{"id":85566,"date":"2019-05-19T21:47:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-20T02:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allyant.com\/?p=85566"},"modified":"2023-01-24T11:43:10","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T17:43:10","slug":"tagging-lists-in-a-pdf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allyant.com\/blog\/tagging-lists-in-a-pdf\/","title":{"rendered":"Tagging Lists in a PDF"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tagging lists properly in a PDF is important. And sometimes it\u2019s difficult. For example, when a screen reader finds an <L> (list) tag in the Tags<\/strong> tree, it will inform the user of the existence of a list, how many items are in the list and when the list has ended. It is much easier to skip list tags and just leave the content in paragraph tags, but this is not only semantically inaccurate, it also negatively impacts the end-user\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tagging Lists in Acrobat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Automatic tagging in Acrobat generally does a decent job of recognizing lists in PDFs, putting the content into <L> tags, inserting the <LI> (List Item) tags and creating the <LBody> (List Body) tags, too. Sometimes\u2014but not always\u2014Acrobat will even place the bullets (or numbers, letters, etc., in ordered lists) into <Lbl> (Label) tags. However, touch-up work may still need to be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can be challenging to manually tag PDsF using Acrobat\u2019s Reading Order<\/strong> tool. In fact, when I demo CommonLook PDF and reach the point where I have to tag the list, I often ask people how long it would take them in Acrobat. I hear everything from exasperated sighs to \u201cI wouldn\u2019t,\u201d \u201cI\u2019d make someone else do it,\u201d or \u201cToo long.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of the problem is that there are no buttons for List, List Item, Label or LBody in the Reading Order tool. So, you have to hand tag the individual parts, probably in <P> (Paragraph) tags and then convert the <P> tags to <Lbl> or <LBody> as needed and then insert them into their <LI> tags. Then you can finally place all of the <LI> tags into a List tag. Of course, this gets even harder and more confusing if the list you are tagging contains a nested list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another detail that is often overlooked\u2014but especially important with ordered lists\u2014is ensuring the List Numbering value is set correctly so that, in an ordered list using Roman numerals, a screen reader will read \u201cRoman One, Roman Two, Roman Three,\u201d etc., for the labels \u2013 instead of reading, \u201cEye, Eye-eye, Eye-eye-eye.\u201d In Acrobat, finding the List Numbering value requires digging into the attributes on a List tag which can be difficult and confusing for many users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tagging Lists in CommonLook PDF<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tagging a list in CommonLook PDF is a relatively simple task that can literally be done in seconds. It\u2019s so effective that most people are sold with this feature alone if they haven\u2019t already been convinced of CommonLook\u2019s superiority with things like automatically linearizing presentation tables and the Undo functionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is how it is done: Highlight the list in the physical view (or select the content that should be in the list from within the Tags tree) and then use the Generate List from Selection<\/strong> button on the Insert Tag Tab\u2019s ribbon. CommonLook will put together the List tag with the <LI>, <Lbl> and <LBody> tags inside. CommonLook will also assign the List Numbering value and it will properly tag your nested lists too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you need to make adjustments after your list is tagged or if you are fixing a document originally tagged with anything other than CommonLook PDF, there are individual buttons in both the Insert Tag and Convert Tag ribbons to make new tags (or convert existing tags) as needed. And, as we\u2019ve mentioned in other articles, keyboard shortcuts abound to make the job even easier!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, when you\u2019re running your verification, CommonLook will ask you to manually verify that the List Numbering value is correct for the tagged lists. This is easily found in the Properties panel when the <L> tag is selected and there\u2019s a dropdown menu readily available to change the List Numbering value if needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tagging lists properly in a PDF is important. And sometimes it\u2019s difficult. For example, when a screen reader finds an <L> (list) tag in the Tags tree, it will inform […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":85567,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t