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If any PDF files require remediation, this can be requested from within the platform. The remediated documents and accessibility reports are delivered to your email when they are ready.
To include the PDF scanning tool, request an upgrade to your account at Support
CommonLook® is a world-leading provider of PDF software. Their powerful Clarity tool is available as an add-on within the Accessibility module.
A normal domain scan is able to identify PDFs, and with Clarity you receive services for remediation of the most common accessibility problems, including the proper tagging of images, tables, forms, and other non-textual objects.
Review: Scan PDFs from the Accessibility module to see where your site stands in terms of PDF accessibility and flag inaccessible documents.
Report: Receive a complete accessibility report detailing areas of non-compliance and recommendations on how to address them.
Remediate: Remediate and tag all of your PDF documents so that they can be read with assistive technology and become accessible to all.
PDF errors are identified and communicated. This allows you to comply with ADA Title III, WCAG 2.1, HHS, PDF/UA, the EU Web Accessibility Directive, and other accessibility standards, and gives your website viewers an accessible experience.
This article provides instructions on how to request remediation on a PDF document that requires accessibility compliance.
Note
EU customers must contact CommonLook directly for PDF remediation quotes at their own discretion due to regulatory requirements. The PDF Remediation option continues to be available for customers in other geographical regions.
Locate the PDF files that are non-compliant. The scan results are imported directly into your account and are available through the dashboard.
If the scan is successful and no accessibility errors are found, the PDF is automatically moved to the Reviewed/OK column. Select the PDF to view the results.
If the scan is successful and some accessibility errors are found, the PDF is automatically moved to the Failed column. Click to view the scan results and the issues detected.
On the same row as a PDF that is non-compliant, click to select Remediation Quote.
This submits anorder for remediation and identification of issues that require attention in the PDF. This service is provided by a third party, CommonLook Clarity by Allyant.
A dialog box opens with the following text:
"Document remediation for compliance to WCAG 2.1 AA, Section 508, HHS or PDF/UA accessibility standards. Document remediation requires manual verification and can range in cost. When you submit PDF documents for remediation, we will review the document and give you a firm, fixed price for the remediation. Upon completion of the work, we will also provide a compliance report. We will let you know if there is any Alternative Text (Alt-Text) required for images that are not self-descriptive or any related additional information needed to remediate the document."
Click OK to confirm, or Cancel to close the dialog box without ordering the PDF remediation check.
The remediated PDFs are sent to you when they are finished.
Remove the old PDFs from the website and upload the remediated PDFs.
Change the status of the PDFs manually to Mark as reviewed. This moves the files to the Reviewed/Ok folder in the user interface.
Note
EU customers must contact CommonLook directly for PDF remediation quotes at their own discretion due to regulatory requirements. The PDF Remediation option continues to be available for customers in other geographical regions.
For more information on the PDF accessibility scan service, visit:
This section gives a list of some of the most common issues found in a PDF remediation:
General Category
Error Message (from the “Reason” column in the compliance report)
In “layperson’s” terms
Error (Failure), Review (User Verification), or Warning?
Figure tags
A tag of type Figure does not define the Alt or Actual Text attributes.
You have a Figure tag that doesn’t have Alt text
Error
Alt text
Please verify that Alt of [Alt text for a graphic] is appropriate for the highlighted element.
When Alt text is provided, you're going to be asked to verify that it's accurate.
Review (Requires manual check)
Tables
A table that contains THead or TFoot and does not contain any TBody elements has been detected.
The table is not built correctly
Error
Tables
Table does not contain header cells.
Header cells have not been tagged in the table.
Error
Tables (Header cells)
Cell (#,#) does not have column headers associated with it.
There is a data cell (indicated by the numbers in parentheses) that does not have a column header assigned to it.
Error
Tables
Scope attribute not specified for TH element.
A table header cell has been tagged as a header cell but the “Scope” has not been set. Scope should be either column or row.
Error
Tables - Summary Attribute
Table doesn't define the Summary attribute.
The data table doesn't have a summary.
Warning. Table summaries are not required but they can be very helpful especially for very long, complex tables that don't have captions. This is bringing to your attention that the table doesn't have a summary.
Metadata
The Marked entry in the document catalog has not been set to true.
Note
EU customers must contact our partner CommonLook directly for PDF remediation quotes at their own discretion due to regulatory requirements. The PDF Remediation option continues to be available for customers in other geographical regions.
If any PDF files require remediation, this can be requested from within the platform. The remediated documents and accessibility reports are delivered to your email when they are ready.
To include the PDF scanning tool, request an upgrade to your account at Support
CommonLook® is a world-leading provider of PDF software. Their powerful Clarity tool is available as an add-on within the Accessibility module.
A normal domain scan is able to identify PDFs, and with Clarity you receive services for remediation of the most common accessibility problems, including the proper tagging of images, tables, forms, and other non-textual objects.
Review: Scan PDFs from the Accessibility module to see where your site stands in terms of PDF accessibility and flag inaccessible documents.
Report: Receive a complete accessibility report detailing areas of non-compliance and recommendations on how to address them.
Remediate: Remediate and tag all of your PDF documents so that they can be read with assistive technology and become accessible to all.
PDF errors are identified and communicated. This allows you to comply with ADA Title III, WCAG 2.1, HHS, PDF/UA, the EU Web Accessibility Directive, and other accessibility standards, and gives your website viewers an accessible experience.
This article provides instructions on how to request remediation on a PDF document that requires accessibility compliance.
Note
EU customers must contact CommonLook directly for PDF remediation quotes at their own discretion due to regulatory requirements. The PDF Remediation option continues to be available for customers in other geographical regions.
Locate the PDF files that are non-compliant. The scan results are imported directly into your account and are available through the dashboard.
If the scan is successful and no accessibility errors are found, the PDF is automatically moved to the Reviewed/OK column. Select the PDF to view the results.
If the scan is successful and some accessibility errors are found, the PDF is automatically moved to the Failed column. Click to view the scan results and the issues detected.
On the same row as a PDF that is non-compliant, click to select Remediation Quote.
This submits anorder for remediation and identification of issues that require attention in the PDF. This service is provided by a third party, CommonLook Clarity by Allyant.
A dialog box opens with the following text:
"Document remediation for compliance to WCAG 2.1 AA, Section 508, HHS or PDF/UA accessibility standards. Document remediation requires manual verification and can range in cost. When you submit PDF documents for remediation, we will review the document and give you a firm, fixed price for the remediation. Upon completion of the work, we will also provide a compliance report. We will let you know if there is any Alternative Text (Alt-Text) required for images that are not self-descriptive or any related additional information needed to remediate the document."
Click OK to confirm, or Cancel to close the dialog box without ordering the PDF remediation check.
The remediated PDFs are sent to you when they are finished.
Remove the old PDFs from the website and upload the remediated PDFs.
Change the status of the PDFs manually to Mark as reviewed. This moves the files to the Reviewed/Ok folder in the user interface.
Note
EU customers must contact CommonLook directly for PDF remediation quotes at their own discretion due to regulatory requirements. The PDF Remediation option continues to be available for customers in other geographical regions.
For more information on the PDF accessibility scan service, visit:
This section gives a list of some of the most common issues found in a PDF remediation:
General Category
Error Message (from the “Reason” column in the compliance report)
In “layperson’s” terms
Error (Failure), Review (User Verification), or Warning?
Figure tags
A tag of type Figure does not define the Alt or Actual Text attributes.
You have a Figure tag that doesn’t have Alt text
Error
Alt text
Please verify that Alt of [Alt text for a graphic] is appropriate for the highlighted element.
When Alt text is provided, you're going to be asked to verify that it's accurate.
Review (Requires manual check)
Tables
A table that contains THead or TFoot and does not contain any TBody elements has been detected.
The table is not built correctly
Error
Tables
Table does not contain header cells.
Header cells have not been tagged in the table.
Error
Tables (Header cells)
Cell (#,#) does not have column headers associated with it.
There is a data cell (indicated by the numbers in parentheses) that does not have a column header assigned to it.
Error
Tables
Scope attribute not specified for TH element.
A table header cell has been tagged as a header cell but the “Scope” has not been set. Scope should be either column or row.
Error
Tables - Summary Attribute
Table doesn't define the Summary attribute.
The data table doesn't have a summary.
Warning. Table summaries are not required but they can be very helpful especially for very long, complex tables that don't have captions. This is bringing to your attention that the table doesn't have a summary.
Metadata
The Marked entry in the document catalog has not been set to true.
Note
EU customers must contact our partner CommonLook directly for PDF remediation quotes at their own discretion due to regulatory requirements. The PDF Remediation option continues to be available for customers in other geographical regions.
The document is tagged but the “flag” has not been set to indicate that the document is tagged.
Error
Metadata
Document does not define the dc:Title metedata attribute.
The document title has not been set in the metadata
Error
Metadata
ViewerPreferences dictionary of the Catalog dictionary does not contain DisplayDocTitle key.
The document's settings are not set to display the document's title when the PDF is opened.
Error
Metadata - Title and Viewer Preferences
Please verify that a document title of [Title of the document] is appropriate for this document.
The document has a title but you're being asked to make sure that the title is correct for the specific file.
Review (Requires manual check)
Metadata - Language
Please ensure that the specified language [the language will be indicated] is appropriate for the document.
Review (Requires manual check)
Headings
Heading Level skipped. The message may very but it'll indicate what the previous heading and next heading levels are. For example, the previous heading is level 2 and the next heading is level 4.
Heading levels are skipped in the document.
Error
Headings
Document does not define any headings.
There aren't any heading tags in the document.
Error
Navigation - Headings
Document does not define any headings.
There aren't any heading tags in the document.
Error
Lists
The List contains no Lbl elements but the ListNumbering attribute is not set to None.
There are potentially two issues here:
Labels (the Lbl tag) haven’t been used in the list.
The List Numbering value is not correctly set.
Error
Lists
Example: Please verify that a ListNumbering value of Disc for the list is appropriate.
There may be other Warnings or "Review" statuses around the ListNumbering attribute if Clarity determines that there are potential issues with it. The "takeaway" for these would be to check and possibly fix the ListNumbering attributes.
Warning or Review (Requires manual check)
Links
An untagged annotation has been detected.
There is a link annotation in the document that has not been tagged.
Error
Links
Link tag does not have a Link annotation as a direct child.
There is a link Tag in the document but it does not contain a link Annotation.
Error
Links
Parent tag of Link annotation doesn't define the Alt attribute.
The Link tag does not have Alt text
Error if the link tag does not have Alt text and if the link annotation does not have Contents. However, this will be a Warning if the link annotation does have Contents.
Links
Link Annotation doesn't define the Contents attribute.
The link annotation doesn't have the Contents attribute assigned.
Error if the link tag does not have Alt text and if the link annotation does not have Contents. However, this will be a Warning if the link tag containing the annotation does have Contents.
Links
Please verify that Alt of [link tag's Alt text] is appropriate for the highlighted element.
When Alt text is provided, you're going to be asked to verify that it's accurate.
Review (Requires manual check)
Links
Please verify that Contents of [Contents on the link annotation] is appropriate for the highlighted element.
When link annotations have Contents, you'll be asked to verify that it's correct.
Review (Requires manual check)
Format, Layout, Color
Make sure that no information is conveyed by contrast, color, format or layout, or some combination thereof while the content is not tagged to reflect all meaning conveyed by the use of contrast, color, format or layout, or some combination thereof.
Make sure that color, or other visual cues, are not the only ways information is being conveyed.
Review (Requires manual check)
Contrast
Please ensure that the visual presentation of text and images of text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1, except for Large text and images of large-scale text where it should have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1, or incidental content or logos
This is asking you to verify that contrast in the document is sufficient.
Review (Requires manual check)
Contrast - Non-text Contrast
Please verify that all graphical elements need to have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1 against adjacent colors.
There's a bit of a typo here but, basically, make sure that the graphics and their adjacent colors have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1.
Review (Requires manual check)
Meaningful Sequence
CommonLook created # artifacts to hold untagged text/graphical elements.
There was stuff in the document that was not tagged so CommonLook Clarity put it in an Artifact container. It's probably fine but the checkpoint is asking you to verify that it's ok. Essentially, if everything that needs to be tagged is tagged then you're fine.
Warning
Header/Footer pagination artifacts
Page # does not contain header and/or footer Artifacts.
There is content on the page (or pages) but header and/or footer pagination artifacts have not been set. This may not be an issue, for example, if your document doesn't have any running headers or footers. But, if the document does have running headers and/or footers then the pagination artifact and subtype header or footer should be used.
Warning
Structural Issues
A tag of type [tag] is empty.
This message will vary depending on the type of tag that is empty but what it means is that you have empty tags in your Tags tree that might need to be removed. If, however, the empty tags are in data tables, and you need those empty cells for proper formatting, then you would not want to remove those.
Warning
Forms
The tool tip does not contain the label text for the highlighted form field.
Warning
Forms
Form field does not have a tool tip associated with it.
Form fields (widget annotations) are required to have tooltips.
Error
Forms
The Form Annotation does not define the TU attribute.
This is another wording of the preceeding error.
Error
Forms
Please verify that TU of [tooltip for the form field] is appropriate for the highlighted element.
Similar to Links and Figures, above, when form fields have tooltips, you'll be asked to verify that the tooltips are correct.
Review (Requires manual check)
Forms
Is the purpose of the input field clear and programmatically determinable?
Review (Requires manual check)
Forms
No form fields have been marked as Required. Please verify that none of the form fields in this document is a required form field.
Review (Requires manual check)
Forms
A form field has been detected with no validation rules. Please verify that the form field does not require validation.
Review (Requires manual check)
Did not find what you were looking for?
If this content did not answer your questions, try searching or contacting our support team for further assistance.
The document is tagged but the “flag” has not been set to indicate that the document is tagged.
Error
Metadata
Document does not define the dc:Title metedata attribute.
The document title has not been set in the metadata
Error
Metadata
ViewerPreferences dictionary of the Catalog dictionary does not contain DisplayDocTitle key.
The document's settings are not set to display the document's title when the PDF is opened.
Error
Metadata - Title and Viewer Preferences
Please verify that a document title of [Title of the document] is appropriate for this document.
The document has a title but you're being asked to make sure that the title is correct for the specific file.
Review (Requires manual check)
Metadata - Language
Please ensure that the specified language [the language will be indicated] is appropriate for the document.
Review (Requires manual check)
Headings
Heading Level skipped. The message may very but it'll indicate what the previous heading and next heading levels are. For example, the previous heading is level 2 and the next heading is level 4.
Heading levels are skipped in the document.
Error
Headings
Document does not define any headings.
There aren't any heading tags in the document.
Error
Navigation - Headings
Document does not define any headings.
There aren't any heading tags in the document.
Error
Lists
The List contains no Lbl elements but the ListNumbering attribute is not set to None.
There are potentially two issues here:
Labels (the Lbl tag) haven’t been used in the list.
The List Numbering value is not correctly set.
Error
Lists
Example: Please verify that a ListNumbering value of Disc for the list is appropriate.
There may be other Warnings or "Review" statuses around the ListNumbering attribute if Clarity determines that there are potential issues with it. The "takeaway" for these would be to check and possibly fix the ListNumbering attributes.
Warning or Review (Requires manual check)
Links
An untagged annotation has been detected.
There is a link annotation in the document that has not been tagged.
Error
Links
Link tag does not have a Link annotation as a direct child.
There is a link Tag in the document but it does not contain a link Annotation.
Error
Links
Parent tag of Link annotation doesn't define the Alt attribute.
The Link tag does not have Alt text
Error if the link tag does not have Alt text and if the link annotation does not have Contents. However, this will be a Warning if the link annotation does have Contents.
Links
Link Annotation doesn't define the Contents attribute.
The link annotation doesn't have the Contents attribute assigned.
Error if the link tag does not have Alt text and if the link annotation does not have Contents. However, this will be a Warning if the link tag containing the annotation does have Contents.
Links
Please verify that Alt of [link tag's Alt text] is appropriate for the highlighted element.
When Alt text is provided, you're going to be asked to verify that it's accurate.
Review (Requires manual check)
Links
Please verify that Contents of [Contents on the link annotation] is appropriate for the highlighted element.
When link annotations have Contents, you'll be asked to verify that it's correct.
Review (Requires manual check)
Format, Layout, Color
Make sure that no information is conveyed by contrast, color, format or layout, or some combination thereof while the content is not tagged to reflect all meaning conveyed by the use of contrast, color, format or layout, or some combination thereof.
Make sure that color, or other visual cues, are not the only ways information is being conveyed.
Review (Requires manual check)
Contrast
Please ensure that the visual presentation of text and images of text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1, except for Large text and images of large-scale text where it should have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1, or incidental content or logos
This is asking you to verify that contrast in the document is sufficient.
Review (Requires manual check)
Contrast - Non-text Contrast
Please verify that all graphical elements need to have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1 against adjacent colors.
There's a bit of a typo here but, basically, make sure that the graphics and their adjacent colors have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1.
Review (Requires manual check)
Meaningful Sequence
CommonLook created # artifacts to hold untagged text/graphical elements.
There was stuff in the document that was not tagged so CommonLook Clarity put it in an Artifact container. It's probably fine but the checkpoint is asking you to verify that it's ok. Essentially, if everything that needs to be tagged is tagged then you're fine.
Warning
Header/Footer pagination artifacts
Page # does not contain header and/or footer Artifacts.
There is content on the page (or pages) but header and/or footer pagination artifacts have not been set. This may not be an issue, for example, if your document doesn't have any running headers or footers. But, if the document does have running headers and/or footers then the pagination artifact and subtype header or footer should be used.
Warning
Structural Issues
A tag of type [tag] is empty.
This message will vary depending on the type of tag that is empty but what it means is that you have empty tags in your Tags tree that might need to be removed. If, however, the empty tags are in data tables, and you need those empty cells for proper formatting, then you would not want to remove those.
Warning
Forms
The tool tip does not contain the label text for the highlighted form field.
Warning
Forms
Form field does not have a tool tip associated with it.
Form fields (widget annotations) are required to have tooltips.
Error
Forms
The Form Annotation does not define the TU attribute.
This is another wording of the preceeding error.
Error
Forms
Please verify that TU of [tooltip for the form field] is appropriate for the highlighted element.
Similar to Links and Figures, above, when form fields have tooltips, you'll be asked to verify that the tooltips are correct.
Review (Requires manual check)
Forms
Is the purpose of the input field clear and programmatically determinable?
Review (Requires manual check)
Forms
No form fields have been marked as Required. Please verify that none of the form fields in this document is a required form field.
Review (Requires manual check)
Forms
A form field has been detected with no validation rules. Please verify that the form field does not require validation.
Review (Requires manual check)
Did not find what you were looking for?
If this content did not answer your questions, try searching or contacting our support team for further assistance.
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