Creating a Table of Contents

In this unit, we will learn how to create a table of contents for your document. A table of contents provides an overview of your document’s content and allows readers to quickly navigate to different sections. It is especially useful in larger documents like course readings or a portfolio.

Steps to Create a Table of Contents

Creating a table of contents in Adobe Acrobat Pro involves adding a blank page and typing in the Table of Contents (TOC) items. Here’s how:

Open the document in Adobe Acrobat Pro. If needed, click on Organize Pages, then on the Insert button at the top, and select Blank Page to add a new page that will contain the table of contents. Usually, the TOC is placed right after the title page or at the beginning of the document.
Click the Edit tool in the right pane.
Click the Add Text button from the top sub-menu.
Type the sections you wish to be included in the table of contents. Consider using consistent formatting (like font style and size) for the TOC items to ensure a neat and professional look.

Creating a Clickable Table of Contents

To make your table of contents clickable, you can link each title to the corresponding page. Here’s how:

While still in the Edit PDF workspace, navigate to the Table of Contents (TOC).
Click on the Link button from the top sub-menu and Add/Edit Web or Document Link.
Draw a rectangle over the TOC item.
In the Create Link dialog box, select Invisible Rectangle for the link type, ‘Go to a page view’ for the link action, then click Next.
Navigate to the page you want the link to go to and draw a box around the text on the landing page, then click Set Link.
Repeat the steps for each TOC item.
Save your work regularly during this process to avoid losing your progress.

Explore

Create a table of contents for your combined and organized PDF document. Make sure each section is represented, and try creating clickable links for each section.

Q&A

You absolutely can use bookmarks to create a navigable Table of Contents in Adobe Acrobat Pro. The process is quite simple:

1. Open your PDF and go to the page you want to bookmark.
2. Select the Bookmarks button in the left-hand pane or choose View > Show/Hide > Navigation Panes > Bookmarks.
3. Select the New Bookmark button at the top of the Bookmarks pane.
4. Enter the name of the bookmark and press Enter.

You can repeat this process for each section you want to bookmark.

However, while bookmarks are a great way to navigate a document digitally, they have some limitations. Firstly, if you are planning to print your document, the bookmarks will not be visible in the printed version. This is where a physical Table of Contents (TOC), like the one you have created in your steps, is more beneficial, as it can be printed and easily referenced in a hard copy of the document.

Secondly, not all users might be familiar or comfortable with using the bookmarks pane in Adobe Acrobat Pro. In contrast, a TOC page within the document itself is a universally understood tool for navigating documents.

If you change the order of your sections, you will have to update the page numbers in your Table of Contents. However, the links you created will still direct to the correct pages. You can simply edit the text of the Table of Contents to reflect the new order.

Yes, when creating a link, you can choose to make the link visible by selecting Visible Rectangle instead of Invisible Rectangle. You can also change the color and style of the link. However, keep in mind that these changes will only be visible on-screen and will not appear when the document is printed.

You can add a link by clicking on the Link button in the top sub-menu and selecting Add/Edit Web or Document Link. Draw a rectangle over the title, then in the Create Link dialog box, select Invisible Rectangle for the link type, Go to a page view for the link action, and then click Next. Navigate to the page you want the link to go to, then click Set Link.

References

Microlearning Menu Share this 0 Comments

Accessibility

Accessibility modes

Epilepsy Safe Mode Epilepsy Safe Mode Dampens color and removes blinks

This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.

Visually Impaired Mode Visually Impaired Mode Improves website's visuals

This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.

Cognitive Disability Mode Cognitive Disability Mode Helps to focus on specific content

This mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.

ADHD Friendly Mode ADHD Friendly Mode Reduces distractions and improve focus

This mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.

Blindness Mode Blindness Mode Allows using the site with your screen-reader

This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.

Online Dictionary

Readable Experience

Content Scaling Text Magnifier Readable Font Dyslexia Friendly Highlight Titles Highlight Links Font Sizing Line Height Letter Spacing Left Aligned Center Aligned Right Aligned

Visually Pleasing Experience

Dark Contrast Light Contrast Monochrome High Contrast High Saturation Low Saturation Adjust Text Colors Adjust Title Colors Adjust Background Colors

Easy Orientation

Mute Sounds Hide Images Virtual Keyboard Reading Guide Stop Animations Reading Mask Highlight Hover Highlight Focus Big Dark Cursor Big Light Cursor Cognitive Reading Navigation Keys Voice Navigation Link navigator Reset Settings Hide Forever

Educational Technology Accessibility Statement

Accessibility Statement

commons.hostos.cuny.edu
September 10, 2024

Compliance status

We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.

To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.

This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.

Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.

If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email

Screen-reader and keyboard navigation

Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:

Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website. These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

Disability profiles supported in our website

Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments

Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different coloring options.
Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.

Browser and assistive technology compatibility

We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.

Notes, comments, and feedback

Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to