PAC 2024 – Untagged Path Object

PAC 2024 error details

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category

Basic Requirements > Content > Tagged Content and Artifacts

Error message

Untagged path object

Matterhorn error condition

01-005 (Content is neither marked as an artifact nor tagged as real content.)

explanation

There is a path object in the document (e.g. table border line) that has not yet been properly tagged or marked as an artifact. This means that visually impaired users are not sure whether the entire content of the document is accessible to them. This error often occurs in connection with tables in Adobe InDesign, because InDesign does not mark the table border lines as artifacts when exporting to PDF.

solution in Adobe Acrobat Pro

solution approach

To fix the error, all path objects that are relevant to the content must be correctly tagged and all path objects that are not relevant to the content must be marked as artifacts. Since this error mainly occurs in connection with table border lines (which are not relevant to the content), the first section explains artifact marking. The second section explains how to correctly tag path objects that are relevant to the content.

video tutorial

picture instructions

Option 1: Mark all path objects as artifacts

1. Search for the tool “Preflight” in the search bar and open it

2. Select “PDF Standards” (in the upper library dropdown) >
Activate “Select individual corrections” (wrench symbol) >
Select “Mark non-structural elements as artifacts” >
Click “Correct”

Note: Please note that this option will mark all elements that have not yet been tagged as artifacts. Therefore, make sure that you only apply this fix after all content-relevant elements have already been tagged.

Option 2: Mark individual path objects as artifacts

1. In the search bar, search for the tool “Content” and open it

2. Select path objects in the content structure tree

Note: You can select several individual path objects at once by holding down the CTRL key while selecting. In addition, you can use the SHIFT key to select a complete, contiguous area (e.g. select the first object while holding down the SHIFT key, then select the last object è all objects from the first to the last object are selected).

3. Right-click one of the path objects >
Click “Create non-text element…”

4. Select “Layout” >
click "OK"

Option 3: Tag individual path objects (if relevant to the content)

1. In the search bar, search for the “Reading Order” tool and open it

2. Select the path object (while the reading order window is open)

Note: Make sure you completely enclose the path object with the drawn rectangle so that it is also selected.

3. Select tag element (in the reading order window)

Note: In the current example, the highlighted path object is a table border and therefore "Background/Artifact" is the correct tag element. However, if in your case it is a content-relevant object, a different tag element must be selected for it (e.g. "Figure"; the Figure tag created from this can then be provided with alternative text to describe the content-related use of the object).

As soon as you save the document and check it again with the PDF Accessibility Checker, the error message Untagged path object disappeared.

When saving, make sure to give the document a new name (e.g. Document Title_Rev2) and not oversave the previous version of the document. This way, you can go back to the previous version of the document if something goes wrong.