508 Accessibility Character Encoding Error

FYI, encoding errors during accessibility checks usualy to go all the way back to the source document and how it was exported to PDF.

In your case with ESRI ARC/GIS files, the most likely cause is that the PDF exported from ESRI either:

1. Doesn't use a Unicode/OpenType font for some of the file's glphs/characters, and/or
2. Didn't have the fonts enbedded into the PDF as it was created.

Two requirements of the PDF/UA standard are that the files use Unicode (OpenType) fonts so that each unique glyph can be correctly interpreted by the AT, and the fonts must be embedded into the PDF file.

Go back to the source ESRI file (or the Mapping Group folks). How are they generating the ESRI PDF? It's been a while since I had my fingers in ESRI's products, so I can't give you specific instructions. But the best method of making cross-media-publishing-compliant PDFs from any source file is to use either File / Export, FIle / Save As, or a plug-in such as PDF Maker for the MS Office suite (the Acrobat Ribbon bar).

In ESRI's Export settings, look for the option to Embed All Fonts (subsetted) so that the font glyphs get embedded into the PDF, and, therefore, pass the accessibility checkers. As you combine the ESRI PDF into your Word document or working PDF, the fonts should come along for the ride and make it in tact through to the final, accessible PDF.

But, ESRI could be using their own proprietary fonts. Years back, their fonts were not Unicode and many of the map symbols used in files were compliant and caused encoding errors. But I don't know whether ESRI has changed its font usage. See if your Mapping Group can confirm that:

1. Unicode fonts are used for all map text and symbols.
2. The correct Unicode gylphs are used for symbols. View the Unicode codepoint charts at http://www.unicode.org/charts/ 

Lastly, the best method to combine 2 PDFs and maintain accessibility is to first check the accessibility of each PDF. When they both are compliant, then use Insert Page from File to bring the ESRI PDF into your main working PDF. You can also drag/drop between the Pages Panels as well. This should bring all of the tags, reading orders, and encoded fonts into your working destination PDF.

FYI, File / Print and choosing a virual PDF printer is always the worst method, as it does not encode the resulting PDF to be used for accessibility or any other publishing technology. The PDF's code is strictly for printing on an office printer or professional printing press. That type of PDF will always fail in accessibility tests and is very difficult to correct.

Hope this helps.

Hi, 
Thanks for reporting the issue to us. Please share the pdf via a weblink so that we can see identify the problem with the pdf and provide an appropriate solution to you.

Thanks

Rachit

Hi Laura, you might try testing with PAC3. In my experience it does a better - though not perfect - job of isolating these errors. It highlights the first character encoding culprit, so I can fix it (usually by deleting the faulty character unless it is needed in the reading order). I have to retest to find the next culprit, then the next, and so on. So - not perfect but for a short document or one with just a handful of these errors it works.