Documents used in LSA courses need to be accessible to all students, and PDFs historically comprise a large chunk of course materials. This decision tree is designed to guide you towards the best alternative to remediating or sharing a PDF depending on its specific use case, as well as the resources available to help you do so. In general, we advise that you avoid using PDFs whenever possible. PDFs are one of the least accessible file formats and require extensive remediation to become compatible with assistive technology. 

Note: If you have a PDF that needs to be used immediately by a student with a specific disability accommodation, please contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) for help with obtaining an accessible version.

1) Is this PDF still currently in use?

• Yes: Continue to question 2.
• No: Consider removing this PDF from your listed course materials.

2) Is the content in this document updated or changed regularly?

• Yes: Don't use a PDF.
  • Note: Once you edit a remediated PDF, the accessibility formatting may be compromised. This means the PDF must be manually re-checked and fixed each time edits are made, which makes accessible PDFs inefficient for documents with non-static content.
• No: Continue to question 3.

3) Was this file originally created in Microsoft Office or Google?

• Yes: Do you have access to the original source document for the PDF?
  • Yes: Share the original file (i.e. Google Doc, .ppt, .docx). It is much easier to make these files accessible than it is to remediate PDFs.
    • Note: If you are using a PDF because the file needs to be distributed in a protected format, you can share Google files as "view-only" or Microsoft files as "read-only" to ensure they remain unmodifiable by recipients.
  • No: Consider exporting your PDF to Microsoft Word or Powerpoint via Adobe Acrobat and sharing the resulting .docx or .ppt version.
• No: Continue to question 4.

4) Is this a text-based document that can live on a Canvas site?

• Yes: Transfer the content over to a new Canvas page on your course site. 
• No: Continue to question 5.

5) Is this content available at the U-M Library (even if you didn't originally procure it from there)?

• Yes: Use a persistent link to the library resource and consult the library for help with including library materials in your course. 
• No: Is this content from a third-party resource or textbook?
  • Yes: Contact the publisher for an accessible ePUB or eBook version. You can also check online for an ePUB.
  • No: Is this a scanned document?
    • Yes: Consider exporting to Microsoft Word (via Adobe Acrobat) as a .docx file. If the file content doesn't transfer over well, consult for help.
    • No: Continue to question 6.

6) Is this PDF a form that you created?

• Yes: Turn it into a Google Form or Qualtrics form. 
  • Note: Google Forms is useful for quick and easy events or attendance forms, but does not guarantee data privacy. Qualtrics offers secure data collection and is better suited for research surveys or longer forms with extensive options.
• No: Continue to question 7.

7) Is this file used as an infographic or flyer in an email?

• Yes: If distributing a PDF as an email attachment, make sure to also include the text and important info inside the body of the email.
• No: Continue to question 8.

8) Does this document need to be printed?

• Yes: If providing a PDF for printing purposes, make sure all of the information is also available in an alternative accessible format (webpage, Word document, email, etc.).
• No: Remediate the PDF for accessibility via Adobe Acrobat or an external vendor.
  • Note: Some known vendors for PDF remediation include Appligent, BrailleWorks, Breck, Allyant, and Equidox. At this time, BrailleWorks is the only vendor listed above that is able to securely remediate PDFs containing sensitive information.