How to make PDFs accessible

A map is a drawing that shows something in a specific location or geographic area. For example:

• A specific road, town or area of countryside
• The layout of a room or rooms in a specific building

Drawings that don't relate to a specific location or geographic area are not maps. Our images accessibility page tells you how to make sure images like drawings are accessible.

How to check map accessibility

Any maps in your PDF must be formatted as a flat image. The map image must also be good quality, so it remains clear and easy to use when a user zooms in up to 400%.

Next, decide whether the map is intended for navigational use.

Maps for navigational use

Examples of maps that are intended for navigational use are:

• The map on the Find your local recycling centre page - it shows people where the centres are to help them decide if they want to go to them based on their location, and work out how to get there
• Maps showing road diversions (like the ones in public information notices)

If the map is for navigational use, it must have a text description. This must include all the navigational information the map shows - for example, an address or a route description.

The text description doesn't need to include any information the map shows that wouldn't help someone navigate - for example, the location of field boundaries.

Example of an accessible navigational map:

The screenshot shows that the address of the farm is in the document text before the map image. The map image has alt text, which says 'Figure 5: Map showing the location of White House Farm in relation to Norwich city centre. The address is included in text before Figure 5.'

Maps not for navigational use

Examples of maps that aren't intended for navigational use are:

• Maps showing planned developments (eg. Building(s), roads, other types of infrastructure etc.) - their primary purpose is to show people where the development will be and its constituent parts. Their main purpose is not to tell people how to navigate to or around the development because it doesn't exist yet
• Maps showing specific features in a certain geographical area (eg. Survey areas, hedgerows, B roads etc.) primarily for reference. Their main purpose is not to tell people how to navigate to or around them

If the map is not for navigational use, it must have alternative (alt) text that:

• Identifies it as a map
• Includes its name if it has one - for example, 'Figure 1'
• Summarises what the map shows
• Is no longer than about 150 characters or two sentences

For example, good alt text for a map that is not for navigational use could be:

'Figure 1: map showing the 2015 and 2018 survey locations within the study area'

Unlike navigational maps, you do not need to include all the information the map shows in text.

Example of an accessible map that is not for navigational use:

The map image has alt text, which says 'Figure 3: Map showing the yield of cauliflowers and broccoli in 2022 across the world.'

How to make maps accessible

If you find that any maps in your PDF aren't accessible, you must fix them.

Most PDFs on our websites were created in Word originally. The easiest way to make maps in your PDF accessible is to edit the source document (eg Word), and then reconvert it to a PDF.

If you need to go back to your original Word document, read our guide on how to make maps accessible in Word

You may find our Word accessibility advice useful even if you used a different application to create your PDF.