Advanced Accessibility in InDesign

Advanced Accessibility in InDesign

Working With Merged Table Cells

  • InDesign properly applies column / row spans when cells are merged.

Working With Table Headers

  • Type tool > click left side of row to select > table menu > convert rows > to header.
  • If it continues over multiple pages, the header row duplicates over each page.
    • In Acrobat, select the body text of the second page and put it with the body text of the first page.
    • This prevents the header from being read a second time or a footer being read before reaching the end of the table.
    • Artifact and delete the extra header / footer(s).
  • InDesign always puts tables in a <p> tag.
    • Move the table out of <p> and delete <p>.

Getting Creative with Bullets and Numbers

  • If assets are being used instead of actual numbering, add actual numbering hidden as small text that blends in with the background.
    • This way you keep the visual aspect but have the tagging of a numbered list.
    • Make sure to artifact the visual aspects being used instead of numbering.

Adding Alt Text for Hyperlinks

  • If you want the full link text but it's really long, go to Bitly and it will shorten the hyperlink for you.
  • Depending on the context, use the title of the webpage as the alt text.

Adding Form Fields in InDesign

  • Lay out the form fields before adding in the actual frames.
  • Unassigned frame > draw frame > fill: none > window menu > interactive > buttons and forms > type dropdown: “text field” > add name and description to the form field > copy field to all parts (rename and add new descriptions to each new copy).
  • Use the buttons and forms panel to add in check boxes and radio buttons.

Adding Form Fields in Tables

  • Hit esc to highlight a cell > table menu > convert cell to graphic cell > select cell > copy it > cut it > select all cells > right click > window > type and tables > table > text insets: “0” > paste the graphic frame back into each individual cell > convert them to text fields.

Defining Tab Order for Form Fields in InDesign

  • Object menu > interactive > set tab order > adjust the order by selecting tabs and using the move up / move down buttons.
  • When exporting a form use the PDF Interactive option.

Working With InDesign-Drawn Objects

  • There are text frames, graphic frames, and unassigned frames.
  • To change frame types: select > object menu > content.
  • Graphic and text frames get tagged as paths.
    • Untagged paths lead to an accessibility error.
  • When converted, unassigned frames automatically get artifacted (avoiding errors).
  • In InDesign, use unassigned frames for decorative assets.
  • For ease of use, go to preferences and uncheck “type tool converts frames to text frames”.
  • You can add alt text to objects in InDesign by selecting the object > object menu > object export options  > alt text > alt text source: custom.
  • If you add alt text to an object with an unassigned frame, it gets marked as a figure.
    • This also works on grouped objects within an unassigned frame.

Text Effects and Accessibility

  • When a text effect is used, it creates two span tags, meaning a screen reader will read it twice.
  • Go into the tags tree and artifact one of them to fix this.

Helpful Scrips for Accessibility

  • Gilbertconsulting.com/scripts (“check document for accessibility” script).
  • Window menu > utilities > scripts >  right click user folder > reveal in explorer / finder > copy scripts into the folder.
  • This script reports potential issues to you.
  • More scripts can be found at accessibilityscripts.com/shop.

The MadeToTag Plugin

  • The MadeToTag plugin shortens the amount of work needed after converting your file to PDF.
  • It simplifies and leads you through the different processes.
  • It is found on axaio.com.
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