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Re: Serious bugs in latest Acrobat update: DO NOT UPDATE

for

From: Karen McCall
Date: Sep 22, 2021 12:48PM

Unfortunately all of the PDF tools follow Adobe so changing to another tool won't "solve" the lack of attention or concerns about accessibility.

LOL, this is why I've renamed the <Span> as the <Spam> tag...like the luncheon meat, it turns up in everything! Microsoft is also liberally sprinkling spam throughout the tags tree.

...and lets not forget the <Artifact> tag we then have to artifact.

...and I have to try and read through this on a regular basis.

BTW, I've added another sample on my Digital Access versus Accessibility page:
https://www.karlencommunications.com/AccessVersusAccessibility.htm

It is sample 6 and demonstrates the double accessibility barrier we encounter when forced to read PDF through a browser instead of our PDF reader of choice.

Cheers, Karen


-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Laura Roberts
Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2021 2:39 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Serious bugs in latest Acrobat update: DO NOT UPDATE

I've been noticing this issue longer than a week...

Hey, if you combine it with the InDesign bug where it adds a million span tags to Acrobat PDFs, it'll make for fun times remediating. Span pathpathpathpath span lol

Unfortunately, the software on the work station I use is automatically updated.

Thanks Bevi. Hopefully you'll get the devs' attention. I voted.

On Wed, Sep 22, 2021, 2:31 PM Elizabeth Thomas < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

> Aaahhh! That's a disaster! I definitely appreciate the heads up.
>
> Is this update a problem in both the Mac version and the Windows version?
>
> -Elizabeth Thomas
> CPACC, ADA
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Sep 22, 2021, at 11:56 AM, <EMAIL REMOVED> wrote:
> >
> > Last week, Adobe updated Acrobat and with it, the PDF Maker plug-in
> > for
> MS
> > Office that is used to export PDFs from Word and other office apps
> > on Windows.
> >
> > Several key bugs in PDF Maker have shown up since, namely:
> >
> > * Alt-text added in Word is dropped in the exported PDF and
> replaced
> > with code gibberish. (Yes, all the Alt-text you worked hard on is
> > gone!)
> >
> > * Every frigging line, border, and background fill on table cells,
> > text boxes, paragraph borders, and hyperlinks is tagged in the Tag
> > Tree
> with
> > <P>PathPathPathPathPathPath.one "path" for each border on each cell
> > in a table.
> >
> > * And there's no way to roll back to the previous version of
> Acrobat
> > and recover your tools. Once updated, you are S O L.
> >
> > Three actions to take:
> >
> > 1. Vote to fix these bugs on Adobe's UserVoice website.
> > If you can, please also add a comment about how accessibility is
> > required for you and your organization by your country's and state's laws.
> (Adobe's
> > staff don't understand these laws about civil rights and equal
> > access to
> > information.) We need a few hundred votes on this page for Adobe to
> > pay attention to the problem, so spread this message to your colleagues.
> > The website is at
> >
> https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Facrob
> at.uservoice.com%2Fforums%2F590923-acrobat-for-windows-and-mac%2Fsugg&
> amp;data%7C01%7C%7C73bb86a49cbe4af7c83a08d97df83b34%7C84df9e7fe9f64
> 0afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637679327359362963%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb
> 3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%
> 7C1000&amp;sdata=mWmI5Qet8uBKU%2F%2FB027ZXogsAyvf8UkDVQYKPGMQ9Cc%3D&am
> p;reserved=0
> > estions/44183082-accessibility-errors-with-pdf-maker-update-sept-20
> >
> > 2. Until this is fixed, use Microsoft's built-in utility to export
> > accessible tagged PDFs, and skip the Acrobat Ribbon (which is the
> > Adobe
> PDF
> > Maker plug-in) altogether. I'll have a blog / tutorial on this by
> > the weekend, but in the meantime, here are the quick instructions:
> >
> > a. Make an accessible Word document as usual, with styles,
> Alt-text,
> > etc.
> >
> > b. File / Save As / and then choose PDF in the File Type field.
> This
> > triggers Microsoft's built-in export utility, not Adobe's.
> >
> > c. Set your options, file location, and file name.
> >
> > 3. And don't upgrade to the latest version of Acrobat. The version
> > that is buggy (well, more than usual) is 2021.007.XXXX, and the
> > versions
> of
> > PDF Maker that are installed with it are PDF Maker 21 Library
> > 21.7.123
> and
> > Library 21.7.112.
> >
> >
> >
> > - - -
> >
> > Bevi Chagnon | Designer, Accessibility Technician |
> > <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> >
> > - - -
> >
> > PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
> >
> > consulting . training . development . design . sec. 508 services
> >
> > Upcoming classes at
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