How to make a pdf that is in ramseyer format accessible.

Ramseyer format - ? over hawaii.gov way it appears to be:

• underscore — proposed addition




• brackets — proposed addition




• replace in entirety — clearly indicate... (but how?)




• something all new — provide text and, if can, show were to insert



The Span element is an in-line grouping element which does not intrude in what is rendered to users of AT.
Attribute objects are associated to a specific element (tag). Part of what a tag is but not the tag itself.
Any "underscore" is, generically, just a text decoration.
The bracket charcter(s) can be ascertained, but the context of "this is stuff to delete" may not be clear.

Off the cuff, use of the replacement element might put appropriate focus to content having the underscore or the bracket delimiters. But, this would typically call for alot of manual editing within the structure tree for the approriate PDF page content. Acrobat's Edit Text tools provide underscore annotations but the tool that provides an annotation for "delete this text string" is not brackets. The plus for these tools is that, as annotations, they can be manually added to the structure tree.

Might you be able to post a sample PDF to acrobat.com (can open a free account) and share the link to the file here?

~Be well...

Here is a link to the file in acrobat.com.


https://acrobat.com/#d=59DJlsgZtAjdx9nE9bhsUQ

Mahalo for helping me with this. (The web site I work with is co.hawaii.hi.us)

Hi,


Hopefully, the layout of the following is not too discombobalated .Got the PDF. Interesting.
Some things to do upfront.

1. Identify the language. Open the PDF's Document Properties, go to the Advanced tab and, at the bottom, use the drop-down menu to select the language




2. Make PDF pages 2 and 4 Artifacts. At each page, use a small page magnification setting, say 25 percent. Open TORU, use the marquee to encompass the entire page. Click the "Background" button.




3. PDF pages 5,6, and 7 have their page numbers "present". Use TORU to marquee zone the character and click the "Background" button to make them Artifacts.




4. Address the malformed element located on PDF page 19 and 47. Myself, I'd fold the affected content back into the text flow. Either by a dance in the structure tree or back in the authoring file (with consequent regeneration of the PDF and requisite post-processing of the structure tree.
5. Always use Full Check options "Adobe Pdf" and "Section 508 Web-based..." (the latter is the only way to get a litmus test of Tables)

Some observations:

• 
  
  
  
  For the "repealed" and the "new" text strings Alternate Text looks to be the success path. A quick overview - put focus, in the structure tree, to the parent element of the element containing a "replace" or "new" text string. Add a element. Position appropriately. Move the text string's content container under . Open the Properties dialog for . Copy-paste the text string into the Alternate Text field - tab out to another field to 'lock it in'. Delete the tag that had been associated with the text string (i.e., ).





• 
  
  
  
  The document's sub-lists could be nested under the associated parent list in the structure tree.
  is permitted to have, as a child, the element.





• 
  
  
  
  For the Table of Contents, you may want to consider use of the element and its child .
  is permitted to have child elements; , , look to be appropriate.





• 
  
  
  
  For 'curb appeal', you might consider use of the Link annotation to support navigation from the TOC.
  Bring it into the structure tree via:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • 
    
    
    
    Use Select Tool to select a TOC entry, right click for the context menu, select "Create Link". Note that this is the only way to get all the required parts, for the Link annotation, into the structure tree such that the entry is accessible.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Also, there appears to be a stray element at the end of the structure tree.So, in MS Word, select the row(s) that are to be the "header rows" and navigate through the context menus to locate and tick the "Repeat as header row..." selection. requires .Took a pass at a testing copy of the document (link to the PDF, at acrobat.com, below).
Look at PDF page 5 for an example of with Alt Text usage (at "Section 10- ...").
Look at pages 19 and 47 for a rough-up of taking content out of the malformed elements.
With the Tags Panel open, use the Select tool to select any content on one of the pages. Then, use the Tags panel's Options (cog-wheel icon in AA9) drop-down to "Find Tag from Selection". This will facilitate a look-see at the structure tree and PDF page content. Remember to also use "Higlight" selection from the Options menu. Remember "Save As" to set Fast Web View prior to uploading the PDF to the web server.


Link to the trial PDF.
The PDF
.


[Edit: a wee bit of cleanup]

And Again (& g t & l t needed for > and <) as last post was missing stuff and the link.

1. Identify the language. Open the PDF's Document Properties, go to the Advanced tab and, at the bottom, use the drop-down menu to select the language




2. Make PDF pages 2 and 4 Artifacts. At each page, use a small page magnification setting, say 25 percent. Open TORU, use the marquee to encompass the entire page. Click the "Background" button.




3. PDF pages 5,6, and 7 have their page numbers "present". Use TORU to marquee zone the character and click the "Background" button to make them Artifacts.




4. Address the malformed Table element located on PDF page 19 and 47. Myself, I'd fold the affected content back into the text flow. Either by a dance in the structure tree or back in the authoring file (with consequent regeneration of the PDF and requisite post-processing of the structure tree.

Some observations:

• 
  
  
  For the "repealed" and the "new" text strings Alternate Text looks to be the success path. A quick overview - put focus, in the structure tree, to the parent element of the element containing a "replace" or "new" text string. Add a "P" element. Position "P" appropriately. Move the text string's content container under "P". Open the Properties dialog for "P". Copy-paste the text string into the Alternate Text field - tab out to another field to 'lock it in'. Delete the tag that had been associated with the text string (i.e., "StyleSpan").
  
  
  




• 
  
  
  The document's sub-lists could be nested under the associated parent list in the structure tree.
  is permitted to have, as a child, the List element.




• 
  
  
  For the Table of Contents, you may want to consider use of the TOC element and its child .
  is permitted to have child elements; Lbl, Reference, P look to be appropriate.




• 
  
  
  For 'curb appeal', you might consider use of the Link annotation to support navigation from the TOC.
  Bring it into the structure tree via:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • 
    
    
    Use Select Tool to select a TOC entry, right click for the context menu, select "Create Link". Note that this is the only way to get all the required parts, for the Link annotation, into the structure tree such that the entry is accessible.
    
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Also, there appears to be a stray Sect element at the end of the structure tree.

About Tables.
Need the following pattern.
Table
...THead
......TR
..........TH
...TBody
......TR
..........TD


So, in MS Word, select the row(s) that are to be the "header rows" and navigate through the context menus to locate and tick the "Repeat as header row..." selection. If this is not done then a table in the Tagged output PDF will not/never be well-formed and thus, it will not be accessible.

Took a pass at a testing copy of the document (link to the PDF, at acrobat.com, below).
Look at PDF page 5 for an example of the "P" element with Alt Text usage (at "Section 10- ...").
Look at pages 19 and 47 for a rough-up of taking content out of the malformed elements.
With the Tags Panel open, use the Select tool to select any content on one of th pages.
Then, use the Tags panel's Options (cog-wheel icon in AA9) drop-down to "Find Tag from Selection".
This will facilitate a look-see at the structure tree and PDF page content.
Remember to also use "Higlight" selection from the Options menu.
Remember "Save As" to set Fast Web View prior to uploading the PDF to the web server.



Link to the trial PDF.
Link to the trial PDF
https://acrobat.com/#d=isUMfGyMoh6AV*-mOQ5EZQ



~Be well...

Rosebird,


Playing with the ACL file. I have uploaded a trial, using Proposal 18, to an acrobat.com account.
The link to the PDF:



[Edit: See Post 9 of this thread.]

Rosebird,


I've tinkered with four of the Proposals associated with the amended charter language.

They are available via the links below (to an acrobat.com account) – download to a local machine.

Provide the PDFs to individuals who utilizes an assistive technology (AT) application (NVDA, Jaws, etc.) routinely.

They will be able to put the PDFs through their paces.

Is the core content still understandable/usable while providing awareness of the salient aspects of Ramseyer format?

[Edit: See Post 9 of this thread.]



Some observations on the amended charter language PDF of 9/24/2010:

• PDF pages 2 and 4 are "blank". Actually they each hold a vertical string of carriage returns (Enter key) that denote (in a Tagged output PDF) the selected style entry from MS Word. As the document was not mastered with left-right pages the removal of these pages has no adverse consequence. Conversely, removal of the pages provides a 'cleaner' PDF document.





• The PDF still lacks a value for the document's native language. This can be corrected by selection of English from the drop-down menu for Language under the Advanced tab of the Document Properties dialog.





• PDF page 47 (Proposal 8) still has a layout table brought over from MS Word. This needs to be corrected. Fix in the Word file (get rid of the inserted table) or rebuild tags in the PDF's structure tree.





• The document TOC ought to be using the TOC grouping element with the child TOCI elements. As children of TOCI, the elements Lbl, Reference, NonStruct, P, and TOC may be used. I lean towards using Reference. Once the page has the correct tags associated with the content, consider using "Create Link" to link from each TOC entry to the first page of the associated Proposal. When in a PDF the only way to get all three requisite items associated with an accessible link is to use "Create Link".





• The Ramsayer underlined text. That there is unique presentation attributes (the underline) associated with this text is identified in the structure tree by tag StyleSpan. This role maps the PDF element (tag) Span. Span is an in-line grouping element that is not intended to be processed by AT applications. Do not rely on 'StyleSpan' to gain any accessiblity/usability leverage.





• The Ramsayer 'delete' markup. 'HyphenSpan' role maps to Span. See comment above. Note: Scrolling through the structure tree I cannot locate usage of 'HyphenSpan'. It appears 'StyleSpan' is applied to both Ramsayer format choices. So, 'StyleSpan' holds both cross out and underline.





• Having the page number as the first logical item (tag) to process by AT applications when a page is encounter is not helpful. It breaks up the logical flow of the textual content that starts on one page and continues on another page. See PDF page 61, 62. Item (a)(4) begins at the end of PDF page 61. The first sentence is broken across pages 61, 62. "As-built", you give the AT user this - "...on any matter upon 62 which the commission..." If one parses the content a page at a time we get "...on any matter upon" then "62 which the commission..." 8^(





• The page number issue is pervasive throughout the document. I strongly suspect that this approach will be a usability hit for most AT users, most times. Pragmatically, having page numbers designated as an Artifact may be a cleaner approach in terms of overall usability by users of AT.





• Nesting of elements in the structure tree. Well... it is confusing. Example: the 'P' tag for page number 3 is the last child under the 'Sect' tag that groups BLSEs from Proposal 1 back on page 1 (PDF page 5). In turn, this 'Sect' tag is a child of the 'Sect' tag that is parent to all tags on pages 1 and 2 (PDF pages 5 and 6)





• Effectively, the 'Sect' tags are bundling the Proposals. If a page number is to be given a tag then, at least for the first page of a given Proposal, the tag ought to be the first element (tag) under the 'Sect' grouping element.

-|
Oh yes, a Bookmark to the each Proposal would be nice to have .
So, if you get a chance to have some AT users give the PDFs at the above links a work out and get feedback drop a post here if convenient.

Thanks Dave for all the work you have put into this.
I knew about the first four and the last four in your list. I just didn't want to put a lot of effort into fixing the current pdf if I was going to have to have it redone due to the ramseyered format. Call me lazy if you want! LOL! I do admit to forgetting about setting the language, I'm trying to do better! I get tons of reports etc. to put on our web and only in the last year or so have I been given the okay to try and make them compliant. I'm pretty comfortable with most things but this ramseyered has me bothered.
I wish we could accomplish your suggestion to "Provide the PDFs to individuals who utilizes an assistive technology (AT) application (NVDA, Jaws, etc.) routinely." No money in our budget for this at this time. I have convinced our ADA coordinator to buy the Jaws software for our office so I can at least do some testing. Haven't received it yet but should have it in a week or two.
I will take a look at the links you provided.
Sorry it's taken me so long to respond but like I said I get a lot of documents for the web and everyone wants them up now. So I work and this project as I have time. I also am trying to introduce/train the other departments on how to prepare their documents so they tag easier. That's a massive task in itself!
I have a personal interest in this as I have been diagnosed as early stages of glacoma.

Hi rosebird,

What's that phrase about "idle hands..."? I suspect neither of us will have that problem.


Just a meandering natter; but, why not put out a call for volunteers?
It can make a difference if "the real mccoy" gives feedback.
Also, it might turn up some possible mentors for getting up to speed with JAWS.
Often the education community (and particularly higher education staff)are AT "literate".
.
Ramseyer format - A totally paper-centric approach that is rather effective provide one is not vision impaired and not distributing "electronic" content that must have a fixed underlying layout/format.
.
Other than providing separate files that delineate, where applicable, the specific Ramseyer format the only viable option I can see to use, in the as-is PDF, would be to make use of Replacement (Actual) text, Alternate text or Expansion. As described in PDF References and now the ISO standard these would, on the face of it, appear not appropriate. But, alas the real world has things like Ramseyer format. So, one might have to take off the blinders (as it were) and look at the goal of the desired deliverable and its usability to a fair dinkum of our population.
.
As to a separate text file - it'd read something like: "Some text [ramseyer format cross out for deletion of the comma]and some more text."
.
So, after a toss of the chicken bones I used Expansion. Pulled in your PDF. Slicked all tags via PDF Optimizer. Extracted pages associated with each major item/topic. This breakout left me with 21 discrete PDF files.
Dumped the blank pages.
On each page in turn - used TORU to marquee select entire page of each page and set to Background. This put all page content to Artifact status. Noodled over the inherent logical hierarchy of the Proposals.
Each Proposal would have a BLSE grouping element 'Section' at the top of the structure tree. The Proposal 'Title' is a H1. The "Be it enacted..." is H2. Each "Section 1, 2, ..." is H3. In some Proposals H4 would be used and have child elements appropriate to the content.
.
AT "likes" a nice orderly structure tree. It can provide users the ability to 'look-see' at specific elements (tags) such that a better understanding of the document's logical hierarchy is obtained. This is something that is done without thought by non-vision impaired individuals. Our eyes give us an intuitive pattern recognition capability. Things get sticky quick when this is degraded or lost (like dealing with Ramseyer format).
.
Idea is to rebuild each of the 21 files. Then, top (cover page) down, insert. When a Tagged PDF is inserted into another this PDF's structure tree always goes to the bottom. Awkward if Proposal 2 goes in after Proposal 5. AT will process out Proposal 5 first. The protocol is top down through the structure tree as logical order is only established there. Read order is machine, not human, centric.
.
Training:
.
A "quick pick" (certainly, there are more...)
.
Karen MCCall - http://www.karlencommunications.com/
-| Karen has published books on the 'how to' for upfront support of accessible PDF.
.
Bevi Chagnon of PubCom
.
Jean Wells - http://teachingcommons.cdl.edu/access/docs_multi/pdf_vid_tut/PDFVideoTutorialHome.shtml
-| A lot of 'stuff' out in dot GOV and dot EDU space. Some, like HHS, are worth the visit. "Jean's site" is one of the better ones.
.
Also: http://wac.osu.edu/pdf/guidelines.htm
.
Duff Johnson - anything he has posted on the topic of accessible PDF over the years.
.
Acrobat accessibility training resources - http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/training.php
.
A collection of resource references here at AUC - http://acrobatusers.com/content/pdf-tags-books-0
.
If y'all use InDesign go to Andrew Kirkpatrick's blog. There is a new InDesign for Accessibility video available via a link there.
http://blogs.adobe.com/accessibility/category/indesign
.

Rosebird,

16 of the 19 Proposals for the Amended Charter for the County of Hawai‘i. Maybe the remainder later; but it is close to 'glass slipper' time no?
.
They've been given 'kaona' <g>
.
The links that follow are to the PDF files in an acrobat.com account. Download to put through their paces with an AT application. Hopefully, they will bear up under the load. As this is y'alls - not mine, if the responsible adults deem it appropriate then make use of it - I've no "claim", eh.
.
If any problems with download tell me - I can park the files on my web space if need be.
.
Proposal_1
.
Proposal_2 — added 10/28
.
Proposal_3
.
Proposal_4
.
Proposal_5 — added 10/28
.
Proposal_6
.
Proposal_7 — added 11/2
.
Proposal_8
.
Proposal_9
.
Proposal_10 — added 10/27
.
Proposal_11
.
Proposal_12 — Edit 10/27 - new PDF (and link)to reflect corrected Structure Tree
.
Proposal_13
.
Proposal_14
.
Proposal_15
.
Proposal_16
.
Proposal_17
.
Proposal_18
.
Proposal_19
.
[Edit (daa) - fixed typo]

Dave I'm amazed! Sure didn't expect you to do this much! You are right it's down to the wire now, next week Tuesday in fact. So I had intended to ask the originators to do a modified version so we wouldn't have to do so much work but didn't get that far. Trying to devise a recommendation for future so that it is simplified. Is there an easier way to download rather than one at a time? I'll try and pull them later today.

Mahalo for all you've done!

rosebird,
Two additional PDF files. Each contains workups to date. So, a single download.


— 16 of 19 Proposals (+ Cover page) — Not present: Proposals 2, 5, and 7 —
.
The "Binder" PDF might be of more immediate usefulness to those working with AT.
.
Acrobat 8 "Binder" PDF,852 KB
.
Acrobat 8 "Package" PDF,1 MB

Rosebird,
TOC and Proposal 7 remain.

A second "Binder" PDF with Proposals 2 and 5 folded in.

Binder02_ACL.pdf (all less TOC & Proposal 7)

Rosebird,

Amended Charter Language (the complete document):



Amended Charter Language (full version)