Text disappearing when editing PDF for accessibility

Question

I have to remediate a number of PDF maps for which I do not have the source document. The design fails many of the accessibility checks (color, design, etc) so I'm moving things around to create a better format. If I move the map legend, the text in the icons disappears. They also disappear if I try to fix the reading order to meet the accessibility requirements. I have tried moving the text within the contents panel but it is not working. The only way I have gotten it to work is by deleting the text and re-writing it. Then changing the reading order makes it disappear, but I can fix it in the content panel at that point. This is taking a significant amount of time to do and I have to remediate hundreds of these. Is there a better way to fix this issue?

Amal. · Answer

Hi there

Hope you are doing well and thanks for reaching out.

It sounds like you're dealing with a complex accessibility issue where modifying the reading order or repositioning elements causes text within icons to disappear. Since you don't have access to the source files, your remediation options within the PDF are somewhat limited.

If the issue is consistent across many maps, consider using Action Wizard (in Acrobat Pro) to automate certain repetitive tasks. For more info. please check the help page https://adobe.ly/3FRTPff

If retyping is necessary, creating a script to extract and reapply text might save time in bulk remediation.

Hope this information will help.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded