Table headers fail in Accessibility Checker after September 14, 2021 update

[Eileen M5E53]

On September 14, I made accessible a large document with 61 tables.  After properly scoping/tagging tables, I ran the Accessibility Checker and the document passed with no table fails.  On September 15, I reran the Accessibility Checker and there are now 61 fails for table headers even though the tables are tagged properly.  I had someone I work with run the checker on the same document using Adobe Acrobat 2017 and the tables pass with no errors.  What changed with the 9.14.21 update??????

[David Burnham HBA]

I have .007.2009 installed. Artifacting the paths as you describe leave the container in the tags panel. No empty p tags to delete.  That in itself is a terrible workaround.

This header fails report is really causing my clients staff user a great deal of grief.

Adobe you have built up reliance on this technology that is used by many government and private companies to ensure that their pdf content is accessible. This is causing a great deal of uncertainty for users who job is to create documents.

[JinitB]

I am also having this problem.  Does anyone know if Adobe have a fix planned.  If I use INDESIGN will this fix the issue.  I don't pay for this at present. I am trying to convert from word or excel both have tables to pdf using adobe acrobat dc. But tables (1 issue) headers failed for each table.

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

Does anyone know if Adobe have a fix planned.

By @JinitB

Only Adobe can answer this. So far, they are investigating the issue.

If I use INDESIGN will this fix the issue.  I don't pay for this at present.

At this time, InDesign doesn't have this problem with tables or missing Alt-text.

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

@Eileen M5E53 , @JinitB and @defaultq0xq7x8h2yj0 :

Please VOTE and comment about this problem at UserVoice https://acrobat.uservoice.com/forums/590923-acrobat-for-windows-and-mac/suggestions/44183082-accessi...

Adobe works on the voting system: the more votes a bug or feature gets, the faster it moves up in the food chain. Posting in this forum doesn't give it much traction, but UserVoice does.

And please inform your colleagues and encourage them to vote as well.

Also tagging:@RachitJain and @Tanvi Rastogi 

[JinitB]

Hi

I have voted as suggested.  Hope this issue gets sorted soon.

[defaultxfs9gvffregi]

I just want to confirm that I'm experiencing the same issue exactly. Any document with a table fails the checker and it's tagging is all messed up. I've had the tech support reinstall the previous version for now.

[Eileen M5E53]

Yes, table header rows are failing and tagging is messed up. How did you
get tech support to reinstall the previous version? I've asked for the
same thing several times on this site and haven't received a response.
Thanks.

[defaultxfs9gvffregi]

I did the tech support chat. First they wanted me to auto-tag the document I was working on. When I did that it did fix the errors with the tables (indicating that the auto-tag does correctly tag tables?) but the auto-tagging created dozens of new errors in other places. The tech support person said that all these new errors were real underlying errors in the original document, which must be fixed in order to have an accessible document, whereas I would think the trouble is new and arising from the auto-tagging erasing all the help the program is, one hopes, providing in tagging the Word doc correctly upon export. He also didn't seem to think the problem with the table tagging was a bug. Instead, he said it was the previous programs that wrongly indicated these tables were tagged correctly when they were not or are not according to the new standards. I said this wasn't going to be a feasible fix, just too time consuming, and in fact meant I would no longer be able to post pdf documents online. Then the tech support person offered to install the previous version and did. But if he is correct, then the documents are only falsely passing as accessible. After reading here, I believe he is wrong and that there is a bug with the way the tables are being tagged as they are exported from Word into pdf. 

[Eileen M5E53]

There are many issues with the Adobe Update that was installed on 9.14.21.
The problem is not likely an issue with your original document. Adobe was
supposed to roll out an update at 6pm Eastern today but it hasn't happened
yet. I am attaching screenshots from another user who posted on another
Adobe site and pretty much sums up the issues in the 9.14.21 update. Hope
this helps!

[image: image.png]
[image: image.png]

[defaultxfs9gvffregi]

For some reason I'm not able to view the images. But it's great to know an update may be coming soon! Thanks!

[Eileen M5E53]

Here's a link to the site if you want to check it out. It was sent to me
last week.

Please take a minute and vote for the fix at
https://acrobat.uservoice.com/forums/590923-acrobat-for-windows-and-mac/suggestions/44183082-accessi...

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

@defaultxfs9gvffregi, as a US delegate to the ISO (International Standards Organization) committees that develop and maintain the PDF and PDF/UA-1 standards, I can confirm that what you were told is 100% pure BS.

With the update in mid-September to Acrobat and the PDF Maker plug-in, Adobe changed the way it tagged PDFs for many items, including:

• Tables
• Any border, underline, or rule
• Alt-text on graphics
• Graphics that are artifacted (marked as decorative) in Word.

All of these items (and more) no longer meet the PDF/UA-1 standard.

Be sure to vote for the corrections at Adobe's User Voice page that was created to address these specific crazy changes at https://acrobat.uservoice.com/forums/590923-acrobat-for-windows-and-mac/suggestions/44183082-accessi...

[Eileen M5E53]

There was an Adobe Update available this morning 2021.007.20095 but the header issue was not corrected.  When will this be fixed??????????????????????????????????

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

Can you tell us what today's update fixed?

[Eileen M5E53]

If you are asking me, I have no idea. All I know is table header issue
wasn’t

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

So now there's NO ALT-TEXT at all on the graphics?

WTF, Adobe?

First you discard our Alt-text and replace it with code gibberish.

Now with today's updater (Acrobat 2021.007.0095, PDF Maker Library 21.7.127) you just discard our Alt-text altogether.

And tables still have PathPathPathPathPathPathPath in every row.

Isn't there anyone home who knows what they're doing?

Have the programmers read the PDF/UA-1 standards that Adobe helps write for the ISO standards?

Of all the code shops in the world who SHOULD know how to make an accessible PDF, it should be you, Adobe. Remember, these standards are required by the world's countries to protect the civil rights of their citizens. Those of us in the information industries must meet these legal requirements — It is not a choice for us.

Adobe.

You

Have

Failed

Us.

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

Keep voting to get these egrecious errors fixed at https://acrobat.uservoice.com/forums/590923-acrobat-for-windows-and-mac/suggestions/44183082-accessi...

[AnandSri]

Hi All!

Thanks for your time and patience.

The fix is available with the latest update of Acrobat & Reader DC Continuous track: Adobe Acrobat and Reader - 21.007.2009x Optional update.

Please install the latest patch, and let us know if you experience any issues.

See this article for detailed information about this release, bug fixes and how to update the app: https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/adobe-acrobat-and-reader-21-007-2009x-optional-up...

Regards,
Anand Sri.

[RachitJain · Accepted solution]

Hi All,
With the September 2021 release, PDFs with missing/incorrect table headers are flagged in the Accessibility Checker and show as failed in the accessibility check result.

We have made some changes for reverting the behaviour of Accessibility Checker to pre-September Release. The details can be found on : https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/table-header-fails-in-accessibility-checker.html

I would suggest you all to use the workaround to avoid detecting the table header related issues. Thank you for your patience.

Thanks
Rachit

[JinitB]

I'm still getting the table headers failing after installing the new update

[AnandSri]

Hi @JinitB 

Try the suggestion shared in this article and let us know if you still experience the issue: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/table-header-fails-in-accessibility-checker.html 

Regards,

Anand Sri

[JinitB]

I can't find the registry key specified for Adobe Acrobat DC 64 Bit - can't find the last part FeatureState

[Tanvi Rastogi]

@JinitB , you would need to create FeatureState registry, if it doesn't exist and then create a Dword "IgnoreTableHeaderCheck" and set it to 1 to bypass the table header check. You will need to apply latest patch for this to work.

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

@Tanvi Rastogi, am I reading this suggestion correctly?

Users should turn off the ability to check headers in RegEdit?

Because table headers are failing, you're instructing us to disable the checker's ability to check table headers?

That doesn't fix the header problem Adobe created, it just sets the system to ignore headers entirely. This will essentially make an INaccessible table that prevents those using assistive technologies from correctly reading the table...and people will still voice out the crud <P>PathPathPathPathPath.

Not only does this violate the PDF/UA-1 accessibility standards, but it also violates country laws that require digital media and documents to be accessible to those with disabilities.

Sweeping Adobe's problematic code under the rug does not solve the problem.

[AnandSri]

@JinitB 

You may have to create the DWORD key in the location: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/table-header-fails-in-accessibility-checker.html

Regards,

Anand Sri.