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Re: More problems with tables, PDF, and screen readers

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From: chagnon@pubcom.com
Date: Apr 4, 2018 8:30AM

Hi Glenn,

Karen and Duff gave excellent advice about the other issues in your post.

Here are my comments about the use of Save As PDF without having Acrobat or Adobe PDF Maker installed.

First, there is a big difference in how various software programs convert a source document (like a Word file) into a PDF. The key concept here is that a utility, script, program, etc., must convert or translate the original file into something else. Some software do a better job of that.

Second, a regular PDF is different from one that is accessible per the PDF/UA-1 standard. In order to get an accessible PDF from a Word document, the conversion program must be able to meet the current PDF/UA-1 requirements, not just the requirements of a regular PDF. Again, some programs do a better job, especially in keeping up to date with the latest standards, requirements and industry recommendations.

I believe that the File / Save As / PDF utility that ships with Word is Microsoft's conversion utility and I have not been satisfied with it for most documents that my firm has tested. Simple documents with just text and headings seem to be fine, but not those with more complex items like tables.

I just took my Word file for testing tables and exported it 2 ways; one through Adobe Acrobat PDF Maker plug-in and the other via MS Word's Save As PDF utility.

— The Acrobat PDF Maker version was perfect; one table tag holding a 3-page table with both Row and Column Header TH tags.

— The Word Save As PDF version had the problem you're seeing; 3 separate table tags, one on each page. Each table did have both the Row and Column Header TH Tags.

So I think the problem you're seeing in your files is that the Word Save As PDF utility isn't doing the job right.

For those still reading, similar accessibility "shortcomings" happen when the Print to PDF option is used.

Four options:

1. Continue to use your current Save As PDF method and then manually fix the PDF in Acrobat Pro DC or another PDF remediation program.

2. Purchase Adobe Acrobat Pro DC and let it install the PDF Maker utility into your Word ribbon. Then use the Acrobat ribbon to export compliant PDFs from Word.

3. Purchase CommonLook Office Global Access, which does the same job as Acrobat Pro and makes compliant PDFs from Word.

4. Complain to Microsoft about its poor Save As PDF utility. If users don't complain to the software companies, we'll never get the tools we need to make our ICT accessible. The URL to submit feature requests for all Microsoft products is at https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/o365guy/2018/01/02/submit-product-feedback-or-feature-requests-to-microsofts-virtual-suggestion-boxes/

For Word, it's at https://word.uservoice.com/

Hope this helps you solve the mystery.
—Bevi

— — —
Bevi Chagnon, founder/CEO | <EMAIL REMOVED>
— — —
PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
consulting ' training ' development ' design ' sec. 508 services
— — —


-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of glen walker
Sent: Tuesday, April 3, 2018 11:53 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] More problems with tables, PDF, and screen readers

I do have the latest Office. I don't use PDF Maker (that I know of). From Word, I just do a Save As and choose PDF as the file type. I looked in Word > Options > Add-ins (and COM Add-ins) and there aren't any Adobe plugins. I don't have Acrobat.

And yes, the table in my word document has a header row and row properties checked.

But while I'm at it, is there a way to make row headers in a table? Column headers are easy. But I want the first column in my table to serve as the row headers so that when I navigate vertically through a column, I'll hear the row header before the cell value. I know I can add a bookmark within Word itself, and that seems to work when reading the document with word, but if I save as PDF, the row header information isn't saved. I want something like <th scope='row'> in my resulting PDF (or resulting HTML).


On Tue, Apr 3, 2018 at 8:25 PM, < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Glen Walker wrote:
> <Quote> We've run into the Acrobat setting for large documents before
> but it sounded like this was a separate issue. I made a simple table
> in Word that spanned several pages. When I saved as PDF, the
> resulting tagged PDF had a <table> tag on every page with its own
> <thead> and <tbody>, so there was literally one table per page. That
> sounds like a bug in Word. </Quote>
>
> It was a bug in the Word-to-PDF conversion, but has been corrected
> with the latest versions of Word and the Acrobat plug-in for Office, PDF Maker.
> Sounds like one or both of your software programs is at least a year
> out-of-date.
>
> Solution: Update both software programs. Current versions are:
> Word 2016 version 1803 or Word 365
> Adobe Acrobat Pro DC version 2018.011.2038
> Adobe PDF Maker version 18 (the plug-in is installed with
> Acrobat)
>
> There's a slight chance some operator error slipped into your file
> too, so make sure the following is done in the Word file:
>
> 1. Select the header row and ensure that the Header Row check box is
> selected in the Table/Design ribbon.
>
> 2. With header row selected, also go to Table Properties / Row / and
> check Repeat as header row at the top of each page.
>
> With the right software and the right settings in Word, you'll get a
> perfect table. Well, other than right now we get only 1 row
> automatically tagged as the header, but understand that Microsoft is
> aware of that shortcoming and we should be able to set multiple rows
> as repeating headers in the future.
>
> — — —
> Bevi Chagnon, founder/CEO | <EMAIL REMOVED> — — —
> PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing consulting '
> training ' development ' design ' sec. 508 services — — —
>
> > > archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> >