PDF / UA Remediation

PDF / UA Remediation

Understanding PDF / UA

• UA stands for universal accessibility.
• The PAC checker checks against PDF / UA standards (the checker is found at pdfus.foundation).

The PAC 2024 Checker

• PDF / UA standards and WCAG standards are in two separate tabs on the PAC checker.
• Double click on an error to get a preview of the object causing the error.
• It can also give you a screen reader preview to double-check text tagging.
• The logical structure button shows you the structure.
• The document statistics button tells you how many of each type of tag you have.
• The PDF report button generates a report to give someone proof that the document is fully remediated (separate ones for WCAG and PDF / UA).

The Preflight Panel

• Tools tab > protect and standardize > add print production tool or search for the preflight panel in the tools sidebar.
• Select from the top dropdown “PDF Standards” > click the wrench button.

Artificing Nonstructural Elements (Untagged Paths PAC Error)

• Document category on the preflight panel > “mark all non-structure elements as artifact”.

Fixing “Element Used as Root Element” Error

• Select tags and nest them inside the “document” tag. The document tag is now the root tag.

Fixing “Inappropriate Use of an Element” Error

• Tags are not allowed to be within a note element (delete empty <p> tags).
• When note and figure tags are first level under the root element, they need to be block level elements.
  • Right click note / figure tag > properties > edit attribute objects > new item > new item > key: “Placement” > value: “Block”.

Role Mapping Issues (Circular Role Mapping PAC Error)

• Circular mapping – object is mapping to itself.
• Tags pane > option button > edit role map.
• Delete item in the role mapping panel that is mapping to itself.

Fixing the “Alternative Descriptions for Annotations” Error

• Every part of the table of contents is a hyperlink, so this error might pop up for that.
• Open the preflight panel > interactive elements and properties category > create content entry for link annotations > fix button.

Adding IDs for Note Elements

• Preflight panel > document > add unique ID to note elements in tagging structure > fix button.

Fixing the “A Figure Element with No Bounding Box” Error

• It's easier to fix this issue in Access PDF.
• Acrobat instructions
  • Copy figure alt text > content pane > find container of the image > move image out of container > delete the container > save > accessibility tool > reading order panel > select the figure > hit figure button > right click > edit alternate text > paste in alt text > make sure the figure tag is in the proper spot in the tags pane.
  • Right click figure > properties > edit attribute objects > open the properties > new item > Key: “Placement”, Value: “Block”.

Embedding Fonts

• Preflight panel > document category > “embed fonts even if text is invisible” > fix
• If you find unnecessary objects in the content pane, you can delete it (deleting it from the document).

Fixing the “Table Header Cell Has No Associated Sub-cells” Error

• Header cells must have a scope attribute applied.
• Go to the table > accessibility tool > reading order > select part of the table > table editor > click / shift click on the header cells > right click > table cell properties > define scope (column or row).
• Adjust column spans as needed.
• Artifact any empty cells.

Adding the PDF / UA Entry (PDF / UA Identifier Error)

• Preflight panel > document info and metadata category > “set PDF/UA-1 entry” > fix > save.

PDF / UA Resources

• Pdfa.org – the Matterhorn protocol (explains tagging).
• Pdfa.org – PDF/US reference suite (gives examples of properly tagged files).
• Pdfa.org – tagged PDF best practice guide: syntax (covers many elements of PDF files).