WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: PDF column tag

for

From: chagnon@pubcom.com
Date: Jul 25, 2022 12:09AM

You're describing the reading order of the document, and that is controlled in two areas of the PDF:

1: The primary reading order is the Tag Tree. All PDF/UA compliant assistive technologies should read (or process) the content in the order it appears in the Tags Tree. So check the tag tree.

2: The Order panel is used by some assistive technologies and it, too, should be in a logical order. Hopefully it matches the Tag Tree reading order, but that's not possible in some visual designs so make it match as closely as possible.

Learn more about the 4 reading orders in PDFs at https://pubcom.com/blog/2020_08-18_ReadingOrder/reading-orders.shtml

All of these reading orders are created based on how the original source document was created. So if you learn how to use Word, PowerPoint, and Adobe InDesign correctly, you shouldn't have reading order problems.

Reading across the columns, as Sean describes, can also be a problem with the screen reader or text-to-speech technology, not the PDF. Cheaper or older assistive technologies often can't correctly interpret a PDF correctly.

One key utility is Acrobat's built in Read Out Loud, which is an antiquated piece of crap programming. We do not recommend wasting any time using it to test PDFs for accessibility compliance — you'll only get false positives and false negatives. Test with a real screen reader such as NVDA or JAWS.

— — —
Bevi Chagnon | Designer, Accessibility Technician | <EMAIL REMOVED>
— — —
PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
consulting ' training ' development ' design ' sec. 508 services
Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes
— — —
Latest blog-newsletter – Simple Guide to Writing Alt-Text

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Murphy, Sean via WebAIM-Forum
Sent: Monday, July 25, 2022 12:47 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Cc: Murphy, Sean < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: [WebAIM] PDF column tag

All,

When a document is using newspaper column style or has content in two columns. Does PDF have a column tag? If not, how do you fix the reading order for columns so the screen reader reads column 1, then column 2, etc. If someone can provide an example of the tagging.

Currently it is being done in a Table. This document is a template created by java and we require the right tags to give to the developers. I have looked up some references and couldn't find the info.

Regards
Sean Murphy

Sean Murphy | Senior Digital System specialist (Accessibility) Telstra Digital Channels | Digital Systems
Mobile: 0405 129 739 | Desk: (02) 9866-7917

Diversity is having a seat at the table, inclusion is having a voice, and belonging is having that voice be heard

Submit an Engagement Accessibility form<https://confluence.tools.telstra.com/display/A11Y/Digital+Accessibility+Home>
Accessibility Single Source of Truth<https://confluence.tools.telstra.com/display/A11Y/Digital+Accessibility+Home>