Theory on the headings of an accessible PDF
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More InformationWhat are the requirements of PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) for headings in an accessible PDF?
PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) distinguishes between documents with so-called “weak” and “strong” structuring. However, in practice, PDFs with strong structuring do not normally occur and the creation of this structure is also more complex, In this article we only consider weakly structured PDFs.
The Matterhorn Protocol (Version 1.1), which defines concrete tests for compliance with PDF/UA-1, specifies the following requirements for headings in weakly structured documents:
- Headings must begin with a numbered -Day be marked, whereby [n] for the heading level stands (e.g. first heading level:
).
- The first heading in the document must be be tagged.
- In descending order may no heading level skipped (e.g. correct:
,
,
; incorrect:
,
,
). In ascending order, skipping levels is allowed.
- For the numbering within a heading tag only Arabic numerals used (e.g. correct: Arabic numeral 5; incorrect: Roman numeral V).
- In contrast to the web sector, Heading levels 7 and lower allowed and must also be accompanied by the correctly numbered heading tag (e.g. ).
What recommendation does the Tagged PDF Best Practice Guide (version 1.0.1) give for headings in an accessible PDF?
The Tagged PDF Best Practice Guide (Version 1.0.1) overlaps in almost all points with the Matterhorn Protocol, but it also provides an important Note regarding headings of level 7 and below:
An accessible PDF document must comply with both the PDF standard itself and the PDF/UA standard for accessible PDFs. However, the PDF standard used in practice PDF1.7 (ISO 32000-1) only defines heading tags up to and including level 6 (
, , , , , ). The currently common PDF/UA standard PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) However, it explicitly states that all headings – regardless of level – with the correctly numbered heading tag There is therefore no suitable tag for a level 7 heading according to PDF1.7, but the same heading must still be marked as Here are the two standards so a little in contradiction to each other.
, , , ). The currently common PDF/UA standard PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) However, it explicitly states that all headings – regardless of level – with the correctly numbered heading tag There is therefore no suitable tag for a level 7 heading according to PDF1.7, but the same heading must still be marked as Here are the two standards so a little in contradiction to each other.
, ). The currently common PDF/UA standard PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) However, it explicitly states that all headings – regardless of level – with the correctly numbered heading tag There is therefore no suitable tag for a level 7 heading according to PDF1.7, but the same heading must still be marked as Here are the two standards so a little in contradiction to each other.
In order to meet both standards, headings from level 7 ultimately with the correctly numbered heading tag (e.g. ) and then over a Role assignment either to tags tags tags or on
Why not tag the title of an accessible PDF as a first-level heading (H1)?
If you use the title of an accessible PDF as a first-level heading (
), there are several disadvantages. These have already been discussed in Contribution to correctly tagging a title It is better to write the title as a paragraph (
) to tag.
Implementation of accessible headings in PDFs with Acrobat
If the source document (e.g. Word “.docx” file) no longer exists, the tagging structure must directly in the PDF For this purpose, the software Adobe Acrobat The video tutorial shows how to tag the headings of a PDF document that still no tag structure.
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More InformationImplementation of accessible headings in PDFs with Word (& Acrobat)
If the source document (e.g. Word or InDesign) present, it is of course much better, to set up everything in this source document in the best possible wayBecause the well-known word processing programs already implement many accessibility criteria automatically during (correct) PDF export, so that some post-processing effort is eliminatedThe video tutorial shows how to correctly format headings in Word.
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