Alternative text on Smart Art doesn't show up after export to PDF

Question

I have a Word document made from an accessible template.

In it, there is a simple organizational chart with 5 boxes.

First, I added alternative text (in Word) for the chart in a whole.

The accessibility tool in Acrobat still saw it as different elements (boxes and lines) and complained about alternative text missing.

I then added alternative text (in Word) on all the boxes, explaining their position.

None of these alternative texts are included in the export.

Does anyone have a clue?

Best regards,
Ulrika

Catherine31712483nhf4 · Answer

I have the same problem. I have marked every single extra item as decorative and provided a description for the smartart as a whole. To create the pdf I use the Acrobat toolbar in Word. Everything else comes over fine, including all other image alt text.

I ended up having to add the alt text from within Acrobat itself.

1. Open the document in Adobe.

2. Open the Reader information by selecting the Tag icon in the left menu.

3. Scroll to the image name which will probably say <Figure>.

4. Right click the name and choose Properties.

5. Add the alternate text and resave the file.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded