[Athen] PDFMaker vs. Word Add-in for pdf conversion

[Karlen Communications]

There are two ways to try to eliminate the font embedding:

 

In Word, in the Word Options under Advanced, embed the fonts. This will most likely add to the file size.

In Acrobat: Run Preflight. Font embedding is one of the checkpoints in Preflight. I’m never sure whether you have to actually click this or whether it is part of the overall Preflight checklist. When I first looked at this tool, both checking (not really possible) and just running Preflight were mentioned in various how to articles.

 

I do have instructions and an XMP file if anyone is interested. E-mail me off list. I covered this in an EASI webinar on PDF/UA earlier this year.

 

Cheers, Karen

 

From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Humbert, Joseph A
Sent: April 29, 2015 9:09 AM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network
Subject: Re: [Athen] PDFMaker vs. Word Add-in for pdf conversion

 

I converted a 95% accessible syllabus Word document we use for our document accessibility trainings using both tools with no touch up and here are my results:

 


Accessible PDF converted using PDFMaker


317 errors according to PAC 2 checker <http://www.access-for-all.ch/en/pdf-lab/pdf-accessibility-checker-pac.html>  


Error Categories


*         Font not embedded (3) – two were space characters, one was a sub-list bullet (not sure why these were dinged)

*         Path object not tagged (291) – This was the border for the table (these “paths” are not read out by JAWS or NVDA)

*         Alternative text missing – This was a decorative image that was given no alt text in Word

*         Alternative description missing for an annotation (18) – Every single link was dinged for this even though all links had descriptive link text (& read fine with screen readers)

*         PDF/UA identifier missing – According to multiple people this is never done automatically

*         Display of document title in window title – The local path to the document will display (and be read out) instead of the included document title. Fixed by checking a checkbox in acrobat

 


Accessible PDF converted using Word 2013 add-in


49 errors according to PAC 2 checker <http://www.access-for-all.ch/en/pdf-lab/pdf-accessibility-checker-pac.html>  


Error Categories


*         Font not embedded (2) – both were space characters (but not the same ones as the PDFMaker plug-in)

*         Figure element on single page with no bounding box – ding both of the images 

*         Warning : irregular table – The table in our sample syllabus has spanning rows on purpose

*         Warning: Part structure element used as root element

*         Invalid use of a Span structure element (18) – Each row of the table was dinged for this

*         Possibly inappropriate use of a Figure structure (2) – dinged both images

*         Alternative text missing for figure structure – This was a decorative image that was given no alt text in Word

*         Alternative description missing for an annotation (18) – Every single link was dinged for this even though all links had descriptive link text

*         XMP Metadata stream missing

*         PDF/UA identifier missing – According to multiple people this is never done automatically

*         <<dc:title>> in document’s XMP metadata missing

*         Display of document title in window title – The local path to the document will display (and be read out) instead of the included document title. Fixed by checking a checkbox in acrobat

 

The PDFMaker had more errors, but it did not seem to make a real world difference. The only real difference that I could tell between the two was that the Word add-in converted PDF announced the decorative image, but the PDFMaker one did not.

 

Thankx,

  Joe

 

---

Joe Humbert

Principal Accessibility Analyst
Assistive Technology and Accessibility Centers
Indiana University

johumber at iu.edu <mailto:johumber at iu.edu> 
(317) 274-3478

From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Howard Kramer
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2015 5:44 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network
Subject: [Athen] PDFMaker vs. Word Add-in for pdf conversion

 

(Note: I also posted this on the WebAIM list)

 

I've noticed there are two contradictory views regarding PDFMaker vs. the Word/Office Add-in for Office 2010 and 2013. I've heard from some folks that the Word Add-in works fine and just as well as the PDFMaker Add-in. On the WebAIM site (http://webaim.org/techniques/acrobat/converting), they state, regarding the Word Add-in that: 

 

The tagging process may not be quite as good as with the Adobe add-in, but most content, such as heading levels, lists, and alternative text for images is exported. 

 

Is the above the general consensus or is this still up for debate. I'd like to know how strongly to recommend PDFMaker over the native Word Add-in.

 

Thanks in advance,

Howard

 

-- 

Howard Kramer

Conference Coordinator

Accessing Higher Ground

303-492-8672

cell: 720-351-8668

 

AHEAD Association of Higher Education and Disability

 

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