobat. Consider whether:

• The document could be recreated from scratch in Word more efficiently than it could be remediated
• An alternative format (a web page summary, a simplified version) could serve users' needs
• The document is used frequently enough to justify the investment