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JA_G2
JA_G2
Participant
May 15, 2026
Question

Accessibility issue with Burmese (Myanmar) – Character encoding error in Acrobat

  • May 15, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 114 views

Hello,

We are currently working on a file translated into Burmese (Myanmar) that requires accessibility remediation for screen readers.

The files are being processed in Adobe InDesign 2026. The translated text was copied from a Word file after first being pasted into Notepad to remove any potential hidden formatting or encoding characters.

The following settings and checks have already been completed:

  • A Unicode font that fully supports Burmese characters is being used.
  • World-Ready Paragraph Composer is enabled.
  • The correct language is assigned at text level.
  • Legacy Text Shaping for Adobe World-Ready Composer is enabled.
  • The file is being exported as a tagged PDF with the correct document language assigned.

Despite all these settings being correctly applied, Acrobat’s accessibility checker continues to report a character encoding error for the Burmese text.

 

Could you please advise if Burmese (Myanmar) has any known limitations with Acrobat accessibility validation, or if there are additional settings required for proper Unicode character mapping in tagged PDFs?

Thank you in advance.

    2 replies

    Joel Cherney
    Community Expert
    Joel CherneyCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 20, 2026

    For what it’s worth, Abhishek, I see this error on certain kinds of Burmese glyph, no matter what font is used. I’ve duplicated JA_G2’s results over here, and if they don’t provide the materials you’re looking for I’ll come back tomorrow and post some sample files and screenshots.

     

    I told my client (who pointed this encoding error out to me, with some agitation) and I responded that I suspected it was a false positive on Acrobat’s part; neither PAC nor CommonLook flags this error. Also I have a secondary suspicion that the absence of a /ToUnicode CMap on the embedded Burmese fonts might be why Acrobat is flagging this as an error - while other tools investigate character encoding by some other means and report nothing when Unicode Burmese shows up, correctly encoded, in a PDF. 

      Abhishek Rao
      Community Manager
      Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      May 18, 2026

      Hi ​@JA_G2,

       

      Thanks for sharing the detailed information, and I’m sorry to hear you’re running into this issue with the Burmese accessibility workflow.

      Could you please confirm the exact InDesign 2026 version you are using, such as 21.3 or another build, along with your OS details?

      Additionally, it would be very helpful if you could share the affected InDesign file or a small sample file for us to test and investigate further on our end. You can package the document using the steps here:
      https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/preflighting-files-handoff.html#package_files

      Also, kindly share a screenshot of the exact “Character Encoding” error reported in Acrobat Accessibility Checker for reference.

      If the files are confidential, please feel free to share them via DM. You may use any cloud-sharing platform such as Google Drive, Dropbox, WeTransfer, etc., and share the downloadable link with us.

       

      Looking forward to your update so we can investigate this further.

      Abhishek

      JA_G2
      JA_G2Author
      Participant
      May 25, 2026

      Hi Abhishek Rao, thank you for your response.

      We have shared the requested details, including the InDesign file and screenshots of the Acrobat issue, via direct message due to confidentiality restrictions that prevent us from posting the files publicly on the forum.

      Please let us know if you were able to review them. Also, could you please advise whether Burmese (Myanmar) has any known limitations with Acrobat accessibility validation, or if there are additional settings required for proper Unicode character mapping in tagged PDFs?

      Thank you in advance.

        Abhishek Rao
        Community Manager
        Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
        Community Manager
        May 27, 2026

        Hi ​@JA_G2,

         

        Thanks for sharing the files and details. I have received the files and was able to review them. 

        Please allow me some time to get this checked further with the product team, and I’ll keep you posted here as soon as I have an update to share.

         

        Thanks,
        Abhishek

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