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From: Jim Homme
Date: Tue, Jan 07 2025 1:37PM
Subject: MS Word, Horizontal Graphical Lines Accessibility
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Hi,
We have Word documents that use graphical horizontal lines to separate pieces of content. JAWS says they are unlabeled shapes. When I press Control+Shift+O, they show up as objects not inline with the document. How can we make these read better for screen readers?

Thanks.

Jim


==========
Jim Homme: He, Him, His
Senior Digital Accessibility Consultant
Bender Consulting Services
412-787-8567
https://www.benderconsult.com/
Help end the shame of the stigma of mental health disabilities. https://benderleadership.org/notashamed/

From: Claire Forbes
Date: Tue, Jan 07 2025 1:41PM
Subject: Re: MS Word, Horizontal Graphical Lines Accessibility
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Hi, Jim -
Is your document staying as a Word file or will it be converted to PDF? I'm asking because you can set them to background in the PDF so JAWS wouldn't bother with them - if not, does Word give you the option to set them as decorative or give them an alt text that makes sense with the content?

From: Jim Homme
Date: Tue, Jan 07 2025 1:59PM
Subject: Re: MS Word, Horizontal Graphical Lines Accessibility
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Hi Clair,
We will be distributing the PDF. In the PDF, JAWS thinks those lines are images with alt text of "---". My personal preference is to make them disappear for more fluid reading.

Thanks.

Jim

==========
Jim Homme: He, Him, His
Senior Digital Accessibility Consultant
Bender Consulting Services
412-787-8567
https://www.benderconsult.com/
Help end the shame of the stigma of mental health disabilities. https://benderleadership.org/notashamed/

From: Claire Forbes
Date: Tue, Jan 07 2025 2:02PM
Subject: Re: MS Word, Horizontal Graphical Lines Accessibility
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I would recommend setting them to background in the PDF with the argument, I'm assuming, that they don’t contribute to the content of the document.

From: chagnon
Date: Wed, Jan 08 2025 12:22AM
Subject: Re: MS Word, Horizontal Graphical Lines Accessibility
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We have 2 solutions:

1. If you have access to the Word.docx file, then change how the horizontal lines (or rules) are created. Instead of drawing a graphical rule, set a "border" to be generated with a style, maybe a heading style or whatever formatting style is appropriate for the document.

Borders (including just a top border) and shadings defined in a style will automatically be artifacted in both the Word.docx and the exported PDF. So this eliminates the problem right in the source file and needs no further remediation.

2. If you only have the PDF, then artifact the rule.
— Select the <Figure> tag in the Tag Tree and click to expand it to show the actual "image"/rule in the yellow content-container box.
— Right-click on the image/rule and select Change Tag to Artifact. Select the default settings in the next dialog box and click OK.
— An empty <Figure> tag will remain in the Tag Tree, which you can now delete because it's empty.

FYI, the terms "background" and "decorative" used in some Adobe and Microsoft products actually mean "artifact," the formal term used in accessibility. Decorative and background are subjective loosey-goosey terms and sometimes the graphics themselves should have Alt Text, or Actual Text, or be artifacted, depending on how the graphics are used and their purpose.

—Bevi Chagnon

Bevi Chagnon | PubCom.com
Designer, Trainer, Author, Accessibility Expert
Member of the ISO committees for PDF and PDF/UA
Adobe Community Expert in the Adobe online forums

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