Topic 1: Getting a Clean Scan

Topic Progress:

It’s very common to run into PDF’s of scanned documents, articles, and books. The quality of these can vary greatly, and the worse the scan quality, the more difficult it will be to make the document accessible. When dealing with a scanned document, always do an internet search to see if a digital and possibly even accessible version already exists. If one does not exist, try to find the original document, article, or book in order to get a clean scan.

How to Get a Clean Scan

  1. Start with a clean original document with no underlining, handwriting, or highlighting.
  2. Use a high-quality scanner – the better the scanner, the better your document will look.
  3. Only scan one page at a time. If you are scanning a book, do not scan two pages onto one scan.
  4. Push the spine down onto the scanner so that words near the spine are not distorted.
  5. Edit / crop your scan so that any dark edges are eliminated. The Adobe accessibility checker will pick up any dark areas as images in need of alt text, making more work for you and your document more confusing when read with assistive technology.