Same-Page Footnote Links Not Working with JAWS 2025 in PDFs

Report · May 07, 2025

Hi everyone,

I’m running into an accessibility issue with PDFs that I hope someone can shed light on. I’m using JAWS 2025 and testing tagged PDFs in both Adobe Acrobat Reader and the Microsoft Edge browser.

The problem: footnote links that point to content on the same page do not work properly with JAWS. These links are formatted correctly as hyperlinks, and visually, they appear and behave like standard links. However, when I activate them in either application, JAWS does not follow the link—there’s no movement, no announcement, and no indication that the link activated at all.

Some notes:
• When the footnote link points to a different page, it works fine—JAWS navigates and announces the destination properly.
• I’ve tried refreshing the virtual buffer (Insert + Esc), but it makes no difference.
• The PDF is properly tagged and includes standard link annotations.
• This happens in both Adobe Reader and Edge (Chromium).

Has anyone else seen this issue? Is it a known limitation of JAWS or a quirk in how Acrobat handles same-page internal links in tagged PDFs? I’d appreciate any workarounds, suggestions, or insights from the community or Adobe team.

Thanks in advance!

Report · May 08, 2025

Hi @Allison37394319g99k

Thank you for raising this important issue regarding JAWS 2025 and same-page footnote links in PDFs. Accessibility is a priority for us, and we’re sorry to hear that the expected behavior isn’t working correctly. Sadly, I don't have any suggestions to offer. Wait for more input from experts in the community.

While the PDF appears correctly tagged, a recent change in how JAWS 2025 interprets in-document links may be affecting navigation. Would you be willing to share the file with us? If you can't share the file publicly, upload files to any cloud drive and share the link via private message. To send a private message, click on the envelope icon in the top right corner.

In the meantime, if you have access to older versions of JAWS or other screen readers (like NVDA), it might help to compare behavior to determine whether this is a PDF-side or Acrobat/Reader-side issue.

We truly appreciate your patience and for helping us improve the accessible experience. If you’re able to share a sample file (with any sensitive content removed), that would help the investigation.

~Tariq

Report · May 08, 2025

Hi Tariq,

Thank you so much for your input. I will check to see if I can privately send the file.

I have performed extensive testing with NVDA screen reader as well. The same issue is occuring.

A few other points of detail I can provide:

The PDF is exported from InDesign
In InDesign the footnote links are formatted as hyper-links with anchors set to the corresponding footnote text
In Adobe when I view the link properties, the footnote links all correctly point to a named-destination (not just a page-view, which is further proof of best practice of link formatting being applied)
There is no difference in formatting between the links that are on a different page than their footnote content, versus the footnote links that are on the same page as their content -- yet the footnote links on the same page do not provide good reading behavior

Report · May 12, 2025

Hi @Tariq Ahmad Dar

I am privately sending you the link to the PDF now. Thank you in advance for any review or assisstance you can provide!