Accessibility features

Reader and Acrobat have the same keyboard shortcuts. To view the full list, see Keyboard shortcuts in Acrobat Help.

Use a screen reader or magnifier

Use the Accessibility Setup Assistant to set up Reader for either a screen magnifier or a screen reader.

• Choose Edit > Accessibility > Setup Assistant, and then select the options you want from each screen of the Setup Assistant.

Use the Read Out Loud Text-to-Speech tool

Read Out Loud is a Text-to-Speech (TTS) tool that is built into Adobe Reader. It reads text contained within a document window.  

To use Read Out Loud, you need Adobe Reader and a Text-to-Speech engine installed on your system. Also the document must be accessible, otherwise it may not be read at all or it may be read in the wrong order.

To activate Read Out Loud:

1. On the View menu, choose Read Out Loud > Activate Read Out Loud.
2. Again go to View > Read Out Loud and then choose an appropriate option for reading:
   • To read the current page, choose Read This Page Only.
   • To read the entire document, choose Read To End of Document.

Reflow text in a PDF

Reflow a PDF to temporarily present it as a single column that is the width of the document pane. This reflow view makes the document easier to read.

• To reflow text, choose View > Zoom > Reflow.

In most cases, only readable text appears in the reflow view. Text that does not reflow includes forms, comments, digital signature fields, and page artifacts, such as page numbers, headers, and footers. Pages that contain both readable text and form or digital signature fields do not reflow. Vertical text reflows horizontally.