{"id":29787,"date":"2026-01-27T16:39:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T22:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/?post_type=news&p=29787"},"modified":"2026-01-27T16:39:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T22:39:44","slug":"pdf-ua-identifier-for-pdf-accessibility","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/news-stories\/pdf-ua-identifier-for-pdf-accessibility\/","title":{"rendered":"PDF\/UA Identifier for PDF Accessibility"},"template":"","news_categories":[91,65],"news_tags":[],"class_list":["post-29787","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news_categories-accessibility","news_categories-inside-ahs"],"acf":{"intro_text_subtitle":"Weekly Accessibility Tips","hide_subtitle":true,"intro_text_body":"

Hello, AHS faculty and staff. I am Ryan Lemke, the Junior Accessibility Specialist for AHS Marketing and Communications. Each week, I will share tips to make your content more accessible. This week’s topic is on PDF\/UA identifiers, an accessibility issue we often see in PDFs. The PDF\/UA identifier is the final step in PDF accessibility and is required to meet the PDF\/UA international standard.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is the PDF\/UA standard?<\/h2>\n

The PDF\/UA international standard ensures that a PDF is universally accessible through the use of tagging, alt-text, accessible fonts, logical reading order, etc.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is a PDF\/UA identifier?<\/h2>\n

The final step before completing your accessible PDF is to add a PDF\/UA identifier to its metadata, the embedded information within the PDF. The PDF\/UA identifier is a marker that claims you have complied with PDF\/UA standards. The identifier is deemed a critical issue because you are not compliant with PDF\/UA standards until it is added.<\/p>\n

Add the PDF\/UA identifier to all PDFs, including:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. PDFs posted on all UIC\/RED websites<\/li>\n
  2. PDFs used for course content<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    How to add a PDF\/UA identifier in Adobe Acrobat Pro:<\/h2>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Request IT to Install Preflight<\/a> in Adobe Acrobat Pro.<\/li>\n
    2. Open your PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro.<\/li>\n
    3. Go to the \u201cAll Tools\u201d tab on the top left-hand side.<\/li>\n
    4. Scroll down and click \u201cView more.\u201d<\/li>\n
    5. Select \u201cUse Print Production.\u201d<\/li>\n
    6. Select \u201cPreflight,\u201d and a dialog box will pop up.<\/li>\n
    7. Set the drop-down at the top to either \u201cAcrobat Pro DC 2015 Profiles\u201d or \u201cPDF Standards.\u201d<\/li>\n
    8. On the \u201cProfiles\u201d tab, click the wrench icon button in the center.<\/li>\n
    9. Find the \u201cDocument Info and Metadata\u201d drop-down and expand it.<\/li>\n
    10. Select \u201cSet PDF\/UA-1 entry\u201d and click the wrench button at the bottom of the dialog box labeled \u201cFix.\u201d<\/li>\n
    11. You will be prompted to save your PDF under a new file name.<\/li>\n
    12. Type in the new file name and click \u201cSave.\u201d You now have a PDF\/UA identifier stored in your PDF’s metadata.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      You can also watch the video demonstration of adding a PDF\/UA identifier to your PDF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Note<\/h2>\n

      AHS is moving away from using PDFs when possible. Always ask yourself whether this document needs to be a PDF or if a living document like Word or Google Docs would work instead.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Questions<\/h2>\n

      If you have any questions or require additional support, submit a support ticket<\/a>.<\/p>\n","intro_text_excerpt":"","content_author":"Ryan Lemke","content_sticky":false,"intro_text_include_image":false,"news_include_thumbnail":false,"components":false,"SEO_meta_description":""},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/29787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/29787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29798,"href":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/29787\/revisions\/29798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_categories?post=29787"},{"taxonomy":"news_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_tags?post=29787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}