In this series of articles, we\u2019ve discussed how to identify and address all sorts of PDF accessibility issues including headings, reading order, lists, tables and metadata. In this article we\u2019ll provide some \u201cother things to consider\u201d while you\u2019re making sure your PDFs are accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When teaching PDF remediation classes, I\u2019m often asked, \u201cHow will a screen reader read that?\u201d The more you know, the more you can consider, and the better user experiences you can create whether you\u2019re a document designer or remediating PDFs created by others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Empty tags can be annoying or even problematic, especially for people using AT (some screen readers will say \u201cBlank\u201d for every empty tag). While, in general, you want to make sure you delete empty tags, an exception to this rule would be if you need empty cells in your data tables to keep them \u201cregularly shaped.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tip: <\/strong>CommonLook PDF will automatically \u2013 and safely \u2013 remove empty tags, without messing up your data tables!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tip:<\/strong> The Fix Wizard in CommonLook PDF will do this for you automatically!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why? It indicates that \u201cThis is one full and complete document.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tip: <\/strong>You can easily do this in CommonLook PDF!<\/p>\n\n\n\n When people are using AT like screen readers, headings provide not only structural information but a means for faster and more efficient navigation through a document. Bookmarks provide that same navigation for people who are looking at a PDF. When the Bookmarks and the Headings match, people get consistent navigation regardless of how they\u2019re reading the document!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tip: <\/strong>Creating Bookmarks to match the headings can be done automatically in CommonLook PDF!<\/p>\n\n\n\n ISO 32000-1:2008 is the currently used standard for how to make a PDF. Accessibility standards include WCAG 2.0\/ 2.1 (WCAG 2.0 is also the revised Section 508 standard), PDF\/UA (ISO 14289-1) and\/or HHS 2018 (US Dept. of Health and Human Services, revised standard as of 2018).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note:<\/strong> The Acrobat Full Check doesn\u2019t test against, or guarantee compliance with, any of the accessibility standards mentioned above. The PAC 3 checker will test against PDF\/UA but doesn\u2019t make you address any of the \u201cmanual verification components\u201d like accuracy of Alternative text. While Acrobat doesn\u2019t test against any of the accessibility standards mentioned, it *will* let you generate a compliance report. The PAC 3 checker will also allow you to save a report as a PDF. (Oftentimes, however, their own generated PDF report, when tested by PAC 3 itself, is found to be failing the PDF\/UA standard!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tip: <\/strong>CommonLook PDF will allow you to generate a compliance report, in accessible HTML, listing every checkpoint in the standard(s) chosen for testing and indicating the status of those checkpoints \u2013 whether they\u2019ve passed, failed, require user verification, or prompt a warning. (Of course, if you\u2019re remediating the document, you\u2019ll want to address all of the failures, \u201cUser Verification\u201d items, and \u201cWarnings!\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oftentimes, as they say, the devil is in the details. So, we\u2019ve developed a PDF Remediation Workflow Checklist<\/a> to help you remember all of these \u201cother\u201d things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We hope this article has provided a helpful reminder of some of the details that might otherwise be overlooked during a PDF remediation project. For more information, visit our website at allyant.com<\/a> or send an email to info@allyant.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" STEP 7: OTHER TAGGING In this series of articles, we\u2019ve discussed how to identify and address all sorts of PDF accessibility issues including headings, reading order, lists, tables and metadata. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":86310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86269","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\tSet the Tab Order to follow the document structure for pages that have link and\/or form annotations.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Add the <Document> tag.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Create bookmarks to match the headings in the document.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Run an accessibility check. Test against the standards.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
CommonLook PDF will test against all of the standards<\/strong>, including prompting you to do the necessary manual checks, for complete accessibility\/compliance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCreate an accessibility report so you can show how you handled the standards and checkpoints.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n