Re: Should PDF documents have headers and footers on every page?

Hi Gregg

Are you concerned that this recommendation could confuse our mapping of a
full PDF document to a web page for WCAG (WCAG2ICT)? I don't really see it
that way. I think our WCAG2ICT is fine and stable and not affected.

People will refer to "pages" of this PDF "web page" the same way that they
might refer to any other Section  of a document, and we have existing
techniques to do that currentlyPDF17, PDF14. We can't pretend the page
numbers in the PDF don't exist, can we? It is visually presented and we
need to make a way to programmatically expose it without annoying screen
reader users with all kinds of redundancy and interruptions.

Our current advice in PDF14 contradicts itself. It advises authors to make
headers and footers (and page numbers) available to screen readers using
the MS Word footer tags, which actually turns them into artifacts that are
ignored by screen readers. We also say use "pagination artifacts which are
also ignored. So we look pretty dumb I think. In the same sentence saying
to do something to make it programmatically accessible which renders it NOT
programmatically accessible.

I'm simply suggesting we clean up the language, be more specific, and
coordinate with the PDF/UA on this particular issue. I don't think this any
way compromises WCAG2ICT or changes the definition of the Web Page under
the WCAG. It exposes information in an accessible and elegant way by
syncing pages using PDF17 Technique and marking headers and footers up as
artifacts, and providing important information on the Title page, and
section headings, so screen reader users know what is going on.


Cheers,

David MacDonald



*Can**Adapt* *Solutions Inc.*

Tel:  613.235.4902

LinkedIn <http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmacdonald100>

www.Can-Adapt.com



*  Adapting the web to all users*
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On Tue, Jun 9, 2015 at 7:47 PM, Gregg Vanderheiden <
gregg@raisingthefloor.org> wrote:

> For documents - a full document is equated to a web page.  See WCAG2ICT
> report.
>
> *gregg*
>
> ----------------------------------
> Gregg Vanderheiden
> gregg@raisingthefloor.org
>
>
>
>
> On Jun 9, 2015, at 4:12 PM, David MacDonald <david100@sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
> I have compared what PDF/UA with WCAG say about headers and footers and
> have written up a small report and recommendations on how I think we should
> proceed with Headers and Footers in PDF documents.
>
> http://davidmacd.com/blog/pdf-headers-footers.html
>
> I think PDF14 requires an update quickly. I could take an action item to
> propose the rewrite.
>
>
> Cheers,
> David MacDonald
>
>
> *Can**Adapt* *Solutions Inc.*
> Tel:  613.235.4902
> LinkedIn <http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmacdonald100>
> www.Can-Adapt.com <http://www.can-adapt.com/>
>
>
> *  Adapting the web to all users*
> *            Including those with disabilities*
>
> If you are not the intended recipient, please review our privacy policy
> <http://www.davidmacd.com/disclaimer.html>
>
> On Mon, May 18, 2015 at 9:54 PM, Jonathan Avila <
> jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com> wrote:
>
>>  David, there are some good but very specific reasons to not artifact
>> header and footer information.  Otherwise running headers and footer should
>> be made pagination artifacts and the Page Labels feature should be used to
>> add Page numbering including section information to identify pages and
>> sections to assistive technology.  The page label feature is pretty
>> powerful and allows flexibility for different number schemes such as Roman
>> numbers and custom label prefixes.
>>
>>
>>
>> Some instances of header and footer information that might be useful
>> include classification information on classified documents, copyright
>> information, form numbers, or other content that is not located elsewhere
>> in the document.  In general I recommend marking that content as
>> non-artifact content on the first and last page so it does not break up the
>> reading order of content.
>>
>>
>>
>> Best Regards,
>>
>>
>>
>> Jonathan
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Jonathan Avila
>> Chief Accessibility Officer
>> SSB BART Group
>> jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com
>>
>>
>>
>> 703-637-8957 (o)
>> Follow us: Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/#%21/ssbbartgroup> | Twitter
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>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* David MacDonald [mailto:david100@sympatico.ca]
>> *Sent:* Monday, May 18, 2015 2:50 PM
>> *To:* WCAG
>> *Subject:* Should PDF documents have headers and footers on every page?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> We have a technique for Creating PDF headers and footers, usually inserted
>> using the source program such as MS Word Headers and Footers. See PDF14.
>>
>> http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/PDF14.html
>> This causes the screen reader to announce these Headers and footers at the
>> top and bottom of every page. Sometimes the interrupt reading halfway
>> through a sentence that continues on the following page. I can imagine
>> this
>> is quite annoying for screen reader users tp have to listen through a
>> header and a footer between every page.
>>
>> Visually we just skip over it... Usually most of the information found in
>> the header and footer is available on the home page of the document or some
>> other prominent place.
>>
>> What is useful is page numbers. However, if the author syncs the page
>> numbering of the PDF with the document large numbers using PDF17, it makes
>> me wonder if we should advise the author to mark headers and footers as
>> artifacts instead...
>>
>> An organization that teaches PDF, which is fairly well known, and has done
>> work for Adobe teaches to turn these headers and footers into artifacts so
>> they will be ignored by a screen reader.
>>
>> I propose we place a note on PDF14 saying something like this:
>>
>>  "If the page numbering has been synchronized as in PDF17 and other header
>> and footer information is available in a prominent place in the document
>> such as a heading or home page, then headers and footers are not necessary
>> and can be marked up as artifacts..."
>>   Cheers,
>> David MacDonald
>>
>> *CanAdapt* *Solutions Inc.*
>> Tel:  613.235.4902
>> LinkedIn <http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmacdonald100>
>> www.Can-Adapt.com <http://www.can-adapt.com/>
>>
>> *  Adapting the web to all users*
>>
>> *            Including those with disabilities*
>>
>>
>>
>> If you are not the intended recipient, please review our privacy policy
>> <http://www.davidmacd.com/disclaimer.html>
>>
>
>
>