If you鈥檝e been meaning to clean up your website鈥檚 PDFs, now is the time.
April is around the corner, and it marks a key milestone: public entities have an April 24, 2026 deadline (Note: , moving the compliance deadline to April 26, 2027) to meet specific web accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1 Level AA) for web content and mobile apps under a . While this requirement applies to public entities, it reflects a broader trend across higher education: accessibility expectations are increasing, and the urgency around remediation work is growing.
While this rule is not a new expectation for the 天美传媒, it鈥檚 a timely reminder to renew our focus鈥攅specially on legacy PDF content.
PDFs are widely used across the University鈥攁nd they can be a common source of accessibility barriers if accessibility isn鈥檛 built into the workflow. PDFs may not work well with screen readers or keyboard navigation when they鈥檙e missing tags, headings, properly formatted links, or a logical reading order.
Take action now: reduce, replace, plan
Here are three practical steps that make an immediate impact:
- Cut what鈥檚 not needed. If a PDF is outdated, duplicated, or rarely used鈥攔emove it.
- Replace what you can with accessible web pages. If the content is meant to be read online, the web is often the better format.
- If you must publish PDFs, publish them with a plan. Build skills through training, use the right tools, and plan time/budget for remediation support when needed.
New PDF accessibility resources
To support this work, we鈥檝e published new PDF resources鈥攊ncluding checklists, guidance, and practical workflows from the Digital Accessibility Community of Practice鈥攖o help you create, evaluate, and improve accessible PDFs.
Not sure where to start? Contact the Digital Accessibility team and we鈥檒l help you prioritize.