While the Office of Digital strongly recommends using PDF or HTML documents/forms for accessibility and more mobile-friendly content, we do understand that there are rare occasions when a Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint document may better suit the purpose.

All documents must be tagged for accessibility; which in the case of PDFs, also makes them searchable.

All pages that link to a document must include the link, the file type and the file size, for example:

• Document Name (PDF ## KB)
• Document Name (Microsoft Word ## KB)
• Document Name (Microsoft Excel ## KB)
• Document Name (Microsoft PowerPoint ## KB)

All pages that include link(s) to a document must also include information for the visitor to download free software that will allow them to view the document.

• PDF files can be viewed using the free Adobe Reader software (this is a sidebar item available in websites)
• Microsoft files can be viewed using Open Office.

Please Note: Mobile devices open PDF documents in the device’s browser and/or native PDF viewer. This is not the case for Microsoft files, and a visitor will will need to download a non-free Microsoft application to be able to view those files.

For additional information on GSA Section 508 Resources, please see: https://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/103565 This website includes several useful checklists for ensuring that linked documents are Section 508 compliant.