Screen Reader Not Reading Figure Alt Text

Thanks for reaching out and explaining the issue so clearly. It sounds like your document is well-tagged, but the screen reader isn’t picking up the alternate text from the figures. Let’s go through a few checks and fixes that often resolve this:

Let us try the following:

1. Verify Tag Type and Structure

• Open the Tags panel (View > Show/Hide > Navigation Panes > Tags).

• Make sure each image is tagged as a <Figure> and not as <P> or marked as an Artifact.

• Right-click the figure tag → Properties → ensure the Alternate Text field is filled correctly. Avoid extra spaces or special characters at the end.

2. Confirm Reading Order Tool Is Not Overriding Tags

• In the Reading Order tool, ensure the image regions are set as “Figure” and not “Background” or “Text”.

• Acrobat’s Read Out Loud feature doesn’t always follow the accessibility tag order; if you’re testing with it, try a full screen reader like NVDA or JAWS for accurate results.

3. Run an Accessibility Check

• Go to Tools > Accessibility > Full Check → expand “Alternate Text” and ensure no errors appear for figures.

• If issues are found, right-click and select Fix (where available), then retest with your screen reader.

4. Rebuild or Refresh the Tag Tree (if issue persists)

• Sometimes tags get corrupted during export or manual editing.

• You can remove and re-create figure tags: right-click the image in the Content panel → Create Tag from Selection → choose Figure, then reapply alternate text.

If the Issue Continues

Please share these details to help us reproduce and verify:

• Acrobat version (e.g., Acrobat Pro 2025.001.20756)

• The screen reader and version (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver, etc.)

• Whether it’s specific to this file or all tagged PDFs

• A sample copy of the affected file (if possible)

This will help confirm whether it’s file-specific or a potential reading-order interpretation issue with your screen reader.

Thanks again for ensuring your document is accessible — once we know your setup, we’ll help you get this resolved.

Best regards,
Tariq | Adobe Community Team