Acrobat Chapter 3: Converting to Tagged PDF
- Daniel LaGrow
Instructions
Section 3.1: Saving as Tagged PDF
When you create a document with accessibility in mind, you can convert it to a tagged PDF. This is considered a type of automatic tagging because you have already applied accessibility features in the document. The features will carry over during conversion. Using this type of automatic tagging is good and will make your life easier. However, for this series, we will be doing everything manually. This is because the automatic tagging feature is prone to making mistakes. If there are mistakes in the tags, you may need to tag the content manually.
To save your Word Document as a Tagged PDF with automatic tags,
Click on the File Tab and click Save as Adobe PDF.
In the Save As box, go to the Options Box at the bottom.
In the Acrobat PDFMaker, check Enable Accessibility and Reflow with tagged Adobe PDF and Convert Word Headings to Bookmarks. Keep in mind that if you do this, content will be automatically tagged, but some tags may be done incorrectly and need manual corrections. Be very careful if you use this option since Acrobat can be glitchy at times. This series is meant to show you how to do these processes manually. If you have trouble tagging certain items, the best thing to do is delete the PDF, and reupload the document to Acrobat and uncheck this option.
Section 3.2: Bookmarks
When converting a document to PDF from most desktop publishing programs, including Word, bookmarks are typically generated automatically. These bookmarks are derived from the document's heading structure. To ensure they work properly, the headings must be actual styled headings, not just large, bold text. Bookmarks function as links and are displayed in the Bookmarks sidebar in Acrobat, offering a convenient way to navigate between sections. This feature is particularly useful in lengthy documents, allowing users to quickly jump to specific sections. When saving a Word file as a PDF, the option to include bookmarks is selected by default, as shown above, so it’s best to leave it enabled.
Section 3.3: Automated Tagging
Now you have to tag your document to allow screen readers to read it properly. There are two ways to tag your document, you can tag it automatically or do it yourself. To Tag Automatically,
Click on the All Tools Tab.
Click on the “Prepare for Accessibility” Tool.
With the Accessibility Tool open, click Automatically Tag PDF
The Accessibility Tags will appear on the right side of your screen. Remember, the software can make mistakes, so be sure to check every tag for the correct label. Also be sure it is in the correct spot, and does not disrupt the reading order. If you see tags out of order, you can click on each tag and drag them to their correct place. For example, everything that you want read after your heading 2 tags, below and not inside your heading 2 tag. Examples on how to do this will be demonstrated in other sections of this course.
Section 3.4: Manual Tags
Tags are used to identify a contents value in a document so it can be read by assistive technology. By tagging an object, we are assigning a hierarchical value to an element. For example: A Heading Level 1 or <H1> tag is used for the main heading or title of the document. A Table of Contents or <TOC> tag is used for a Table of Contents. Heading Level 2 or <H2> tags are usually for the first heading or section of the document, any sections within it would be given a Heading Level 3 or <H3> tag. Paragraph or <p> are always assigned to the paragraphs within the sections and in between, not inside the Heading Level tags.
To create a tag, click the Accessibility Tag pane.
Right click No Tags Available and click Create Tag Root. Now your first tag will appear.
Click on the Options Menu and click New Tag.
The New Tag box will appear and in the type dropdown menu, we can choose the type of tag we want. In our example we will create a tag for our document by selecting the Document Tag. Then we will tag the title of our document and create a Heading or <H1> tag.
Once the Heading tag is visible, click and drag it to be inside the Document tag.
Now, highlight your title text and right click on your Heading tag and click on Create Tag from Selection.
Now your title is tagged and will be read by a screen reader. There are many different types of tags Acrobat can make. The process of making them all are similar with a few exceptions. We will cover that in a later section.
Section 3.5: Beware Untagged PDF Conversions
There are many ways to save as a PDF that produce inaccessible, untagged results. Some ways include,
Scanning a document produces a single image with no real, searchable text.
Using Print, Save as PDF on a web page or within an authoring software program produces real text. However, it does not produce tags.
Various options within Acrobat produce untagged PDFs. Examples include create PDF from Scanner, Screenshot, Web Page, and Clipboard.
Starting with one of these options is okay. But keep in mind it will take a lot more time and effort to then produce an accessible result.
Section 3.6: OCR/Scanned PDFs
PDF documents that are created by scanning a paper document are often completely inaccessible to people using screen readers. This is because they do not contain any searchable text. To make a scanned document an accessible PDF, we need to use an Optical Character Recognition tool or OCR. This will convert the image of text to actual, searchable text that can be read by assistive technologies.
Acrobat Pro DC has a built-in OCR Text Recognition tool.
Go to the All Tools Tab.
Click Add Scan & OCR.
Click Recognize Text, then In this file., then click the Recognize Button. Click on “In this file” and click the blue Recognize Text button.
After you do this, do the standard tagging process and adjust the Reading Order and Tab Order as needed.