Part 2: Tagging a Syllabus in Adobe Acrobat
Instructions
Step 3: Tagging
On a course syllabus, there is a lot of content you will need to tag. Tagging is the most important step in the accessibility process and it is hard to get perfectly. Tags are important because they provide instructions to the screen reader through code on how to read content in the correct order. If anything is out of line, you may need to restart. Our video version of this project will show you how everything will be tagged in order. For this written example, there is a table below that will show you which tags were used for each item. Many of these tags are contained within other tags and it is all explained in detail in our video version of this process.
Name of the Item | Type of Tag Needed |
|---|---|
SUNY Fredonia Logo | Figure Tag |
Course Syllabus Title | Heading Tag |
Table of Contents (text only) | Heading Level 1 Tag |
Table of Contents Items | Table of Contents Tag, Table of Contents Item Tag, Paragraph Tag, Link Tag, Link-OBJR Tag |
Section Names | Heading Level 2 or 3 Tags |
Lists | List Tag, List Item Tag, Label Tag, List Item Body Tag |
Links | Link Tag, Link-OBJR Tag |
Paragraphs | Paragraph Tag |
When all of your content is tagged, be sure to look for all of the content that has not been tagged and turn it into an artifact. This means that the screen reader will skip all of this content and just read what you tag it to.
Step 4: Accessibility Checker
You have now reached the last step of our process before testing with a screen reader. We need to use Adobe’s Accessibility Checker. The accessibility checker will scan our entire document, from the tags, to the font used, to the color contrast, and many other accessibility attributes. After it is done checking, the accessibility checker will give us a notification on what issues need to be fixed and what fulfills accessibility requirements.
Keep in mind though, that while accessibility checkers are very good, they should not be completely depended on. Think of them as a first step for testing accessibility. If you want to see if your document is completely accessible, it is recommended to test it with a screen reader. When you have all of the issues fixed in Acrobat’s Accessibility Checker, feel free to double check it using PAC 2021 and compare the results.
Afterwards, use NVDA or another screen reader to test your PDF. Everything in your PDF should be read by the screen reader in order. If anything is skipped, be sure to fix the reading order or tab order or any additional issues you may run into. Once you are done, the PDF should be fully accessible, and you can share it with your student, or other faculty that need it.