Skip Navigation Links for PDF Accessibility (Acrobat Pro)

Question

How do you make a skip navigation link for accessible PDFs as described on this page?  https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/create-verify-pdf-accessibility.html"For URLs to be accessible to screen readers, they must be active links that are correctly tagged in the PDF. (The best way to create accessible links is with the Create Link command, which adds all three links that screen readers require to recognize a link.) Make sure that navigation links are not repetitive and that there is a way for users to skip over repetitive links."If this rule check fails, check navigation links manually and verify that the content does not have too many identical links. Also, provide a way for users to skip over items that appear multiple times. For example, if the same links appear on each page of the document, also include a "Skip navigation" link.

Tariq Dar · Answer

Hi @brenbrenbren,

Thanks for raising this important accessibility topic. You’re absolutely right that providing a way to skip repetitive navigation is a best practice for users relying on screen readers.

While Acrobat Pro doesn’t have a direct tool for “skip navigation” links like in HTML, there are a few ways to approximate the same behavior in a PDF:

Workaround to Simulate Skip Navigation:

1. Use Internal Links + Named Destinations:

You can manually add a “Skip to Main Content” link at the top of the document and point it to a tagged destination or content area.

Steps:

Scroll to the main content area (e.g. page 2 or heading tag).
Use the “Set Destination” tool:
- View > Show/Hide > Navigation Panes > Destinations
- Create a new destination for the main content.
Go back to the top of the document.
Use the Link tool (Tools > Edit PDF > Link) to draw a clickable area labeled “Skip to Main Content”.
Set the link to go to the named destination you created.

Bonus: Use Alt Text or a Screen Reader Hint to clarify the purpose of the link, such as “Skip navigation section.”

2. Ensure the Document is Tagged Correctly:

To make this work well for assistive technologies:

Run Accessibility Checker in Acrobat (Tools > Accessibility)
Make sure:
- Tags like , , are present
- The logical reading order flows correctly

Limitations:

Screen readers don’t always interpret link destinations in the same way across platforms.
There’s no automatic skip function, so it’s a manual jump using links.

Tip:

If you’re creating PDFs from a source document like Word, consider:

Adding a “Skip to Content” link in the document with an internal hyperlink to a heading
Use heading styles and export with full tagging

~Tariq

Workaround to Simulate Skip Navigation:

1. Use Internal Links + Named Destinations:

2. Ensure the Document is Tagged Correctly:

Limitations:

Tip:

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