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xxxxmintsa
xxxxmintsa
Participating Frequently
March 9, 2022
Question

PDF remediation - should data inside Table header and data cells be tagged as <p>

  • March 9, 2022
  • 1 reply
  • 2619 views

Hi there

I created document with many tables in InDesign.

My table is tagged properly with <TH> and <TD> cells.

Inside each cell, the text is tagged a <P>

 

In InDesign, I exported paragraphy styles as 'automatic' - I didn't assign a P to the styles.

 

Does it matter that the data are <p> iniside <td>?

If it does, what do I do so that this does not happen?

Thank you.

1 reply

Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
Legend
March 9, 2022

It's absolutely correct to have <P> as well as other structure elements (aka tags) in <TD> and <TH> cells. In fact, it can help some AT users better understand the content. Some of the acceptable tags are:

  • <P>
  • <Hx> headings
  • <Link>
  • <Form>
  • <L> and its sub-tags, LI, Lbl, LBody
  • <Figure>
  • <Formula>
  • <Note>

 

—Bevi

US Delegate to the ISO Committees for PDF and PDF/UA

 

|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bevi Chagnon &nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp;Designer, Trainer, &amp; Technologist for Accessible Documents ||&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;PubCom |&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Classes &amp; Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs &amp; MS Office |
    xxxxmintsa
    xxxxmintsaAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    March 10, 2022

    Thankyou.

    It's just that I've seen it exported sometimes with no tags inside the TD and TH.

    I'll carry one then.

    Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
    Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
    Legend
    March 10, 2022

    From memory, I don't recall the PDF standards specifying that <TH> and <TD> cells must have sub-tags in them, so I think a table can be built either way. (And I don't have time to search through 1200 pages of ISO standards to devine its tea leaves on this!)

     

    As an accessibility specialist, I recommend using the standard tags listed above inside table cells because through our testing, we know that some assistive technologies (not all) will use the tags and that can provide a better experience for the end user. Which is what accessibility is all about...the end user.

     

    It probably won't make much difference if the table is only for data, such as rows and columns of numbers. But if the table has text in it, multiple paragraphs or lists in one cell, or other common text elements, then the sub-tags can be very helpful.

     

    There's a free guide on PDF/UA tag syntax available from the PDF Association (the same folks that write the PDF and PDF/UA standards via the ISO). You might find it helpful for this type of "deep" issue. https://www.pdfa.org/resource/tagged-pdf-best-practice-guide-syntax/

     

    |&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bevi Chagnon &nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp;Designer, Trainer, &amp; Technologist for Accessible Documents ||&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;PubCom |&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Classes &amp; Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs &amp; MS Office |
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