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Re: PDFs: Logical Reading Order and Tags

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From: Jonathan Avila
Date: Jun 1, 2016 7:12AM

> When we get a PDF generated out of InDesign the tags are usually non-HTML5-standard tags in a jumbled order.

You should look at the Role Mappings in the tags pane of Adobe Acrobat. The tag names may be non-standard but they may map to standard tag names. Use of standard tag names or names that map back to standard tag names via the role mapping would generally be required for the relevant accessibility standards for anything other than just text.

> Yet often the logical reading order is fine, or can easily be fixed using the Acrobat tool for doing so. Testing in a screen reader like JAWS or NVDA seems to yield a pass as well- the content is read in the correct order.

In Acrobat there are two ways that content can be ordered -- the logical structure tree with tags and the content panel which shows the order the content is written in the document. Generally the accessibility tools should match these two orders but there are times when they can become different. Generally most assistive technology will use the logical tag order -- but in some rare cases the content order may be used by assistive technology. It is most important that the tags panels order be correct -- but it is also important to make sure the content panel matches (except when doing so might affect the visual content). The content panel's order could possibly affect other accessibility tools such as the reflow option. It's been a while since I separated out the order between the two and tested the different issues that come up.

Jonathan

Jonathan Avila
Chief Accessibility Officer
SSB BART Group
<EMAIL REMOVED>
703.637.8957 (Office)
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