Panorama (by Yuja)

Before spending time remediating a PDF, ask yourself the following questions:

• • Is this document actively being used in the course?
  • Is it required course content?
  • Is there an accessible Word or PowerPoint version available?

In many cases, replacement is more effective than remediation. Consider replacing a problematic PDF with:

• • A Canvas page
  • An accessible Word document
  • An accessible PowerPoint file
  • Publisher-provided accessible content

If the original Word or PowerPoint source file is available, fixing the source and exporting a new PDF is usually faster and yields better accessibility outcomes than remediating the PDF directly.

Begin by identifying which PDFs in your course need attention:

• • Select the PDF document you want to improve, prioritizing those flagged with RED or ORANGE accessibility scores. These flags indicate content that may pose barriers for students.
  • Click on the accessibility score icon to open the document preview window. This can be accessed through the navigation menu, Panorama > Course Report > Files & Issues tab (see image below), or by navigating to the file’s location in DocHub or your Canvas course (e.g., Modules, Files).

If a PDF is a scanned image rather than a digitally created document, assistive technologies cannot properly read its content. Signs that OCR may be needed:

• • You cannot highlight or search for text within the PDF
  • Panorama identifies image-based PDFs as Scanned or Untagged.
  • Alternative formats generated from the PDF appear incomplete or garbled

Start by running OCR on Untagged or Scanned PDFs.

After OCR completes, note the change in the document’s accessibility score. Remediate the remaining issues one by one, or select the Fix This Document button. This will provide access to the Structural Remediation Advanced Editor tool, where you can verify the accuracy of the OCR tagging process, add alt text for images in bulk, and/or retag the document, if necessary.

PLEASE NOTE: If your document is incorrectly tagged during the OCR process, restart the process by clicking the vertical ellipsis (3 vertical dots) button on the top right of the document preview window and restoring the original version. Once restored, restart the tagging process by selecting the other OCR option (i.e., OCR Overlaid vs OCR Reconstructed). This addresses most issues. If this does not solve your problem, proceed to Step 7.

Once OCR has been applied (if needed), run the Structural Remediation Advanced Editor tool to verify the document’s structure and reading order. Proper structure allows students to navigate headings, move through sections, understand lists, and access image and table content using assistive technology.

Select the Elements tab to review the automatically identified and tagged headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, figures, and reading order. Edit and move tags within the tags tree as needed to correct misidentified elements or the reading order.

Pay close attention to the following:

• • Headings: Verify that major sections (e.g., chapter titles, learning objectives, discussion questions) are tagged as headings, not as regular paragraphs. Under the Elements tab, promote or demote heading levels as needed to reflect the document’s hierarchy.
  • Lists: Check that bulleted lists, numbered lists, and step-by-step instructions are tagged as lists rather than as individual paragraphs. Screen readers recognize lists and identify the number of items when they are properly labeled (e.g., “List with 5 items”). This provides essential navigation information that students relying on assistive technology depend on.
  • Tables: Verify that tables are recognized as tables, that header rows are properly identified, and that data appears in the correct cells. If a table contains merged cells, multiple header levels, or complex data relationships, consider escalating to the ATI rather than attempting manual corrections.

PLEASE NOTE: If your document is incorrectly tagged during the OCR process, restart the process by clicking the Retag PDF button on the top right of the document preview window. Disable the Skip Text Recognition (OCR) option and repeat the OCR process. This addresses most retagging issues. If this does not solve your problem, proceed to Step 7.

Students who are blind or have low vision cannot access image content without alternative text (alt text) descriptions. Under the Images tab, select the Bulk Fix Alt Text button, and allow Panorama to generate AI-powered descriptions for every image in the document.

Review every AI-generated description before accepting it:

• • Accept descriptions that are accurate and meaningful (e.g., “Bar chart showing student enrollment increasing from 2021 to 2025”).
  • Revise descriptions that are too vague (e.g., change “Graph” to “Bar chart comparing undergraduate and graduate enrollment by year, with graduate enrollment declining after 2023”).
  • Mark as Decorative any images that are purely visual and carry no informational content (e.g., borders, background graphics, decorative icons, repeated logos).

PLEASE NOTE: Do not accept AI-generated alt text without review. For charts and graphs, aim to describe what the user should take away from the image, not just how it looks.

A document can have proper tags and still be unusable if the reading order is wrong. Reading order issues are among the most common sources of PDF accessibility complaints. Review the reading order by following the elements in the document window or the list to the right of the document window.

Ask yourself: Does the content read logically for a student listening aloud using a screen reader or text-to-speech application?

Common reading order problems to look for include:

• • Multi-column documents: Screen readers may mix content across columns rather than reading one column at a time.
  • Sidebars: Sidebar content may be read aloud before the main body text, interrupting the document flow.
  • Captions: Image captions may become detached from the images they describe.
  • Callout boxes: Important notes or instructions may appear out of sequence relative to the surrounding content.

Adjust content order as needed so that assistive technologies encounter information in a logical, meaningful sequence.

Before finalizing your remediation, ask yourself whether a student using assistive technology would be able to:

• • Search the document for specific terms?
  • Navigate between headings and sections?
  • Understand images through their alt text descriptions?
  • Access table information in a meaningful order?
  • Follow the reading order from start to finish?
  • Have the content read aloud coherently by text-to-speech?

If yes, the PDF likely meets the goals of first-level remediation and is ready for students. Follow the steps below to save the changes and see the document’s updated accessibility score:

PLEASE NOTE: Additional remediations (e.g., document title, fixing unclear hyperlink text) may be required after exiting the Structural Remediation Advanced Editor tool.

Contact the ATI Office for additional support when a PDF contains any of the following:

• • Math and STEM content — equations, chemistry or statistics notation, or graph-heavy material (OCR and structural tagging rarely produce accessible math without specialized review)
  • Complex tables — multiple header rows, merged cells, or financial/data-intensive reports
  • Fillable forms — interactive PDFs, applications, or surveys
  • Handwritten materials — instructor notes, historical documents, or annotated scans
  • Multi-column publications — journal articles, newsletters, or brochures with complex layouts
  • Poor OCR results — text that remains inaccurate after OCR has been applied

The ATI Office can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 703-993-4329.