Adobe PDFs, 508 Accessibility, and search engines

This is a reprint of a memo posted to a DoD webmasters listserv about the importance of updating search engine indexes to include alternate-content pages created to comply with accessibility guidelines.

From: Mobley, Mary L [mailto:Mary.L.Mobley@usdoj.gov]
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2001 5:54 PM
To:
Subject: Section 508 update -- making sure your agency search engine
returns accessible versions of documents

Dear Designated Agency Officials,

We are sending around this update to inform you of an accessibility issue arising with respect to section 508 and web page search engines. Please circulate this memo within your agency as appropriate.

As you know, many agencies have made a practice of accompanying all documents posted in Adobe Acrobat's Portable Document Format (pdf) with identical documents posted in html or ASCII text, to ensure that the documents are accessible to people using assistive technology devices such as screen readers.

Many agency search engines have been set up to retrieve only pdf documents. At least one agency has indicated that its search engine operates by looking at documents' meta-tags to determine their relevance to the search terms. This agency often placed such meta-tags on the pdf version of documents, leaving the text document without any meta-tag (or with a different meta-tag). This practice resulted in the search engine only identifying the PDF version of the document, even though another version has been posted for accessibility reasons. Someone with a disability may be unable to find the "accessible" version of the document through the search engine.

To prevent this problem, we suggest that for future postings, agencies ensure that their search engine retrieve both pdf documents and html/ASCII documents. For instance, if your agency uses meta-tags to identify content for search engines, use identical meta-tags on all versions of a document.

Return to AFPCA 508 Compliance Homepage      Return to the Legal Issues page