Looking to expand your knowledge of digital accessibility and learn quick strategies that you can easily integrate into your workflow? CATL’s blog post series on digital accessibility catalogues some helpful tips and tricks we’ve shared in our Teach Tuesday e-newsletter!
In this tip, we’ll discuss the digital accessibility of a scanned PDF and how to tell if it has been run through an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) scan, a process which converts images of text into selectable, readable content for screen readers.
What is a Scanned PDF and How to Tell if Your PDF Has Been OCR Scanned?
A scanned PDF is typically created by taking a photo or scan of a printed page. What you end up with is essentially an image of text, not actual text. This means screen readers and other assistive technologies cannot interpret the content.
To determine if your PDF has been processed with Optical Character Recognition (OCR), try selecting or highlighting the text in the document. If you can click and drag your cursor to highlight individual words or sentences, the file likely has OCR. If not, the text/content is just an image and can’t be read by assistive tools.
Conducting an OCR Scan: Video Guide
Watch the video below to learn more about how to check your PDFs documents and run an OCR scan on a PDF in Adobe Acrobat in about 2 minutes!
It is important to acknowledge that OCR scanning is not perfect and can misinterpret characters, especially if the scan is blurry, the lighting is uneven, or the original print is faded or handwritten. It’s important to always review the OCR output and correct any errors in Adobe Acrobat before sharing the document with students. UWGB Staff and faculty have access to Adobe Acrobat through Creative Cloud.
Please also note that OCR should not be used for larger scanned works that may infringe copyright. If in doubt, it is better to find a web alternative or an accessible online version through our library’s online databases.
Looking for More Tips?
Explore even more quick tips in our Digital Accessibility Tips post, where you’ll find a growing list of strategies to help make your course materials more accessible.
Further Accessibility Training
Ready to dive deeper into digital accessibility? Essentials of Accessibility for Faculty and Staff is a free, self-paced, online course that will teach you the basics of digital accessibility and accessibility best practices for several key applications that UW-Green Bay employees may use in their daily work. We encourage you to self-enroll in the course to learn practical approaches for remediating digital accessibility issues in a variety of use cases and applications.
Connect with CATL
You are not alone in your accessibility journey! While CATL cannot advise on the legal specifications of Title II, instructors are always welcome to schedule a consultation with us or stop by our office (CL 405) to discuss the accessibility of your teaching materials.