Document Lacks a Language Specification

Error:
All of the text in this document lacks a language specification.

Fix:

1. In the menu bar, go to File>Document Properties...
2. Click on the Advanced tab.
3. Under the Reading Options section, click on the dropdown menu for Language and select "English US".
4. Click OK to close the Document Properties dialog box.
5. Save the Document.
   

Abbrevations

Tag:
<abbr>

HTML code:
<abbr title="Cascading Style Sheet">CSS</abbr>

CSS code:
abbr[title] {border-bottom: 1px dotted #999;}
abbr[title]:hover {cursor:help;}

Meaning:
All <abbr> tags will have a bottom dotted line and when hovered over the cursor will change to a question mark and the title will show.

Exampe:
CSS

Abbreviations and Numbers that Begin with 0

Problem:

• Some Abbreviations are read as real words. Example: ACT and SAT.
• Any number that begins with zero (0). Sometimes the zero gets ignored by the Screen Reader. Example: NSU's Financial Title IV code is 003161 and the Screen Reader reads it to be 3,161.

Solution:
Place a tag within the parent tag that has the problem child.

1. In the Tag Panel, select the tag with the Abbreviation or Number in it.
2. Go to Option>New Tag. From the dropdown menu select 'Span'.
3. Select the new Span tag.
4. Using the TouchUp Reading Tool highlight the Abbreviation or Number in the document.
5. Then go back to the Tag Panel and click on Option>Create Tag from Selection...
6. With problem Abbreviation or Number in the span tag, click on Option>Properties...
7. In the 'Actual Text' section type the Abbreviation or Number with one space in between each letter. Example: ACT is A C T, 003161 is 0 0 3 1 6 1. This cause the Screen Reader to say each letter or number.
   

Inaccessible Link

Error:
Inaccessible Link

Fix:

1. In the Tag Panel go to Options>Find...
2. Find: Unmarked Links
3. When link is found click "Tag Element" and tag it as "Link" in the Type dropdown menu, then click OK.
   
4. After doing this you might need to move the new link tag in the Tag Panel to the proper place.
   

Full Page Borders Make the PDF a Figure When Adding Tags

Problem:
When adding tags to and untagged PDF that has a border around the whole document it creates a figure tag for the whole document.

Solution:

(before doing these steps the document must not be tagged)

1. Select the border with the TouchUp Object Tool.
2. Then Cut the border to remove it. In the menu bar, select Edit>Cut.
3. Then from the menu bar, select Advanced>Accessibility>Add Tags to Document.
4. Then Paste the border back (if needed). In the menu bar, select Edit>Paste.
5. Using the TouchUp Object Tool, right-click (windows) or apple+click (mac) the border to get the pop-up menu and select Create Artifact...so the Screen Reader will ignore it. Zoom in, if you are having a hard time clicking on the border.
   

Apostrophe Problems

Problem:
Apostrophes are being read wrong.

Solution:
Change the Apostrophe to an Artifact so that the Screen Reader will ingore it.

1. Your document must be tagged first.
   
2. In the Tags Panel click the tag with the Apostrophe in it.
3. Then using the 'TouchUp Reading Order Tool", select the Apostrophe in the document.
4. With the Apostrophe selected, go to the Tags Panel and click on Options>Create Tag from Selection. This will cause the Apostrophe to be singled out from the rest of the tag.
   
5. With the Apostrophe selected in the Tags Panel, click on Options>Change Tag to Artifact. This will cause the Apostrophe to be ignored by the Screen Reader.
   

Replacing pages removes tags on a tagged PDF

Problem:
When replacing a page or pages in a PDF with an already tagged PDF, it does not retain the tags.

Solution:
I found out that if you use the Document>Insert Pages... feature instead of the Document>Replace pages... feature that it will retain the tags. So just insert the new page after the page you want to replace and then delete the old page.

Prep the Original Document

If you are having problems making a PDF accessible in Adobe Acrobat Professional, revert back to the original document from which the PDF was created from.

If possible, tag the original document before you convert it to a PDF.

If the original document's software has a tagging feature, tag the document before converting to a PDF.

Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional comes with a plug-in for Microsoft Office(Word, Excels, and Access) that tags the document as you convert it to PDF. This feature only works on Windows not Macintosh.


If using InDesign CS2 and up, follow these steps

1. Go to View>Structure>Show Structure.
2. In the Structure panel, click on the arrow at the top and click on "Add Untagged Items". Now everything is tagged

But you might have to manually reorder some of the tags around and tag them as (headers, paragraphs, figures, etc.) using the Tag Panel found at Windows>Tags. I am not fully an expert at tagging in InDesign yet, but I will update this post when I have time to figure it out. So far this is a start to getting it tagged.

Sometimes Acrobat Professional will have problems tagging a PDF when the letter-spacing is increased or not set.


Solution:

Open the original document and highlight all the text and set the kerning/letter-spacing to zero. If kerning/letter-spacing is applied to a specific text because of styling reasons skip that text and continue with the rest of the document. Then save as a PDF again.

Sometimes when there is a hyphen at the end of sentence Acrobat Professional reads the word as two separate words.

Solution:

Open the original document and remove hyphens at the end of the lines if possible. And then save as a PDF again.

Or edit the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Standard/Professional using the Tools>Advanced Editing>Touchup Text tool.