How it works

This guide explains how to generate accessible PDF documents using iziPDFAccessibility for Adobe InDesign.

The plugin can work in Automatic or Manual mode and provides visual tools to review and adjust accessibility information before exporting the final PDF.

Step-by-Step Guide

Before You Start

iziPDFAccessibility uses Adobe InDesign tags and article structures to build accessible PDF documents.

Before running the plugin:

1. Open the Tags panel in Adobe InDesign.
2. Create the tags H1 and H2.
3. Use the "Map Styles to Tags" option to associate your paragraph styles with H1 and H2.
4. Multiple paragraph styles can be mapped to the same tag.

Note: In the current version, style names may only contain letters and numbers. Style names containing spaces, accents or special characters are not supported.

Unlike traditional accessibility workflows, there is no need to use the "Edit All Export Tags" option.

Step 1 - Choose a Processing Mode

Open the Start tab and choose one of the available processing modes.

Automatic Mode

Automatic mode is designed for documents containing a single article with a clearly identifiable title and text flow.

The plugin analyzes the document structure, detects content hierarchy and prepares the accessibility structure automatically.

Small text fragments, notes and supporting content can also be included in the document.

Manual Mode

Manual mode is recommended for more complex layouts where automatic detection may not provide the desired structure.

This mode gives you greater control over how document elements are organized for accessibility.

Step 2 - Wait for Processing to Finish

After starting the process, the plugin will analyze the document and build the accessibility structure.

When processing is complete, the log window will display:

• "Done"

Once the process has finished, continue to the Review tab.

Step 3 - Build the Review Tree

Open the Review tab and click:

• Load Review

The plugin will generate a visual tree containing all detected accessibility elements.

This tree allows you to inspect and modify the structure that will be exported to the accessible PDF.

Important: If you reopen a document that has already been processed with iziPDFAccessibility, do not run the Start process again.

Instead, go directly to the Review tab and click Load Review.

The Start tab is only used to prepare the document the first time it is processed.

Step 4 - Review and Adjust the Structure

Reorder Elements

Select a top-level element and use the Up and Down buttons to change its position within the reading order.

Change Element Types

Each element can be assigned one of the following types:

• Sect: Standard text content that should remain available to assistive technologies.
• Figure: Images and graphical content that should be exposed to accessibility tools.
• Artifact: Decorative or unnecessary elements that should be ignored by assistive technologies.

Add Missing Elements

If you select an object directly in InDesign and it does not appear in the review tree, use the Arrow button next to the type selector to add it.

New elements are added at the end of the top-level structure.

Elements cannot be deleted. If an element should not appear in the accessibility structure, change its type to Artifact.

Step 5 - Review Image Information

To modify image accessibility information:

1. Select the image in the Review tree.
2. Open the Inspect tab.
3. Click "Get Info".

The image information will be loaded and can be edited.

Manual Alt Text

Edit the Alt Text field manually and click:

• Set Info to save your changes.

AI-Generated Descriptions

If a compatible third-party AI service is configured, click:

• Add AI Description

The plugin will generate an image description using the language of the document.

After reviewing the generated description, click:

• Set Info to save the changes.

The review tree will automatically be updated.

Step 6 - Export the Accessible PDF

Once the accessibility structure has been reviewed and adjusted, return to the Review tab and click:

• Export PDF

The plugin creates a PDF preset named:

• iziPDFAccessibility

If the preset does not already exist, it will be created automatically.

If the preset already exists, the existing version will be used.

The exported PDF is generated in the same folder as the InDesign document.

Important: Let the plugin create the preset automatically. You may modify it afterwards, but make sure that the "Create Tagged PDF" option remains enabled.

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Automatic Mode

Automatic Accessibility Features

Depending on the document structure, iziPDFAccessibility may automatically:

• Optimize PDF/UA settings.
• Improve document tagging.
• Adjust content structure for accessibility.
• Anchor images to improve reading order.
• Use captions and image credits as part of Alt Text generation.
• Detect non-essential elements and mark them as Artifacts.
• Prepare documents for PAC validation workflows.

Note: Existing Alt Text is never overwritten in Automatic Mode.

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Important Notes

Image Anchoring

Image anchoring may introduce layout changes in order to improve accessibility compliance and reading order.

After processing, review the document carefully to verify that the visual layout remains acceptable.

Single-Article Workflow

The current version is optimized for single-article documents.

Multi-article support will be added in a future release.

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Multi-Article Workflow

Working with Multi-Article Documents

Although the current version focuses on single-article workflows, multi-article documents can still be created manually.

After processing is complete:

• Open the Articles panel.
• Locate the article named "izi_all_in_one".
• Create additional articles as needed.
• Move content from "izi_all_in_one" into the new articles.
• Export the PDF normally.

We recommend validating the resulting PDF using PAC to verify that content has been distributed correctly between articles.

Once articles are redistributed manually, the Review panel can no longer be used to reorder elements using the Up and Down controls.