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Thread: Thoughts on PDF Accessibility
Number of posts in this thread: 15 (In chronological order)
From: Ramshif Richu
Date: Thu, Sep 26 2019 10:49PM
Subject: Thoughts on PDF Accessibility
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Hi all, was just wondering when going through PDF accessibility..
there has been so many ways and techniques that should make the PDF
accessible, as a newbie, would like to know what not to test when
testing PDF accessibility? anyone has any thoughts on 'What's not to
test when testing PDF documents'.
Any though will be appreciated.
From: chagnon
Date: Fri, Sep 27 2019 7:11AM
Subject: Re: Thoughts on PDF Accessibility
← Previous message | Next message →
For starters, PDF accessibility is defined by the ISO 14289-1 (PDF/UA-1)
standards so a review of them would be essential.
As yet, there isn't an official how-to guide from the PDF/UA committee (or
any other authoritative entity) on the steps to make a PDF accessible or how
to check a PDF for compliance or what to check.
However, the PDF Association released a syntax guide that can be helpful.
It's designed for programmers who write software that creates PDFs, not for
content creators and remediators, but if you glean through the programming
blah blah you'll find quite a bit of useful information on how a complaint
PDF should be tagged.
Download a copy from the PDF Association's website,
https://www.pdfa.org/resource/tagged-pdf-best-practice-guide-syntax/
We have a 12-point checklist for content creators and remediators to check
the major accessibility points of PDFs at
https://www.pubcom.com/books/bevi_cheatsheet/cheatsheet-accessdocs.shtml
There are many more nuances involved, but these are the big ones.
HHS has a good checklist at
https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/pdf/in
dex.html
--Bevi Chagnon
(US delegate to the PDF/UA ISO standards committee and member of the PDF
Association)
- - -
Bevi Chagnon, founder/CEO | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
- - -
PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
consulting . training . development . design . sec. 508 services
Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes
- - -
Latest blog-newsletter - Accessibility Tips at www.PubCom.com/blog
From: Ramshif Richu
Date: Fri, Sep 27 2019 7:31AM
Subject: Re: Thoughts on PDF Accessibility
← Previous message | Next message →
Thanks for the reply. But I am trying to understand in a testing
perspective, I assume there would be certain things which we shouldn't test
or avoid when testing PDF Accessibility, I would like to know what are
those areas, kind of limitations and or things that should be avoided when
testing PDF Accessibility.
Thanks.
On Fri, 27 Sep 2019, 6:41 pm , < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> For starters, PDF accessibility is defined by the ISO 14289-1 (PDF/UA-1)
> standards so a review of them would be essential.
>
> As yet, there isn't an official how-to guide from the PDF/UA committee (or
> any other authoritative entity) on the steps to make a PDF accessible or
> how
> to check a PDF for compliance or what to check.
>
> However, the PDF Association released a syntax guide that can be helpful.
> It's designed for programmers who write software that creates PDFs, not for
> content creators and remediators, but if you glean through the programming
> blah blah you'll find quite a bit of useful information on how a complaint
> PDF should be tagged.
>
> Download a copy from the PDF Association's website,
> https://www.pdfa.org/resource/tagged-pdf-best-practice-guide-syntax/
>
> We have a 12-point checklist for content creators and remediators to check
> the major accessibility points of PDFs at
> https://www.pubcom.com/books/bevi_cheatsheet/cheatsheet-accessdocs.shtml
> There are many more nuances involved, but these are the big ones.
>
> HHS has a good checklist at
>
> https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/pdf/in
> dex.html
> <https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/pdf/index.html>
>
> --Bevi Chagnon
> (US delegate to the PDF/UA ISO standards committee and member of the PDF
> Association)
>
> - - -
> Bevi Chagnon, founder/CEO | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> - - -
> PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
> consulting . training . development . design . sec. 508 services
> Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes
> - - -
> Latest blog-newsletter - Accessibility Tips at www.PubCom.com/blog
>
>
From: chagnon
Date: Fri, Sep 27 2019 8:11AM
Subject: Re: Thoughts on PDF Accessibility
← Previous message | Next message →
R. Richu wrote: " I assume there would be certain things which we shouldn't
test or avoid when testing PDF Accessibility, "
I don't understand why anyone would assume that!
Why would you think there's something that should be avoided or not tested
in any format...HTML, PDF, EPUB, Word?
The concept of accessibility is that the entire file is fully accessible to
everyone, regardless of which technology they use or whether they have a
disability or not.
Again, read the resources in the previous post.
- - -
Bevi Chagnon, founder/CEO | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
- - -
PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
consulting . training . development . design . sec. 508 services
Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes
- - -
Latest blog-newsletter - Accessibility Tips at www.PubCom.com/blog
From: Philip Kiff
Date: Fri, Sep 27 2019 8:14AM
Subject: Re: Thoughts on PDF Accessibility
← Previous message | Next message →
I think it may be hard for some folks to understand what kind of advice
you are seeking. Most organizations have a list of things they are
testing, not a list of things that they are NOT testing. The standards
and checklists that Bevi noted all provide good starting points for
developing your own testing processes.
I wouldn't purposely "avoid" anything or skip anything when testing PDFs.
The challenge that organizations run into more often is that they don't
have time to test all the things that they ideally would like to test.
But in that case, they are not avoiding testing things, they are just
prioritizing which items are most important. And to come up with such
priorities, the resources that Bevi has identified are a great start.
Phil.
Philip Kiff
D4K Communications
On 2019-09-27 09:31, Ramshif Richu wrote:
> Thanks for the reply. But I am trying to understand in a testing
> perspective, I assume there would be certain things which we shouldn't test
> or avoid when testing PDF Accessibility, I would like to know what are
> those areas, kind of limitations and or things that should be avoided when
> testing PDF Accessibility.
>
> Thanks.
>
> On Fri, 27 Sep 2019, 6:41 pm , < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
>> For starters, PDF accessibility is defined by the ISO 14289-1 (PDF/UA-1)
>> standards so a review of them would be essential.
>>
>> As yet, there isn't an official how-to guide from the PDF/UA committee (or
>> any other authoritative entity) on the steps to make a PDF accessible or
>> how
>> to check a PDF for compliance or what to check.
>>
>> However, the PDF Association released a syntax guide that can be helpful.
>> It's designed for programmers who write software that creates PDFs, not for
>> content creators and remediators, but if you glean through the programming
>> blah blah you'll find quite a bit of useful information on how a complaint
>> PDF should be tagged.
>>
>> Download a copy from the PDF Association's website,
>> https://www.pdfa.org/resource/tagged-pdf-best-practice-guide-syntax/
>>
>> We have a 12-point checklist for content creators and remediators to check
>> the major accessibility points of PDFs at
>> https://www.pubcom.com/books/bevi_cheatsheet/cheatsheet-accessdocs.shtml
>> There are many more nuances involved, but these are the big ones.
>>
>> HHS has a good checklist at
>>
>> https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/pdf/in
>> dex.html
>> <https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/pdf/index.html>
>>
>> --Bevi Chagnon
>> (US delegate to the PDF/UA ISO standards committee and member of the PDF
>> Association)
>>
>> - - -
>> Bevi Chagnon, founder/CEO | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>> - - -
>> PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
>> consulting . training . development . design . sec. 508 services
>> Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes
>> - - -
>> Latest blog-newsletter - Accessibility Tips at www.PubCom.com/blog
>>
>>
From: Ramshif Richu
Date: Fri, Sep 27 2019 8:15AM
Subject: Re: Thoughts on PDF Accessibility
← Previous message | Next message →
Thanks. As a tester I felt as I should know if there are any limitations to
PDF Accessibility and was curious. Hoping that the technology that we have
right now will solve all the issues related to PDF Accessibility. I
appreciate your time and effort. Thanks again
On Fri, 27 Sep 2019, 7:41 pm , < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> R. Richu wrote: " I assume there would be certain things which we shouldn't
> test or avoid when testing PDF Accessibility, "
>
> I don't understand why anyone would assume that!
> Why would you think there's something that should be avoided or not tested
> in any format...HTML, PDF, EPUB, Word?
>
> The concept of accessibility is that the entire file is fully accessible to
> everyone, regardless of which technology they use or whether they have a
> disability or not.
>
> Again, read the resources in the previous post.
>
> - - -
> Bevi Chagnon, founder/CEO | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> - - -
> PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
> consulting . training . development . design . sec. 508 services
> Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes
> - - -
> Latest blog-newsletter - Accessibility Tips at www.PubCom.com/blog
>
>
From: Karlen Communications
Date: Fri, Sep 27 2019 8:29AM
Subject: Re: Thoughts on PDF Accessibility
← Previous message | Next message →
NEVER use Read Out Loud to do testing for accessibility...or at all!
The best approach is to walk down the Tags Tree to perform three parts of a
quality assurance process:
1. Is everything in the document that needs a tag have a tag?
2. Are the tags correct for the type of content (headings, lists,
paragraphs, tables and so forth).
3. Are the Tags in a logical reading order for the content/type of document.
Additionally, if the document was scanned and needed OCR, you want to use a
screen reader like JAWS or NVDA to make sure that there are spaces between
words and that words don't have spaces between characters.
Cheers, Karen
From: Ramshif Richu
Date: Fri, Sep 27 2019 8:55AM
Subject: Re: Thoughts on PDF Accessibility
← Previous message | Next message →
Thank you for the guidance
On Fri, 27 Sep 2019, 8:00 pm Karlen Communications, <
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> NEVER use Read Out Loud to do testing for accessibility...or at all!
>
> The best approach is to walk down the Tags Tree to perform three parts of a
> quality assurance process:
>
> 1. Is everything in the document that needs a tag have a tag?
> 2. Are the tags correct for the type of content (headings, lists,
> paragraphs, tables and so forth).
> 3. Are the Tags in a logical reading order for the content/type of
> document.
>
> Additionally, if the document was scanned and needed OCR, you want to use a
> screen reader like JAWS or NVDA to make sure that there are spaces between
> words and that words don't have spaces between characters.
>
> Cheers, Karen
>
>
From: Ryan E. Benson
Date: Fri, Sep 27 2019 9:01AM
Subject: Re: Thoughts on PDF Accessibility
← Previous message | Next message →
I was the primary author of the previous version of the HHS checklist, and
an editor of the current one. We left some of the more arcane parts of the
ISO Standard off, and tweaked the language of others. All items in our
checklist must be tested against, none are optional. The answers are Yes
(as in yes, the PDF meets the standard), No (as in No the PDF doesn't
meeting the standard), or N/A (as in the PDF does not contain that
specific element. There's 7 items on our list for tables, if you know that
the PDF you are reviewing, does not contain tables, you can put n/a for
all 7 and move on instead of testing those individually. I tell people to
review the checklist before starting. While I have an advantage of being
the author, by reviewing the checklist before starting, it allows you to
effectively test for multiple things at once. For example, checking tag
order, checking if there are headings, and making sure the headings flow
correctly - like you would do with HTML. As you gain experience, things
like lists to that sweep. Now you're testing for 10-15 things at once.
--
Ryan E. Benson
On Fri, Sep 27, 2019 at 9:31 AM Ramshif Richu < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Thanks for the reply. But I am trying to understand in a testing
> perspective, I assume there would be certain things which we shouldn't test
> or avoid when testing PDF Accessibility, I would like to know what are
> those areas, kind of limitations and or things that should be avoided when
> testing PDF Accessibility.
>
> Thanks.
>
> On Fri, 27 Sep 2019, 6:41 pm , < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> > For starters, PDF accessibility is defined by the ISO 14289-1 (PDF/UA-1)
> > standards so a review of them would be essential.
> >
> > As yet, there isn't an official how-to guide from the PDF/UA committee
> (or
> > any other authoritative entity) on the steps to make a PDF accessible or
> > how
> > to check a PDF for compliance or what to check.
> >
> > However, the PDF Association released a syntax guide that can be helpful.
> > It's designed for programmers who write software that creates PDFs, not
> for
> > content creators and remediators, but if you glean through the
> programming
> > blah blah you'll find quite a bit of useful information on how a
> complaint
> > PDF should be tagged.
> >
> > Download a copy from the PDF Association's website,
> > https://www.pdfa.org/resource/tagged-pdf-best-practice-guide-syntax/
> >
> > We have a 12-point checklist for content creators and remediators to
> check
> > the major accessibility points of PDFs at
> > https://www.pubcom.com/books/bevi_cheatsheet/cheatsheet-accessdocs.shtml
> > There are many more nuances involved, but these are the big ones.
> >
> > HHS has a good checklist at
> >
> >
> https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/pdf/in
> > dex.html
> > <
> https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/pdf/index.html
> >
> >
> > --Bevi Chagnon
> > (US delegate to the PDF/UA ISO standards committee and member of the PDF
> > Association)
> >
> > - - -
> > Bevi Chagnon, founder/CEO | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> > - - -
> > PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
> > consulting . training . development . design . sec. 508 services
> > Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes
> > - - -
> > Latest blog-newsletter - Accessibility Tips at www.PubCom.com/blog
> >
> >
From: Duff Johnson
Date: Fri, Sep 27 2019 9:10AM
Subject: Re: Thoughts on PDF Accessibility
← Previous message | Next message →
Hi Ryan!
> I was the primary author of the previous version of the HHS checklist, and
> an editor of the current one. We left some of the more arcane parts of the
> ISO Standard off, and tweaked the language of others.
I was the primary editor of PDF/UA-1, and (for my sins, which are many) I'm still the ISO Project Leader for PDF/UA-2, under development.
…and I'm very interested to know (offline is fine) what aspects of the specification didn't "make the cut" in your list!
To be clear… my interest is not at all coming from a critical place - it's simply that this information would be very useful to us as we fashion PDF/UA-2.
Duff.
Duff Johnson
Independent Consultant
PDF Association Executive Director
ISO 32000 (PDF) Intl. Project Co-Leader & US Chair
ISO 14289 (PDF/UA) Intl. Project Leader & US Chair
p +1.617.283.4226
e = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
w http://duff-johnson.com
l http://www.linkedin.com/in/duffjohnson/
From: Rick Davies
Date: Fri, Sep 27 2019 1:18PM
Subject: Re: Thoughts on PDF Accessibility
← Previous message | Next message →
Hi Bevi,
That's a great post from you below, as always.
Wrt:
"HHS has a good checklist at
https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/pdf/index.html"
Is that a bad link, or am I suffering from Fridayitis? If the former, might you have a better one?
Thank you for your v. helpful post,
Rick
On 9/27/2019 2:11 PM, = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = wrote:
> For starters, PDF accessibility is defined by the ISO 14289-1 (PDF/UA-1)
> standards so a review of them would be essential.
>
> As yet, there isn't an official how-to guide from the PDF/UA committee (or
> any other authoritative entity) on the steps to make a PDF accessible or how
> to check a PDF for compliance or what to check.
>
> However, the PDF Association released a syntax guide that can be helpful.
> It's designed for programmers who write software that creates PDFs, not for
> content creators and remediators, but if you glean through the programming
> blah blah you'll find quite a bit of useful information on how a complaint
> PDF should be tagged.
>
> Download a copy from the PDF Association's website,
> https://www.pdfa.org/resource/tagged-pdf-best-practice-guide-syntax/
>
> We have a 12-point checklist for content creators and remediators to check
> the major accessibility points of PDFs at
> https://www.pubcom.com/books/bevi_cheatsheet/cheatsheet-accessdocs.shtml
> There are many more nuances involved, but these are the big ones.
>
> HHS has a good checklist at
> https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/pdf/in
> dex.html
>
> --Bevi Chagnon
> (US delegate to the PDF/UA ISO standards committee and member of the PDF
> Association)
>
> - - -
> Bevi Chagnon, founder/CEO | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> - - -
> PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
> consulting . training . development . design . sec. 508 services
> Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes
> - - -
> Latest blog-newsletter - Accessibility Tips at www.PubCom.com/blog
>
>
From: Ryan E. Benson
Date: Fri, Sep 27 2019 1:21PM
Subject: Re: Thoughts on PDF Accessibility
← Previous message | Next message →
I got a bad link too, but go to https://508.hhs.gov/, click "making files
accessible", the PDF.
--
Ryan E. Benson
On Fri, Sep 27, 2019 at 3:18 PM Rick Davies < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Hi Bevi,
>
> That's a great post from you below, as always.
>
> Wrt:
> "HHS has a good checklist at
>
> https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/pdf/index.html
> "
>
> Is that a bad link, or am I suffering from Fridayitis? If the former,
> might you have a better one?
>
> Thank you for your v. helpful post,
>
> Rick
>
> On 9/27/2019 2:11 PM, = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = wrote:
> > For starters, PDF accessibility is defined by the ISO 14289-1 (PDF/UA-1)
> > standards so a review of them would be essential.
> >
> > As yet, there isn't an official how-to guide from the PDF/UA committee
> (or
> > any other authoritative entity) on the steps to make a PDF accessible or
> how
> > to check a PDF for compliance or what to check.
> >
> > However, the PDF Association released a syntax guide that can be helpful.
> > It's designed for programmers who write software that creates PDFs, not
> for
> > content creators and remediators, but if you glean through the
> programming
> > blah blah you'll find quite a bit of useful information on how a
> complaint
> > PDF should be tagged.
> >
> > Download a copy from the PDF Association's website,
> > https://www.pdfa.org/resource/tagged-pdf-best-practice-guide-syntax/
> >
> > We have a 12-point checklist for content creators and remediators to
> check
> > the major accessibility points of PDFs at
> > https://www.pubcom.com/books/bevi_cheatsheet/cheatsheet-accessdocs.shtml
> > There are many more nuances involved, but these are the big ones.
> >
> > HHS has a good checklist at
> >
> https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/pdf/in
> > dex.html
> >
> > --Bevi Chagnon
> > (US delegate to the PDF/UA ISO standards committee and member of the PDF
> > Association)
> >
> > - - -
> > Bevi Chagnon, founder/CEO | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> > - - -
> > PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
> > consulting . training . development . design . sec. 508 services
> > Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes
> > - - -
> > Latest blog-newsletter - Accessibility Tips at www.PubCom.com/blog
> >
> >
From: William O'Donnell
Date: Fri, Sep 27 2019 2:55PM
Subject: Re: Thoughts on PDF Accessibility
← Previous message | Next message →
Forgot about Read Out Loud, good points.
Have a good day.
On 9/27/19, Karlen Communications < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> NEVER use Read Out Loud to do testing for accessibility...or at all!
>
> The best approach is to walk down the Tags Tree to perform three parts of a
> quality assurance process:
>
> 1. Is everything in the document that needs a tag have a tag?
> 2. Are the tags correct for the type of content (headings, lists,
> paragraphs, tables and so forth).
> 3. Are the Tags in a logical reading order for the content/type of
> document.
>
> Additionally, if the document was scanned and needed OCR, you want to use a
> screen reader like JAWS or NVDA to make sure that there are spaces between
> words and that words don't have spaces between characters.
>
> Cheers, Karen
>
>
From: William O'Donnell
Date: Fri, Sep 27 2019 2:57PM
Subject: Re: Thoughts on PDF Accessibility
← Previous message | Next message →
Forgot about Read Out Loud, I agree.
Have a good day. Sorry if emails are coming across twice, internet is bad here.
On 9/27/19, Karlen Communications < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> NEVER use Read Out Loud to do testing for accessibility...or at all!
>
> The best approach is to walk down the Tags Tree to perform three parts of a
> quality assurance process:
>
> 1. Is everything in the document that needs a tag have a tag?
> 2. Are the tags correct for the type of content (headings, lists,
> paragraphs, tables and so forth).
> 3. Are the Tags in a logical reading order for the content/type of
> document.
>
> Additionally, if the document was scanned and needed OCR, you want to use a
> screen reader like JAWS or NVDA to make sure that there are spaces between
> words and that words don't have spaces between characters.
>
> Cheers, Karen
>
>
From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Fri, Sep 27 2019 5:40PM
Subject: Re: Thoughts on PDF Accessibility
← Previous message | No next message
I guess there are a few things in WCAG that do not apply to PDF files,
keyboard focus outline (2.4.7) and maybe text resizing (1.4.4) come to
mind. I'm honestly not sure if there's a way to customize focus
outline or resizing in PDf files (well, assuming the PDF file is real
text, not an image of text of course).
Then there are interaction specific criteria like change of context on
focus or on state change (3.2.1 and 3.2.2) which I'm not sure would
apply to PDFs, fortunately I've managed to stick to the more
traditional and static ones, not testing the limit of what's
technically possible in the PDF format.
With forms, I don't know if there is a PDF equivalent of
aria-describedby to assign a tag as the accessible description for
another focusable tag (e.g. error message or tooltip scenarios).
On 9/27/19, William O'Donnell < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Forgot about Read Out Loud, I agree.
> Have a good day. Sorry if emails are coming across twice, internet is bad
> here.
>
>
> On 9/27/19, Karlen Communications < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>> NEVER use Read Out Loud to do testing for accessibility...or at all!
>>
>> The best approach is to walk down the Tags Tree to perform three parts of
>> a
>> quality assurance process:
>>
>> 1. Is everything in the document that needs a tag have a tag?
>> 2. Are the tags correct for the type of content (headings, lists,
>> paragraphs, tables and so forth).
>> 3. Are the Tags in a logical reading order for the content/type of
>> document.
>>
>> Additionally, if the document was scanned and needed OCR, you want to use
>> a
>> screen reader like JAWS or NVDA to make sure that there are spaces
>> between
>> words and that words don't have spaces between characters.
>>
>> Cheers, Karen
>>
>>