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sheeke
sheeke
Participant
April 21, 2026
Answered

ALT Text not being read correctly from Canva Flyer?

  • April 21, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 40 views

The attach documents were created in Canva and pass their accessibility checker. The Mark Twain document has the alt text being read twice and the Denny document only has the logo alt text being read. Where to I begin to fix this?

Videos:

Mark Twain

Denny

    Correct answer Tariq Ahmad Dar

    ​@sheeke, 
     

    Thanks for sharing the additional details and the screenshot, which helps clarify the situation.

    For the document where alt text is being read twice, even if duplicate Figure tags are not visible in the Tags panel, this can still occur if the same content exists both as visible text and as alternate text. Screen readers will read both the actual text and the alt text, which can sound like duplication. This is common with PDFs created from third-party tools, where captions or headings match the alt text applied to images.

    Regarding the “Make Accessible” action in Acrobat, this tool rebuilds the tag structure from scratch and does not retain existing alt text. That is why your alt text was removed. In cases where a document already has partial tagging, it is generally better to manually fix the existing tags rather than use auto-tagging.

    For the second document, if the Tags panel in Acrobat shows no tags, then the PDF is not tagged and would not meet accessibility requirements under PDF standards. Some third-party tools may report a pass, but Acrobat relies on a proper tag structure for accessibility. In this case, you would need to run “Autotag Document” in Acrobat, then manually review, add alt text, and correct the reading order.

    To summarize the next steps:

    • Review whether duplicate reading is caused by visible text plus alt text, and adjust alt text if needed.
    • Avoid using “Make Accessible” if you want to preserve existing work.
    • For untagged PDFs, use Autotag Document and then manually refine tags and add alt text.

    I hope this helps clear up the behavior.

     

    Best practice: Make a copy of the document before you try auto-tagging or making any changes to the tag structure. 

    Also, have you tried the Cloud-based auto-tagging feature? 

    1. Create a copy of your document
    2. Launch Acrobat > Menu > Preferences > Accessibility > Other Accessibility options
      1. Check “Enable Cloud-based auto-tagging” for accessibility
      2. Click Ok 
      3. Relaunch Acrobat (optional)
    3. Open the document > Tools > Prepare for Accessibility 
      1. Click “Automatically tag PDF.”
      2. Once done, save the document and check. 

    1 reply

    T
    Community Manager
    Tariq Ahmad DarCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    April 24, 2026

    Hello ​@sheeke ,

    Thanks for sharing the details. Issues like this are quite common with PDFs created with design or third-party tools, as their accessibility tagging may not fully align with the PDF standards used by Acrobat.

    The issue where alt text is read twice typically occurs when the same image is tagged more than once in the tag tree, or when alt text is applied at multiple levels. You can check this in Acrobat by opening the Tags panel and looking for duplicate Figure tags or nested tags referring to the same image. Removing the duplicate tag or consolidating the alt text usually resolves the issue.

    For the document where only the logo alt text is being read, it is likely that other images are either not tagged as Figures or are incorrectly marked as artifacts. You can use the Reading Order tool in Acrobat to verify how elements are tagged and ensure all meaningful images are marked as Figures with proper alternate text.

    To begin fixing both documents:

    • Open the Tags panel and review the tag structure carefully.

    • Use the Reading Order tool to confirm correct tagging of images.

    • Edit alt text by right-clicking the Figure tag and selecting Properties.

    • Remove duplicate or incorrect tags where necessary.

    After making corrections, run the Accessibility Checker again and verify manually with a screen reader for best results.

    For more information on creating and verifying PDF accessibility, please visit this help document: https://adobe.ly/3OVsv4t


    ~Tariq

    sheeke
    sheekeAuthor
    Participant
    April 24, 2026

    I appreciate your help with this. I was not aware of the option to see the tags. I have attached the list of tags. It is only showing the correct number with no duplicates.  I tried having Adobe make the document Accessible, and it striped all of the tags and then none of the Alt Text was available unless I go back and add it.

     

    As for the document where the tags are not being read, I looked at the list of tags, and none are listed. It passed accessibility check with Canva, but yet no tags are listed.

     

    T
    Community Manager
    Tariq Ahmad DarCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
    Community Manager
    April 24, 2026

    ​@sheeke, 
     

    Thanks for sharing the additional details and the screenshot, which helps clarify the situation.

    For the document where alt text is being read twice, even if duplicate Figure tags are not visible in the Tags panel, this can still occur if the same content exists both as visible text and as alternate text. Screen readers will read both the actual text and the alt text, which can sound like duplication. This is common with PDFs created from third-party tools, where captions or headings match the alt text applied to images.

    Regarding the “Make Accessible” action in Acrobat, this tool rebuilds the tag structure from scratch and does not retain existing alt text. That is why your alt text was removed. In cases where a document already has partial tagging, it is generally better to manually fix the existing tags rather than use auto-tagging.

    For the second document, if the Tags panel in Acrobat shows no tags, then the PDF is not tagged and would not meet accessibility requirements under PDF standards. Some third-party tools may report a pass, but Acrobat relies on a proper tag structure for accessibility. In this case, you would need to run “Autotag Document” in Acrobat, then manually review, add alt text, and correct the reading order.

    To summarize the next steps:

    • Review whether duplicate reading is caused by visible text plus alt text, and adjust alt text if needed.
    • Avoid using “Make Accessible” if you want to preserve existing work.
    • For untagged PDFs, use Autotag Document and then manually refine tags and add alt text.

    I hope this helps clear up the behavior.

     

    Best practice: Make a copy of the document before you try auto-tagging or making any changes to the tag structure. 

    Also, have you tried the Cloud-based auto-tagging feature? 

    1. Create a copy of your document
    2. Launch Acrobat > Menu > Preferences > Accessibility > Other Accessibility options
      1. Check “Enable Cloud-based auto-tagging” for accessibility
      2. Click Ok 
      3. Relaunch Acrobat (optional)
    3. Open the document > Tools > Prepare for Accessibility 
      1. Click “Automatically tag PDF.”
      2. Once done, save the document and check. 
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