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Working with PDFs on your webpage

Required:

All PDFs uploaded to the site must be accessible in accordance with NYU's accessibility policy. 

If you have a PDF and you would like to verify whether or not it is compliant, please follow Adobe's instructions on how to use its PDF validation tool.

If you want to learn how to make your PDF accessible, please follow NYU's instructions.

If you are ready to upload a compliant and accessible PDF, please follow the following instructions:

How to upload a PDF or other document:

  1. In the black menu bar at the top of the window, click on the Manage tab.
  2. Then hover over the Content item.
  3. Then choose Media > Add Media > Document
  4. Give your document an appropriate name, usually matching the title of the file.
    1. Note: Keep this title in mind for adding a link to this file in your page. See below.
  5. Choose the file you want to upload.
    1. The file size will be displayed after you select your file. Example: 300 KB
    2. Make a note of this number as you will need it for linking. See below.
  6. You can leave all other fields empty.
  7. Upload the file, then click Save.

Link to a PDF or other document:

  1. After you upload you file, select the text you would like to use as the link.
    1. Accessibility requirements:
      1. do not use the full URL of the file as the link text.
      2. the linked text must include the link label, the file type, and the file size.
        1. Example: My Linked File (PDF: 300 KB)
  2. Click the link tool, then type in the name of the pdf from the steps above.
  3. When you see the PDF you want to link to in the list, click on the name, then click the green checkmark.
  4. Save your page, then test the link.

Replacing/updating a PDFs or other files:

  • If you've made changes to a PDF or other file, it's best to replace the file rather than upload a new one. This will prevent potential broken links if people bookmarked the original file or if Google has already added it to their index.
  • Please visit our file replacement form and submit the updated PDF/files. We will replace the original file and the URL will remain the same.

Deleting a PDF from the site

To delete a file from the website, please visit our file deletion form.