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To generate a tagged PDF, it’s important to use the Save As PDF instead of printing to PDF. Printing to PDF generally does not create a tagged PDF.

Note: Creating a tagged PDF does not fully guarantee that it is fully WCAG compliant, but for many Office documents, a tagged PDF will add many important accessibility features.

Desktop Word/PowerPoint from Office 365

Note: The PowerPoint export works only in versions from 2025 and later.

  1. Open your file in the appropriate Office application.
  2. In the Review tab, select the tool Check Accessibility and sure there are no errors.
  3. Add a Title in the File Properties window.
    1. Windows: Go to File : Info.
    2. Mac: Go to File : Properties.
  4. After setting the title go to the File menu and select Save As or Save a Copy.
  5. In the Save As window, change the format from Word (*.docx)/PowerPoint (*.pptx) to PDF (*.pdf).
  6. Select a destination folder and click the Save button. The tags are exported automatically.

Windows Desktop Word, Save As PDF

Windows Word 'Save As' menu with PDF option circled.

Mac Desktop Word (DarkMode)

Note: In the Save As (Copy) menu, ensure that the “Best for electronic distribution…” option is checked.

Screenshot of the Mac Word Save As menu with PDF and electronic distribution checked

Online Office 365

Note: The online version of Office 365 does not have as many accessibility tools as the desktop version, but you can export tagged PDFs.

To save a Word for PowerPoint file as a tagged PDF in the online version of Micsrosoft Office:

  1. Open your file in the appropriate application.
  2. Go to the File tab and then click Export : Download as PDF. The PDF is exported with tags.

Check Accessibility

Sample PDFS should be inspected in Adobe Acrobat or other PDF accessibility checker. See the PDF Test Protocol page for information on obtaining and using Adobe Acrobat.

Note: The Accessibility Team can test sample PDF documents to ensure they are screen reader accessible. Contact accessibility@psu.edu to request a test.

 

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Last Update: May 9, 2025