508 - Table Editor won't let me repeat header cell IDs within the same file

[Lydia23284880jo7m]

I'm editing a document for 508 compliance (originally MS Word doc, now a PDF), which contains a number of small tables. One table in particular had a number of formatting errors in it, so I fixed them in the Word doc, saved a new PDF, and then inserted the new version of the specific pages with the table.

I had started tagging the table before I noticed these errors, including labeling the TH cells with their Header Cell IDs. When I try to add the Header Cell IDs again, I get this error message: "The element ID already exists in the document's structure hierarchy. Please enter a unique ID." I also encountered this message when two separate tables used the same header.

Currently I'm using a workaround where I change a letter from uppercase to lowercase, or add a space onto the end, but I would rather not have to worry about what I'll do if I have to re-edit this table again for some reason (the file is very long, I would rather not start over with all the tagging by starting with a fresh conversion). Is there a way to 'clear the cache'?

Thank you for your help!

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

I'm editing a document for 508 compliance

By Lydia23284880jo7m

If you mean you're editing the actual content in the PDF, then you're in for a hot mess in your tags tree. Changing any part of the content in a tagged PDF destroys the tags, possible someplace else in the PDF. All content edits must be done in the original source document and a new PDF re-exported.

If you mean you're remediating the PDF, and not touching the content, then that's a different story.

It sounds like the header IDs are being duplicated, or were already assigned to one table's headers and you're trying to reuse them on another table.

Each header cell of each table must have a unique ID. There's no way to "clear the cache" because everything is ID'd in the tags tree. You'd have to untag that page (or pages) in Acrobat, and then manually retag it.

Manipulating the tables once they're in a PDF is dicey, no matter what technique or tool you use. The best, fastest, and easiest method is to make the source Word.docx file fully accessible, and the re-export a better, more compliant PDF.