Tag: adobe acrobat

Adding Audio to pdf Documents

During the recent Teaching and Learning Conference, prompted by Michelle Miller’s poster on Adobe Acrobat, we were asked if it was possible to add audio to a pdf document. Here’s how to do it:

Add Audio in Adobe Acrobat Reader

  • Click on Comments
  • Click on the attachments icon
  • Select Record Audio
  • Click the cursor where you want the audio to appear. A Sounder Recorder prompt will appear.
  • You now have two options:
    • record directly into acrobat
    • browse for an existing file

Record audio comments directly into Acrobat

  • Click the Record button and speak into your microphone. Click the Stop button when you have finished.
  • Click OK to add the recorded audio
  • Select your preferred icon and colour, then click OK

Embed an existing audio file

  • Click the Browse button
  • Navigate to your existing audio file
  • Click Open
  • Click OK to add the audio file
  • Select your preferred icon and colour, then click OK

Note: this only supports uncompressed WAV and AIFF files.

Using Adobe Acrobat to Improve Accessibility

Michelle Miller shared her work in digital skills and accessibility at the Learning and Teaching Conference in March this year. This poster shows how you can improve your PDFs’ accessibility using Adobe Acrobat Pro, including common issues flagged by Ally, the accessibility checker in Canvas. All colleagues have access to this software.

The poster can be viewed alongside other submissions on the conference site, or Download the full-size PDF.

Accessibility Improvements Using Adobe Acrobat

Quick wins in accessibility by using Adobe Acrobat Pro’s built-in tool.

In FMS TEL we are currently working on accessibility as new module materials are being prepared for release. Did you know that Adobe Acrobat Pro has a built in Accessibility tool that not only checks your document’s accessibility, but helps you improve accessibility with the click of a few buttons?

If you find that your PDFs are receiving low accessibility scores in Canvas, you can use Adobe Acrobat to improve their scores quickly and efficiently. Simply open the file in Adobe Acrobat Pro. Then select the Accessibility tool from the Tools options. (Click on More Tools then scroll down to the Protect and Standardize section.)

Begin by selecting the Accessibility Check. This will tell you what can be improved in your document.

Next you can use the Autotag tool if your document is missing tags such as headings.

You can choose Set Alternative Text to add alt text to your images.

If necessary use the Reading Order tool to set the order in which the document should be read by a screen reader.

With these three easy steps you have vastly improved the accessibility of your document! Try adding it back into Canvas and you will be surprised by the results you get.

Check out our previous posts on accessibility to see how you can make materials more accessible.