[accessibility] Some questions about tagged PDF

[Ross Moore]

Hi Jonathan.

On 10/12/2016, at 23:47, "Jonathan Fine" <jfine2358 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi
> 
> I agree with the statement, that producing PDF that meets
> accessibility standards is worth doing. The recent posts from Ross
> Moore and others interest me, and I'd like to be able to help.
> 
> I'd like to check my understanding of tagged PDF, and of the problem
> to be solved.  I'd be most grateful if the experts on this list could
> answer or comment on the questions below.
> 
> 1. Is https://taggedpdf.com/what-is-a-tagged-pdf/ a fair summary of
> what a tagged PDF is?

Yes, that is fair.
It mentions not just having tags, but being meticulous about how it is done.
That is exactly the realm of LaTeX document preparation.
It also mentions Reflow, which is currently problematic with any TeX-produced PDF.

> 2. Could a suitable tool create a useful HTML or XML document from a tagged PDF?

Absolutely. 

> 3. It there already such a tool?

Yes. Adobe's Acrobat Pro does this already.
It also exports into RTF and Word formats.
So Tagged PDF provides a good solution for submitting TeX PDFs to a journal that only accepts manuscripts done in M$ Word.

Styling from the PDF gets recorded as CSS rules, in the HTML output.
Non-textual material, such as mathematics, becomes images.

Another good program is  pdfToolbox  from  Callas Software.
It's for Windows only. They currently have a Sale.

> 
> Thank you in advance.
> 
> with best regards
> 
> 
> Jonathan

Hope this helps.

   Ross