Module 3: Remediating PDFs for Accessibility

[bright musical tones with gentle swoosh]

Voice Over (VO): Accessible Electronic Document Community of Practice, AED-COP.

[gentle swoosh]

VO: You are watching How to Test and Remediate PDFs for Accessibility using Adobe Acrobat DC. This is Module 3, Remediating PDFs for Accessibility. This video is one in a series showing how to make a PDF, Section 508 Conformant.

VO: In this module, we will review:

• How to fix the document's properties.
• How to add and adjust PDF tags.
• How to adjust the logical reading order.
• How to adjust the logical tab order.
• How to add alternative text.
• How to set the document's language properties for the sections of the document.

VO: Document properties.

VO: The PDF's document properties must have a descriptive filename, allow copying content for accessibility, and have a specified primary language set.

VO: If you discover that the document properties are not set properly when testing the PDF for accessibility, then do the following to fix the document's properties:

1. Select File, Properties, then Description.
2. In the Title field, add a descriptive title if the field is empty, or if the title is not useful.
3. Next, select the Initial View tab, and from the Show drop-down box, verify that document title is selected.
4. In the Security tab of the Properties window, if content copying for accessibility is set to "Not Allowed", change the security settings to "Allow Content Copying for Accessibility" by selecting a different security option from the Security Method drop-down box, or by selecting "Change Settings", and then set the security settings as needed.
5. If the document's primary language was not set properly:
   • From the Properties window, select Advanced.
   • From the Language drop-down box, select the correct language.

VO: If the primary language of the document is not supported, you may need to download a language pack from Adobe. Setting the proper document language enables screen readers to choose the correct synthesizer for reading the document. If the wrong synthesizer is chosen, the document will not read correctly.

VO: Document Contents.

If when testing the document, you discover that the document is a scanned image, you must OCR the document to create searchable text. For detailed instructions on how to OCR the PDF, go to Module 4, "Converting Scanned Documents" into Section 508 Conformant PDFs.

VO: Autotagging a PDF. If the PDF is not tagged, you can quickly tag the PDF by going to Acrobat's main menu and selecting View > Navigation Panels, then Tags. From the Tags pane, select Options, then Add Tags to Document. Although the document will be tagged, it might not be tagged correctly. The tags will need to be examined, and if any of the tags do not properly represent the document's content structure, the tag will need to be manually corrected.

VO: Improper tags can be quickly converted to a more appropriate tag by following these steps:

1. First, open the Tag Panel.
2. Next, click on the desired tag and select Properties. This will open the Object Properties window.
3. From the Type combo box, select the correct tag, and then close the window.

VO: The updated tag will appear in the Tags tree.

VO: If several document elements have been improperly tagged, it may be easier to delete the tag structure tree and use the Touch-Up Reading Order tool to manually tag the document.

1. First, navigate to the Tags panel and select the root tag called Tags.
2. Next, press the Delete key and remove all PDF tags. Once all tags have been removed, "no tags available" will appear where the PDF tags once were.
3. Then, navigate to the Order pane by selecting View > Navigation Panels, then Order.
4. From the Order pane, select Options, then Clear Page Structure, then Yes.
5. Make sure the page structure is cleared for all pages by selecting each page element in the Order pane.

VO: If all page structures are not cleared properly, newly created tags will not appear in the Tags pane.

VO: Lastly, open the Touch-Up Reading Order tool to begin manually tagging the document:

1. To access the Touch-Up Reading Order tool, in the Order pane, select Options, then Show Reading Order Panel.
2. Next, create a container around the first document element by holding down the left mouse button and dragging the mouse around the first document element that needs to be tagged.

VO: Headers, figures, tables, and form fields as well as paragraphs should all receive individual tags. Continue tagging the document until the entire document is tagged.

VO: This table demonstrates the types of tags created by each button on the Touch-Up Reading Order tool. Because this tool only creates a few basic tags, the Create Tags from Selection tool will need to be used to create more detailed tags.

• The Text button used for paragraphs and lists generates a P tag.
• The Form Field button used to indicate form field elements generates a Form tag.
• The Heading 1 button used for the title of a document generates an H1 tag.
• The Heading 2 and Heading 3 buttons used to indicate subheadings of a document generate the H2 and H3 tags.
• The Figure button used to identify images and objects generates a Figure tag.
• The Figure Captions button used for figures with captions generates a Captions tag.
• The Table button used to identify data tables generates Table, TR, TH, and TD tags.
• The Cell button used to identify a table data cell generates a TD tag.
• The Formula button used for equations in a document generates a Formula tag.
• Background button used to tag respective content and decorative images and artifacts.

VO: Using the Create Tag from Selection tool to tag document elements that cannot be tagged via the Touch-Up Reading Order tool such as block quotes, notes, and references, use the Create Tag from Selection tool.

1. First, open the Touch-Up Reading Order tool.
2. Next, navigate to the Tags pane.
3. Then, draw a container around the content you want to create a tag for.
4. After that, select the Options menu from the Tags pane and select Create Tag from Selection.
5. Lastly, select the appropriate tag type from the list of tags and select OK.

VO: Using the New Tag tool. When tagging complex content which requires a parent tag with nested tags such as lists, it may be necessary to use a combination of the New Tag tool and Create Tag from Selection tool.

VO: Follow the steps below to see how to properly use this combination of tools to create a parent tag with nested tags. For this example, we will demonstrate how to create a list of items. However, this technique can be used anytime it is necessary to create a parent tag with nested tags.

1. Begin by navigating to the Tags pane and select the tag where you want the new tag to appear. The newly created tag will appear directly beneath the selected tag.
2. Next, from the Tags pane option menu, select New Tag.
3. From the list of tags, select the desired tag. In this example, select List to create a list tag.
4. Next, use the Touch Up Reading Order panel tool to draw a container around each individual list item.
5. Then, use the Create Tag from Selection to tag each list item as a list item.
6. Lastly, in the Tags pane, select the first list item tag and then hold down the Control key to select all remaining list item tags. Once all of the list item tags have been selected, drag them down below and slightly to the right of the list tag.

VO: Manually Tagging Links. To manually tag a link, do the following:

1. Select the text that needs to be linked and tag as "Text" from the Touch Up Reading Order panel.
2. Now, select the text to be linked, right-click and create link, or choose Link from the Tools menu.
3. Select Add Edit Web or Document Link and draw a selection box around the text to be linked.
4. Create the link.
5. Select the text to be linked and then open the Tags pane.
6. Then choose Find Tag from Selection.
7. Now, change the P tag to Link.
8. Nest the Link tag inside the previous P tag and nest any following text that belongs to that same paragraph.
9. Next, select the text inside the Link tag.
10. From the Tags pane menu, select Find.
11. Then, from the Find drop-down menu, select Unmarked Links or Unmarked Annotations. Either one will work.
12. Check Search Page, choose Find Next and then choose Tag Element.

VO: Do not use Search Document to tag individual missing links or annotations. You have to select the linked text for each annotation, otherwise it will pull all the annotations or link OBJR tags at your cursor location.

VO: Remediating Data Tables. When running the Accessibility Checker to validate a data table, two errors might appear:

• The Table Header error will appear if the Data Table lacks Table Header tags
• The Table Regularity error will appear if the Data Table contains content that does not belong in the table structure, such as the caption for the table, or if Scope and Span are not set properly for the table cells

VO: When remediating Data Tables, first make sure that content that does not belong in the table structure, such as Table Title or Captions, are not tagged as part of the table. If these elements are part of the table, re-tag them as something else.

VO: Now that only proper Data Elements are tagged as Table, follow these steps to fix column and row headers, as well as Scope and Span:

1. First, open the Order pane.
2. Select Options, then Show Reading Order Panel.
3. Select the Reading Order number associated with the Data Table that needs repairing.
4. Now, from the Reading Order Panel tool, select Table Editor.
5. Right-click on each column and/or row header cell and select Cell Properties.
6. From the Cell Properties box, set column and row headers to Table Header.
7. Next, set Scope to Column Header for column header data cells, and set Scope for row header for row header data cells.
8. For column headers that also represent a row header, make sure both column header and row header are selected.
9. Next, identify any data cells that span across more than one column or row.
10. Then, right-click on the cell and select Cell Properties.
11. Set Span to the proper number of columns or rows a cell spans.

VO: Once these steps are completed, the header and regularity errors will disappear when running the Accessibility Checker.

VO: Remediating Form Field Elements. When remediating PDF Forms, remember that these steps only apply to Forms created using Adobe Acrobat Pro products.

VO: Just as important as ensuring that all Form Fields are tagged as Form, you also have to ensure that Form Fields have a descriptive tooltip and appear in a logical tab order.

VO: If, when testing the form, you discover problems related to incorrect tooltips or logical tab order, you can repair these issues by using Acrobat's Prepare Form Tool.

VO: To access the Form Field properties so that tooltips can be added or modified, do the following:

1. Go to Acrobat's Tools menu and select Prepare Form to enter Form Edit Mode.
2. Next, select the Form Field that needs a proper tooltip added.
3. Once the Form Field has been selected, right-click on the Form Field and select Properties.
4. Lastly, on the General tab, add the proper tooltip to the Tooltip field.

VO: To adjust the logical tab order for Form Field Elements:

1. While in the Form Edit Mode, select More then Show Tab Numbers, which is located on the right side toolbar.
2. Next, look at the list of Form Fields located under the Field section of the right-side toolbar.
3. Lastly, select on each Form Field that is not in the proper tab order and drag and drop them into the correct order.

VO: Deleting Empty Tags. When creating new tags or adjusting tags, from time to time an empty tag or a tag not associated with any document content may be left in the tag structure tree.

VO: Empty Tags will trigger accessibility errors when running the Accessibility Checker in Acrobat. To remove empty tags:

1. Open the Tags pane and navigate through the tag structure tree until you discover a tag that does not contain a child element.
2. Next, select the tag and press the Delete key to remove the tag from the tag structure tree.
3. If you accidentally remove the wrong tag, simply press Ctrl + Z to undo the deletion.

VO: Setting Tag Properties. Once all tags correctly represent the document structure, it may be necessary to add special properties to individual tags, such as adding alternative text to figure tags and setting a specified language for paragraph tags.

VO: Adding Alternative Text. Alternative Text is used to convey the purpose of images and objects embedded in documents. Without Alternative Text, valuable information is lost and the document may not be completely understood by users accessing the document with assistive technology.

VO: To add Alternative Text to tagged elements:

1. Select the desired tag in the tags tree and select Properties.
2. Go to the Alternative Text field located on the Touch Up Properties window and add the appropriate Alternative Text.
3. Close the window. Once the document is saved, the Alternative Text will be applied.

VO: Setting a Specified Language for a Tag. If a tag is associated with a language that is different from the primary language set in the document's properties, it will be necessary to set the correct language for the element associated with the tag in the tags properties.

1. Go to the Tags Tree and select the tag that is associated with the content that has a language that differs from the document's primary language.
2. Right-click on the tag and select Properties.
3. From the Language drop-down box, select the appropriate language.

VO: If the desired language does not appear in the list of supported languages, a language pack may need to be purchased from Adobe.

VO: Once the document has been tagged properly and all tagged properties have been set, it is time to set the document's logical reading order.

VO: Adjusting the Logical Reading Order. The logical reading order determines the order in which Assistive Technology should access the document's content.

VO: In some cases, the Content View, which presents the content of the document, and the Tags Tree, which establishes the logical reading order for Assistive Technology, are not aligned or should not be aligned. Therefore, the logical reading order needs to be adjusted to reflect the correct logical reading order.

VO: To change the reading order:

1. Navigate to Acrobat's main menu and select View > Navigation Panel > Then Order.
2. As shown here, once the order panel is displayed, numbers will appear on the document. The numbers indicate elements that can be rearranged.
3. Now, identify the first element that is out of place in the order panel and click on the box to the left of the element and then drag the element to the proper location.
4. Continue this process until all elements are in the proper order.

VO: When using the order pane to set the logical reading order, the tags in the Tags Tree will rearrange to match the order set by the order pane. Remember, it is the order of the tags in the Tags Tree that defines the proper logical reading order. And, although the tags can be rearranged in the Tags Tree, using the order panel tends to be easier in most cases.

VO: Logical Tab Order. If the PDF contains elements such as links or form fields, then it will be necessary to set the logical tab order to ensure that individuals that are using Assistive Technology can navigate between areas of the document that receive focus when using the keyboard.

1. Open the Page Thumbnails pane located on the left toolbar.
2. Next, select the first thumbnail and press Ctrl+A to select all pages.
3. Then, select Options from the Page Thumbnail pane and select Page Properties.
4. From the list of Tab Order options, select Use Document Structure.

VO: Sensory Characteristics. If the full meaning of the document cannot be understood without using sensory characteristics such as color, size, shape, and location, it will be necessary to redesign the original source file to ensure that it is not reliant on sensory characteristics and then convert the source file into a PDF so that it can be made fully accessible.

VO: Scanned Documents. If your document has been scanned, then you will need to take the additional steps to make the PDF accessible and readable by persons utilizing Assistive Technology. To learn more about how to make scanned documents accessible, proceed to Module 4, converting scanned documents into Section 508 Conformant PDFs.

VO: Thank you for watching Module 3. You are encouraged to watch the other modules in this video series and revisit modules to gain a mastery of the information provided. To learn more about Section 508, visit www.section508.gov.

VO: This video is a product of the Accessible Electronic Document Community of Practice, Chief Information Officers' Council, and the Federal Aviation Administration.