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Read Order vs. tags when a story moves across pages.

semwriter
Registered: Jan 16 2008
Posts: 6
Answered

I am trying to make a newsletter 508 compliant. It’s the first time I’ve done this, and I am running into problems.

I am using Pagemaker 7 and Acrobat Professional 7. The “embed tags” in Pagemaker is creating all kinds of odd things. I’ve had better luck creating the PDF without tags then running Add Tags in Acrobat. It is much better, but still needs a lot of work.

My main problem is trying to arrange the flow of the articles. For example, I need it to go from page 3 to page 4 to page 15, then back to page 3 for the sidebar.

I’ve spent hours rearranging the tags, so they are in the order I need throughout my newsletter. But I cannot figure out how to get the Reading Order to match it. When I reflow or read out loud, it always follows the pages, not the story.

I've read documentation and searched the web, but can't find how to do this. Can anyone guide me?

Thanks.

My Product Information:
Acrobat Pro 7.0.9, Windows
DuffJohnson
Expert
Registered: May 30 2006
Posts: 96
As you've discovered, there is a complex relationship between reading order, reflow mode, Read Out Loud and tags.

The short version is: if Section 508 compliance is the issue, then pay attention to the tags, and ignore reflow and Read Out Loud. Tags are the system that contains the structure used by assistive devices. Read Out Loud is NOT a screen-reader.

To test your tags, you can export your PDF to Accessible Text (see the File - Save_As menu item), or use a proper screen-reader such as JAWS or Window Eyes.

Duff Johnson
w - http://www.duff-johnson.com
t - http://www.twitter.com/duffjohnson

semwriter
Registered: Jan 16 2008
Posts: 6
Thank you so much. I will definitely do as you said. I've also had my work upgrade met to Acrobat 8 and InDesign CS3. I'm hoping that will help me also.

Susie