Accessibility Checker Report Conflicts

Report · Jan 30, 2020

A faculty member who has written an algebra textbook ran it through the Accessibility Checker in Adobe Pro. I ran the same textbook through Adobe Pro on my computer. Our reports were different in their diagnostics of the "Alternate Text" > "Figures alternate text" where his had no issues and mine had 43. Can someone help me to understand why the disparity in our two reports for the same pdf? Additionally, he created the textbook in Latex, and many of his text boxes and some of his equations (at least in my report version) are flagged for failed headers or failed figures alternate text. Given that my report is the correct one, how do we even go about fixing these issues? Thank you.

Report · Feb 19, 2020

Hi,

Thanks for reporting the issue. The issues that are found while running Accessibility Checker can be fixed by following :

1. Open Accessibility Checker Panel after running Accessibility Check

2. Right click on the issue and select "Fix"to fix or "Explain" to get the info for fixing the issue.

This would help you know the reason befind your failures. Further, the difference in the report can be because for Accessiblity Check confiuration dialog shown on selecting Full Check in Accessibility. Please ensure it is same on botht the machines.

Thanks

Rachit

Report · Feb 19, 2020

As Rachit suggested above, the differences could be due to how you and the professor configured your Accessibility Checker settings. Make sure they are the same. We recommend checking everything listed in all 4 sections, except for summaries on tables which is optional per the accessibility standards.

Settings for Acrobat's Accessibility Checker.

But it also could be due to different versions of Acrobat you both are using. Earlier versions of Acrobat's accessibility checker wouldn't flag some of the issues you describe. We recommend using the latest version of Acrobat Pro in order to be more compliant with the standards.

You might try running the PDF through another accessibility checker, such as:

PAC3 by Axes for All (free). It examines PDFs more thorougly against the PDF/UA-1 standard. https://support.axes4.com/hc/en-us/articles/201957988-PDF-Accessibility-Checker-PAC-
Acrobat's built-in Preflight utility. It too gives more details (and some fixes) for standards compliance. You'll find it in the PDF Standards tool box.

Preflgiht for PDF/UA-1 Standards Compliance.

Quote: << Additionally, he created the textbook in Latex, and many of his text boxes and some of his equations (at least in my report version) are flagged for failed headers or failed figures alternate text. Given that my report is the correct one, how do we even go about fixing these issues? >>

How is the PDF being created from LaTeX? Whenever a PDF is generated from a source document, either a built in software utility or a third-party plug-in/software program is used. These are defined as "PDF Producers" per the ISO 32000 PDF standard and, therefore, they should comply with both the full ISO 32000 standard for all types of PDFs, as well as the ISO 14289 PDF/UA-1 subset standard for accessible PDFs.

You can view what application and producer created the PDF by viewing the PDF's File / Properties / Description tab:

Info about PDF Producer.

With whatever method you're using, compliance with the standards doesn't appear to be happening. You might need to do one of these steps to create a more compliant, accessible PDF:

Update the software and PDF Producer.
Use another vendor's PDF Producer.
Remediate the PDF into compliance using either Acrobat or another manufacturer's remediation software.

I'm a former LaTeX developer and haven't kept up with it, but it is an extremely powerful publishing platform for STEM material and I run into these problems frequently with government and academic material. It would be an incredible gift to humanity worldwide if we could get better conversions of LaTeX to accessible PDF. I don't think this is on Adobe's to-do list (would be incredible if it was!), and since LaTeX is an opensource environment, the LaTeX community is probably going to have to step up and correct the current deficiencies. And maintain the PDF producer as the standards get updated.

That's a lot to ask of opensource, which is often limited by money, skill levels, and how much time volunteers have to contribute. Burn-out is very common with opensource environments.

Please get back to us about what you discover. I'm very interested in solutions for this critical topic. I don't mean to exaggerate when I state that this affects humankind worldwide; science, research, and education form the body of knowledge for all societies and LaTeX is right in the middle of that.

Report · Feb 21, 2020

Bevi,

Thanks so much. Yours was the best response I have seen. I promise to share any information we get. Would you be able to identify which programs LaTeX does convert to, since Adobe is not a very easy option?

Thanks so much,

Ayla