Re: PDF/UA footer artifact discussion

Hi Jonathan,

I think the solution could be surprisingly easy and straightforward: 

for running headers and footers, and especially if they contain relevant content and if that content is non-redundant content :
- include them in the logical structure once (usually upon their first occurrence)
- for any occurrences that are repeated, just mark them as an artifact (such that they would not be presented again and again)

PDF/UA had the 'repetition' aspect of running headers and footers in mind when imposing constraints, the goal was not to throw out relevant content from the logical structure where such content should really be included in the logical structure (PDF/UA clearly states as one of its core requirements - which would take precedence whenever there is a conflict with some other provision - that all content must be contained in the logical structure: "... all real content shall be tagged ..." right at the beginning of section 7.1).

For page numbers the requirement is that they are represented correctly by means of the page number label (which is a kind of page related metadata in PDF). Where the page number is also printed on the page, it is then sufficient to keep it around as an artifact (in itself it doesn't really add much to the semantics, given the page number label is already easily available), but if retrieved anyway, by means of its page number attribute, it can be distinguished from other artifacts on the page (which is especially important as it typically just consists of a digit or two).


HTH.

Olaf


PS: BTW - "...prevents access by users with disabilities..." is a bit of a strong statement here. PDF/UA clearly indicates how it can be accessed. And we should not assume the only accessibility scenario is a world consisting just of screen reader users...

On 11 Mar 2013, at 00:51, Jonathan Avila wrote:

> There is one item in PDF/UA that I believe needs to be addressed and discussed.  I’m raising the issue here to get others opinions as it relates to WCAG conformance.  The PDF/UA specification indicates that repeating headers and footers, page numbers, Bates numbers, etc. must be artifacts in order for a document to be PDF/UA conformant.      Many documents contain very important information in the footer including page/section numbers that do not correspond to the PDF reader’s displayed page numbers.  These important page numbers and sections may be referenced in the document text.  Additionally, important form information such as tax forms contain numbers and version of the form in the footers – access to the information is absolutely necessary for users with disabilities.  Furthermore, Bates numbers may contain copyright information that users need access to.  Artifacting this information prevents access by users with disabilities and would cause a document in my opinion to not conform to WCAG 2.
>  
> The Technical Implementation Guide that AIIM has posted on PDF/UA http://www.aiim.org/Research-and-Publications/standards/committees/PDFUA/Technical-Implementation-Guide indicates the following:
>  
> 7.1 is the core of PDF/UA; it contains most of the essential concepts pertaining to page-content.
> Paragraphs 1 and 2
> The following elements of a page's content should always be understood as "Artifacts".
> •Repeating headers or footers, even if entered by a user.
> •Slide backgrounds, even if user-defined.
> •Page numbers.
> •Usually, any items that tend to repeat page after page.
> •Bates numbers (NOTE: ISO 32000-2 will introduce a new type of artifact to contain Bates numbers)
> Artifacts can never be a part of the logical structure tree. As PDF/UA-1 requires that page content is either contained in the document's semantic structure or marked as an artifact, all page content must be either contained in the logical structure or marked as an Artifact.
>  
> Is there is a way to reconcile PDF/UA and WCAG 2 in this area?
>  
> Best Regards,
>  
> Jonathan