SKM_C65821062912030

Donnelly_General_Partnership_Agreement_Signed.pdf

MSAT_Partnership_-_USM_Completed_2021-2022.pdf

20210302_Memorandum_of_Agreement__BSN_to_MSN_.pdf

20191008_Online_Course_Sharing_Consortium_Agreement.pdf

JCCC_Signed_Agreement.pdf

20191008_Teaching_Institution_Agreement.pdf

USM_ROTC_Agreement.pdf

210412_Memorandum_of_Agreement.pdf

KCKCC_and_USM_Endorsed.pdf

Ensure PDF documents are machine-readable for accessibility and usability.

## What this means

A machine-readable PDF is one that can be easily processed by software, such as text-to-speech programs, 
search engines, and other data extraction tools. This typically means that the text in the PDF is selectable 
and can be copied, as opposed to being embedded as an image.

## Why it matters

1. **Accessibility**: Machine-readable PDFs are essential for people using screen readers or other assistive technologies, as these tools require text they can interpret.
2. **Searchability**: Machine-readable documents can be indexed by search engines, making the content more discoverable.
3. **Content Usability**: Ensuring that your PDFs are machine-readable allows users to interact with the content more effectively, like copying text or searching within the document.

## How to fix

1. **Avoid Scanned Documents**: Whenever possible, create PDFs directly from text-based sources rather than scanning paper documents.
2. **Use OCR on Scanned PDFs**: If you have a scanned PDF, use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to convert the image-based text into selectable, searchable text.
3. **Check Font Embedding**: Ensure that all fonts used in the PDF are properly embedded so that the text remains accessible on different devices and platforms.

## Testing Methodology

Silktide examines whether there is selectable text in a PDF to determine if it is machine-readable.

## Further Reading

- [Creating Accessible PDFs](https://www.adobe.com/accessibility/pdf/pdf-accessibility-overview.html)
- [Guide to Machine-Readable PDFs](https://www.webaim.org/techniques/acrobat/)

pdf-not-machine-readable

October 2025

September 2025

University of Saint Mary

Title / URL	Issues
SKM_C65821062912030stmary.edu/d/20210629_Fully_Executed_Articulation.pdf	1
Donnelly_General_Partnership_Agreement_Signed.pdfstmary.edu/d/Donnelly_General_Partnership_Agreement_Signed.pdf	1
MSAT_Partnership_-_USM_Completed_2021-2022.pdfstmary.edu/d/MSAT_Partnership_-_USM_Completed_2021-2022.pdf	1
20210302_Memorandum_of_Agreement__BSN_to_MSN_.pdfstmary.edu/d/20210302_Memorandum_of_Agreement__BSN_to_MSN_.pdf	1
20191008_Online_Course_Sharing_Consortium_Agreement.pdfstmary.edu/d/20191008_Online_Course_Sharing_Consortium_Agreement.pdf	1
JCCC_Signed_Agreement.pdfstmary.edu/d/JCCC_Signed_Agreement.pdf	1
20191008_Teaching_Institution_Agreement.pdfstmary.edu/d/20191008_Teaching_Institution_Agreement.pdf	1
USM_ROTC_Agreement.pdfstmary.edu/d/USM_ROTC_Agreement.pdf	1
210412_Memorandum_of_Agreement.pdfstmary.edu/d/210412_Memorandum_of_Agreement.pdf	1
KCKCC_and_USM_Endorsed.pdfstmary.edu/d/KCKCC_and_USM_Endorsed.pdf	1

Ensure PDFs are machine readable

University of Saint Mary

Where this issue has occurred