What products export tagged PDF

In light of comments that we need to be more vendor neutral in our
discussion of PDF technology and not so centred on mainstream producers, I
took an action item to survey PDF creation tools, and discuss their support
of tags and accessibility, and their inclusion in our documents. 

I don't think we should reward PDF producers that don't create tagged PDFs
just for the sake of appearing "open". On the other hand, producers that
make an effort to create tools that produce tagged PDF should have as a
natural consequence of that effort a simple acknowledgment that they can
make tagged PDF. Here are my findings after a couple of hours of tests. I
would be glad for anyone else to kick in their experience.

Foxit
Although it allows for the editing of text within a PDF document, and
reveals the properties of text snips in PDF documents, it does not, in my
investigation, provide any way to edit tags or even view them. In addition
to spending the better part of an hour with it, a search of their manual, as
an attempt to see if they were buried somewhere, provides no search result
for the word "Tag" or "Accessibility". I conclude that it cannot be used to
achieve compliance with WCAG, and therefore recommend that it not be
included as a tool at the current time.

Free PDF XP
Tiny program, gives no access to tags

PDF Edit
No access to tags.

Google Docs
No tags on export.

MacOS
No tags on any export of any software product

Programs that produced accessible tags were:
       
-Adobe Acrobat
-MS Word 2007
-Open Office 
-Corel Word Perfect claims to export to tagged PDF (But I didn't test it)


There does not appear to be any other serious PDF tool that gives tags... if
anyone else knows of a product that produces an accessibly tagged PDF, feel
free to kick in.

Cheers
David MacDonald


-----Original Message-----
From: Loretta Guarino Reid [mailto:lorettaguarino@google.com] 
Sent: April-14-11 6:47 PM
To: David MacDonald
Subject: Your PDF tool research

David, would you mind writing up the results of your investigation of
the PDF tools and viewers and emailing it, possibly to the WCAG list
but definitely to the WCAG-editors list?

Thanks, Loretta

Received on Tuesday, 19 April 2011 02:10:38 UTC