Is Adobe Express accessible?

Adobe Express helps you design professional content like social media content, flyers, and PDFs. Additional steps need to be taken during the design phase to ensure that these resources are accessible and meet WCAG 2.1 AA requirements. 

Adobe Express Accessibility Best Practices 

For images and documents

  • Make your text easy to read. Avoid decorative fonts, left-align your text, and use a minimum of 14pt (or larger) font size. Consider using Berkeley Brand fonts. 
  • Check your color. Make sure your text color and background color meet color contrast requirements and don’t rely on color alone to convey meaning. Berkeley Brand lists approved color combinations that meet accessibility standards.
  • Keep layouts simple. Group related content together and leave enough white space. 
  • Avoid moving or flashing animations. Unneeded movement can make it more difficult for folks to read, understand, and use your resources. 

For webpages

  • Add heading levels. When adding your text content, tag any header text with the appropriate level. Learn more about heading levels. 
  • Add alt text or mark your images as ‘decorative’. When you upload an image in Adobe Express, select the Gear Icon on your image to edit your alt text. Learn more about image accessibility.
  • Make your text easy to read. Avoid decorative fonts, left-align your text, and use a minimum of 14pt (or larger) font size. Consider using Berkeley Brand fonts. 
  • Check your color. Make sure your text color and background color meet color contrast requirements and don’t rely on color alone to convey meaning. Berkeley Brand lists approved color combinations that meet accessibility standards. 
  • Keep layouts simple. Group related content together and leave enough white space.
  • Avoid ‘glideshows’ or other moving content. There is no option for editors to add alt text to these images, and they can be difficult for folks using assistive technology to navigate through. 

For video content 

  • Add captions to your videos. Adobe Express can generate open (burned-in) captions to your videos. Double check that your auto-generated captions are accurate and complete. Add speaker identification if needed. Learn more about caption requirements. 
  • Make sure your captions meet color contrast requirements. We recommend using white text on a black background, when available. Learn more about color and color contrast. 

Exporting your files 

Image files

For social media, or to add to your website. 

  1. Select Download. 
  2. In the File format dropdown menu, select PNG or JPG. 
  3. Select Download. 
  4. Upload your image to your website or social media post. 
  5. Add your Alt Text. 

Learn more about writing alt text or writing accessible social media content. 

PDFs

  1. Select Download. 
  2. In the File format dropdown menu, select PDF Standard (Best for documents). 
  3. Toggle the Add accessibility tags checkbox.  
  4. Select Download. Your file will download as a tagged PDF. 

Important!: Automatic tags are great, but they aren't perfect. Double check your tag structure in Adobe Acrobat. Learn more about making PDFs accessible. 

More Resources