Creating Accessible PDF Using Grackle Docs

Grackle Docs is a plugin extension in Google Docs that inspects and remediate Google Docs for accessibility compliance.

Login to Google Chrome

Launch the Google Chrome browser, select on the Profile icon (1) and select the "Sign in to Chrome" button (2).

Screenshot of a Google Chrome profile menu prompting user to sign in for syncing passwords, bookmarks, and settings across devices. Key elements include a blue "Sign in to Chrome" button, profile icon at top right, and options for managing profiles, autofill, and guest access.

Enter your campus email address under the Email or Phone field and click the Next button.

Screenshot of Google Chrome sign-in page showing a login form for entering email or phone. Page includes options for forgotten email, guest mode sign-in, account creation, and a blue "Next" button.

Follow the Microsoft account login and 2FA (DUO EAM) authentication when prompted.

Once logged in to Google Chrome, you should have access to the different Google services available (except GMail).

Creating a Google Docs Document

From the Google Chrome browser, go to Google Drive. Select the + New icon (1), Google Docs (2), and Blank document (3).

Screenshot of Google Drive interface showing a dropdown menu for creating new files. Menu options include New folder, File upload, Folder upload, and Google Docs with sub-options for Blank document and From a template, alongside keyboard shortcuts.

Name the Google Docs document (1) using the naming convention for website files (all lower case and hyphen between words). Enter the content of the document (2).

Screenshot of a Google Docs document from California State University Fullerton Information Technology showing a table titled "Test Google Docs." The table lists four products with their IDs, quantities, and total costs, highlighting a high total cost of $3000 for 3 printers compared to lower costs for other items.

Using Grackle Docs Accessibility Checker

When you're done with the document, select the Extensions menu (1), hover Grackle Docs (2), and click Launch (3). This will load the Grackle Docs plugin. When you first launch the Grackle Docs plugin, it will request for permissions. Accept all requested permissions.

Screenshot of a Google Docs interface showing navigation through menu options with numbered black circles highlighting steps: clicking "Extensions," selecting "Grackle Docs," and choosing "Launch." The screenshot includes a visible California State University Fullerton logo at the bottom and a white background with standard Google Docs toolbar icons and text editing options.

The Grackle Docs plugin will do an accessibility check and will report any issues. Follow the instructions in Grackle Docs by locating and tagging the element with accessibility issues.

Screenshot of Grackle Docs accessibility check panel showing results for images, drawings, equations, and headings. It highlights one image missing alternate text with a red error icon, while drawings and equations have green check marks, indicating compliance; headings section shows three items.

Once the elements are properly tagged, click the Re-check button. Once the accessibility check shows 21 of 21 checks passed, then your document should be accessible.

Screenshot of Grackle Docs accessibility check panel showing all 21 checks passed. It highlights proper heading nesting and table tagging with one table detected, recommending against merged cells.

Converting PDF to Google Docs

Open the PDF document in Adobe Acrobat. Go to the File Menu --> Export To --> Microsoft Word and select Word Document.

Screenshot of a software menu showing export options within a document editing program. The highlighted path navigates through "Export To" to "Microsoft Word," with sub-options for "Word Document" and "Word 97-2003 Document," indicating file format choices for exporting.

Make any edits to the Word document (if needed) and save the file. Then, drag and drop the Word document to Google Drive. Open the Word document in Google Drive. Once opened, go to File and select Save as Google Docs.

Make any formatting changes to the Google Docs document. Once done, follow the Using Grackle Docs Accessibility Checker steps.