Honestly, I can't understand why designers do this by hand.
Using InDesign properly also means using the automated table of contents feature to build the table of contents. Why not put one text frame with an automatic page number on a master page? Table of Contents I once got a 300-page file that had page numbers added manually. A lot of designers also don’t use master page features properly. One feature I see underutilized in InDesign is the master pages. Using the features of the software properly goes a long way. I mean, even when we’re not creating accessible files-which is very rare-we still use the same workflow sans the accessibility-specific stuff. You’ll also save a ton of time in your workflow. The other thing is, if you can get the InDesign skills down really well, then addressing accessibility is far easier. Let me tell you, her InDesign skills are better than 99% of the designers out there. She learned InDesign from the Adobe InDesign book. The other day, I consulted with a designer who’s been using InDesign for a year. Just because you’ve been using InDesign for 10 or 20 years does not mean you’ve been using it correctly. Years of experience mean nothing in this case. When I look at their files, it’s a completely different story. Some of them tell me they think their files are set up pretty well and they don’t expect that I will have to change much. Much of the time, I get files from designers who’ve been using InDesign for 20 years. Many designers don’t use InDesign properly, which is a huge problem for accessibility because how you set up the file affects how the PDF will be read-or not-by a screen reader. That's more efficient and cost effective than providing a fully done, approved file that I have to fix or redo. Then I’ll take their InDesign file and do all the layout based on those designs. If they want to design some of the pages in the document, like how the table of contents will look or the first page of every section, then I tell them to go ahead and set that up. I tell designers to bring me in early on, at the design stage, to review the cover design before they send it to the client and have them approve it. Integrating accessibility into the process is key. But I have to explain how this process works too. I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus.
#Publisher master pages text box how to#
Sometimes clients will ask me why the designer didn’t know how to do this in the first place. Second, I often have to redo-from scratch-many long, complex documents, which costs the end client several times what it would have had the designer designed with accessibility in mind from the beginning.
This costs the end client not only more money but more time-and it doesn’t make you look good if you’re the one who created these files. Is that a problem? Not for me, but it is for you and your client.Ĭan I still help? Yes, but this is not an efficient process.įirst off, I often have to modify colors or redo the design to work with the existing color palette. Here’s the file with everything approved by the client.” Mistake #1: Thinking accessibility is the end of the lineĪ huge misconception that designers have about accessibility is that it’s the last part of the design and layout process-that accessibility is a button that gets pushed at the end of the process. I want to clear up some of that confusion. There are also a ton of misconceptions about document accessibility and all that’s involved in the process. I’m just trying to get designers to understand these important points because, unfortunately, most designers think they’re creating accessible files when they truly aren’t. I’m not trying to shame anyone for making these mistakes.
I’m covering only 9 mistakes here, but there are a lot of others. That means I am taking InDesign files from designers and creative agencies and fixing them to be accessible. I decided to do an episode on this because I do a lot of InDesign file remediation. My upcoming InDesign + PDF Accessibility course.
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