Re: Inaccessibility of EN301-549 (PDF format) Standards for screen reader users

Hello All,
I learn that Accessibility Standards Canada has published an html version
of the current EN301549. I am told that  "It is not perfect either, but a
lot easier to handle" compared with the PDF EN version.
https://accessible.canada.ca/en-301-549-accessibility-requirements-ict-products-and-services-1
Thanks,
Sailesh Panchang | +1 (571) 344-1765
Technical Solutions Architect

Email: sailesh.panchang@deque.com
Deque Systems Inc | - Accessibility for Good | www.deque.com














On Sun, Jul 10, 2022 at 10:18 PM Sailesh Panchang <spanchang02@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hello Duff,
> Perhaps a consolation for ETSI that ISO too has issues with their PDF docs!
> Good to note what task the PDF Association is currently working on in
> reference to Guide 71.
> But through this thread, I am trying specifically to get more people
> and AT / SR users to advocate for an accessible EN 301549. Surely the
> standard should itself meet the accessibility criteria for e-docs. I
> request help in that regard please.
> Thanks,
> Sailesh
>
>
> On 7/7/22, Duff Johnson <duff@duff-johnson.com> wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > ISO has similar (but different) problems with their PDF publishing. For
> > example, in ISO standards (similar to ETSI, ISO also publishes in PDF)
> list
> > items are tagged as paragraphs.
> >
> > Under special arrangement with ISO, ISO 14289 is (still) the only ISO
> > standard to conform to ISO 14289 (PDF/UA).
> >
> > We (the PDF Association) are currently finalizing a report for ISO that
> > assesses, at a high level, ISO products and processes for accessibility
> > consistent with ISO’s Guide 71.
> >
> > https://www.iso.org/standard/57385.html
> >
> > I encourage you to review Guide 71 (which, unlike most ISO publications,
> is
> > freely available) for similar purposes…. and let ISO (as well as IEC)
> know
> > of your findings.
> >
> > Duff Johnson
> >
> > ISO 32000 & ISO 14289, Project Leader
> > PDF Association, CEO
> >
> > https://www.pdfa.org
> >
> > p  +1.617 283 4226
> > e  duff.johnson@pdfa.org
> > l  http://www.linkedin.com/in/duffjohnson/
> >
> >
> >> On Jul 3, 2022, at 14:54, Sailesh Panchang <spanchang02@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hello Listers,
> >> I had highlighted the subject issue in 2019  but the issues still
> persist.
> >> So I followed up again just a few weeks ago by writing to ETSI.
> >> For instance at present the data tables  in Annex A (A.1 and A.2) that
> >> start on page 90 of version 3.2.1 (March 2021) do not convey
> relationship
> >> between header cells and data cells.
> >> The tables are not tagged to convey the column-span property. It appears
> >> the PDF is created by saving Word files as PDF and no further tagging is
> >> done.
> >> So it is almost impossible to comprehend the table structure using a
> >> screen reader.
> >> This problem would also be caught by testing with AT (if done) before
> the
> >> PDF is published publicly.
> >> So it is important for users who depend on AT / accessibility features
> to
> >> write to ESPsupport@etsi.org, convey their experience and urge ETSI to
> >> make necessary changes.
> >> It is not good that the standards  themselves pose accessibility
> >> problems.
> >> Thanks,
> >> Sailesh
> >>
> >
> >
>
>