Work with Text

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Review the Text

Review the text you received to determine if headings are provided correctly. 

Why?

Headings are used for structural purposes, not just visual styling. 

A document is not accessible without correct headings.  Do not proceed with designing the document if headings are not provided correctly.

Designers should review the course on headings to gain context for this process.

How?

Work with your user or writer/editor if headings are not provided correctly.

Review best practices and requirements for headings.

Clean Up the Text

Clean up the text to remove unnecessary characters.

Why?

Text full of local overrides, weird characters, breaks, and returns is problematic for you as a designer, creates poor typography for readers, and results in an awkward listening experience for screen reader users.

How?

Follow David Blatner’s process for using the FindChangebyList script to declutter text.

Use Anne-Marie Concepción’s process for Redefinining Paragraph Styles.

Run PerfectPrepText script to create Character Styles from local formatting.

Use a Paragraph Style to automatically prevent runts.

Review best practices for typography.

Use Paragraph Styles for All Text

Use Paragraph Styles for all text. Map each Paragraph Style to the correct PDF export tag.

Paragraph Styles apply to the whole paragraph and they impose the same point size and leading on any text that uses them.  Paragraph Styles support PDF Export Tags that correspond to headings. 

These Paragraph Styles are typical of most accessible InDesign documents:

  • H1 – Title (use PDF export tag H1)
  • H2 – Major Topic (use PDF export tag H2)
  • H3 – Minor Topic (use PDF export tag H3)
  • H4 – Subtopic (use PDF export tag H4)
  • P – body text, calls to action, asides (use PDF export tag P)
  • LI – numbers and bullets (use PDF export tag “Automatic”)

Do not use the PDF tag “H” in InDesign.  It is not a real heading level.

Why?

Text mapped to Paragraph Styles is the basis for all accessible documents. 

All text must be mapped to a PDF Tag or it is not accessible.

Only Paragraph Styles support PDF Export Tags that correspond to headings.  All text becomes a Tag in Acrobat PDF. Access technologies (such as screen readers) follow Tags to present the content to users.

How?

  1. Set a Document Title under File > File Info > Basic > Document Title.  The Document Title should be the same thing as the H1. (Add additional meta data if desired. )
  2. Map the Paragraph styles to the correct PDF Tag under Edit Paragraph Style > Export Tagging> PDF Tag.
  3. Label Paragraph Styles with the heading level so you can easily know what they are.

Verify all Paragraph Styles are mapped to export tags by choosing the “More” menu in Paragraph Styles and selecting “Edit all Export Tags.”  Or, run the Check Document for Accessibility Script.

Map to an HTML export tag if you want to export to HTML using the plugin SimpleHTML for InDesign.

Figure 1: File Info menu showing where to set the Document Title and other metadata.
Figure 2: Paragraph Style options menu showing where to set the export tag.
Figure 3: Paragraph Styles menu showing clearly labeled styles

Paragraph Styles and Body Text

Tag body text as P.

Anything that is not a heading (a section) is body text and should be tagged as P.

Body text can include calls to action, paragraphs, asides, et cetera.

Paragraph Styles and Lists

Use lists correctly.

Create a Paragraph Style but leave the PDF export tag set to “Automatic” for numbered and bulleted lists.

Do not use weird characters to simulate bullets.  Use actual bullets / automatic bullets based on Unicode characters only.

If text is a list, tag it as a list. Users cannot move through the list and have one of the list items repeated if the items aren’t tagged as a list – they have to start all over with the entire list.

If you don’t want to see bullets on your list, tag it as a list set to the PDF export tag “automatic,” but in the Paragraph Style, choose Bullets and Numbering > List Type: Bullet > Add > and select the first blank box. Then, select it from the Bullet Character choices. You won’t see bullets at all, but the list will still be tagged as such so it will read properly and users can move through it.

Choose the first empty box if you don’t want to see a bullet.
Then, select it from the Bullet Character choices.

Paragraph Styles and Character Styles

Use Character Styles for unique visual styling.

Character Styles cannot map to PDF export tags, but are useful for providing unique visual styling for text that shares the same PDF export tag with other text.

Character Styles work with characters only.  Think of them as an override to make text look unique, i.e. to bold or italicize a word within the same paragraph

Multiple Character Styles are recommended over multiple Paragraph Styles for the simple fact that it can be confusing to have multiple Paragraph Styles mapped to PDF export tags while learning this process. However, having more than one Paragraph Style for the same heading level is fine as long as it is mapped to the correct PDF export tag.

If you didn’t use Styles while designing… Set a Character Style first to preserve the visual formatting for text that needs a unique appearance (but same point size and leading).  Then, apply the Paragraph Style to both and the Character Style to the unique text.

Figure 4: Paragraph Style menu showing how differently styled text can share the same Paragraph Style because a Character Style provides the unique visual styling.
Figure 5: Character Style menu showing how character styles are used to establish different visual styling.

Use Returns and Breaks Correctly

Create space between paragraphs using “Space Before” or “Space After,” not returns.

Avoid avoid orphans, widows, and runts, but use a “No Break” Character Style to keep words together instead of soft returns.

Do not use hard returns, soft returns (also called manual line breaks) for any reason, unless you would like to learn PDF remediation.

Why?

Access technologies such as screen readers reflow the text according to the users’ needs. Returns signify the end of a paragraph and that gets read to the user.  This is confusing if the paragraph has not actually ended. 

It violates accessibility standards to break an element into two separate Tags, and returns do exactly that.  Elements broken into separate Tags have to be manually remediated in Acrobat.

If you use soft returns (also called manual line breaks), with Shift+Enter, you must include a space between the word and the soft return or it will not be read correctly.  You must also manually remediate the separate tags in Acrobat to create a single tag.

How?

Use “Space Before” or “Space After” to create space between paragraphs. Set that in the Paragraph Style, or choose the less ideal method of overriding the style. (It does not affect accessibility to override a style.)

Use a Character Style called “No Break” to separate words onto two lines.

In the Character Style Options menu, choose Basic Character Formats and check “No Break.” (Make sure it displays a check mark.) Select the text and apply the Character Style.  InDesign will keep both words on the first line or move them to the second line.

Use this style before the text you want to break so the paragraph rags the way you want it to.  If the orphan, widow, or runt is not corrected, undo applying the “No Break” style. Select a different group of words, then reapply the style until the issue is corrected.

You can create multiple “No Break” character styles for differently formatted text.

Figure 6: Character Style menu showing where to set “No Break.”

Build Tables Correctly

If your document includes tables, you must build them correctly.

  1. Review “Apply Best Practices: Tables” before getting started.
  2. Specify the header row or column when you first create the table.
  3. Add data to the table as normal.
  4. Know that you will still have to adjust the table in Acrobat because InDesign cannot properly export the table to convey the relationships between the header and data cells.
Figure 7a: You must specify a header row when creating a table in InDesign.
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Video: Remediating Tables in Acrobat

Set Text Frame Options

Use “Cap Height” for precise alignment.

This doesn’t affect accessibility, but it is a best practice to set each text frame to Cap Height so there is no empty space at the top of the frame for precise alignment.

Click on the text frame and choose “Text Frame Options” or hit CMD+B.

Under baseline options, change from “Ascent” to “Cap Height.”

Figure 7b: Text Frame Options menu showing where to set the text frame to Cap Height.

Alt-Tag Outlined Text

General Guidance

Outlined text cannot be read by screen readers. You must outlined text as an image and alt-tag it with what it says.

Considerations for Headings

If the outlined text is a heading, you’ll have to make special adjustments.

One solution is to “hide” the heading tag behind the outlined text.

You can do this by setting the text to be the same color as the background it is overlaid on and mapping the PDF export tag to the appropriate heading level using a Paragraph Style. For example, you can create a Heading 1 Paragraph style that has a white fill color and set that white text on a white background so that it is invisible to sighted users. Then, artifact the outlined text so that only the tagged, “hidden” heading is read. The Heading 1 Style will be properly voiced in JAWS but no one will see it. This will pass the PDF/UA standard in PAC2024 but fails the WCAG criteria for color-contrast.

The concern with this method is, “… that it can create a cognitive barrier for users of assistive technology who are sighted as they’ll see something other than the figure get highlighted when using assistive technology.” Chad Chelius describes an alternative method in the article Dealing with a Figure That Really is a Heading.

Use Parent Pages Correctly

Use parent pages to save time by automatically artifact background shapes, page numbers, running headers and footers and other repetitive page information.

Everything on a parent page cannot be read by a screen reader. Items on parent pages are automatically “artifacted,” meaning the screen reader skips them and the user does not hear that content.

Do not place anything on a parent page that screen reader users need to hear.

Hold CMD+Shift and click the object to promote an object from the parent page to the actual page so that it is read by the screen reader.

Screen reader users navigate the document by headings, not page numbers, and do not need to hear the name of the document or the title of the section over and over.

Use hyperlinks for internal references and external links.

Internal references direct users to a specific page in the document and external links direct users to websites, emails, and phone numbers.

  • For phone numbers, use the URL option, but add tel:555-555-5555 to make it a live link
  • For websites, make sure the protocol is always https:// not http://
  • For tables of contents, text anchors and page links, you must set the zoom setting to “inherit zoom” or it’s not accessible
  • See more hyperlink tricks

For all hyperlinks:

  • Make sure the hyperlinked text is unique and not repetitive like “click here” or “read more.”
  • Make sure the hyperlinked text includes a descriptive alt-tag. Make sure to explain what the link does – for example, opens a website, opens an email, goes to a page or section in the document, or launches an application to dial a phone number.
  • Never use multi-line hyperlinks. Use a URL shortener.
  • Never break hyperlinks across two lines. Use the “No Break” Character Style.
  • Always uncheck the option for “Shared Hyperlink Destination” for each hyperlink.
  • Always include an alt-tag for each hyperlink to describe where the hyperlink goes. If you do not, it will flag as an error and you will have to manually remediate it in Acrobat PDF.
Figure 8: Edit Hyperlink menu showing how to link email addresses.
Figure 9: Edit Hyperlink menu showing how to link phone numbers.
Figure 10: Edit Hyperlink menu showing how to link to websites.
Figure 11: Edit Hyperlink menu showing how to alt-tag website links.
Figure 12: Edit Hyperlink menu showing how to set pages to “inherit zoom”

Use an Automatic Table of Contents

Use an automatic table of contents for documents over 3 pages.

The Table of Contents is driven by the heading structure / Paragraph Styles.

How?

  1. Set up Paragraph Styles for the TOC entries according to how you want them to look. Map them to the P export tag for PDF.
  2. Let InDesign build the TOC automatically in Layout > Table of Contents. Choose the heading levels you want in your TOC and associate them with the desired Paragraph Styles.
  3. You must use single-line TOC entries only. You will need to simplify entries that break across multiple lines or you will have to remediate them in PDF.
  4. Add any space before or after as necessary and redefine your Paragraph Styles as necessary.
  5. Create a Character Style and use the Underline Options to set a stroke style with dots.  Use the offset options to align it. Watch this video from Chad Chelius to learn how.
  6. Go to each automatic tab in the TOC (located between the end of the TOC entry and the page number). Click on it, then apply the leader dots Character Style.
  7. Individually select each page number in the TOC, right-click and choose Hyperlink > Edit Hyperlink.
  8. Manually edit each hyperlinked entry in the TOC to use the zoom setting “inherit zoom”
  9. Manually edit each hyperlinked entry in the TOC to have an alt-text to describe what the link does and/or where it goes.
  10. Let InDesign build a SECOND TOC automatically in Layout > Table of Contents. Uncheck the option to “Replace Existing Table of Contents.” Drag this TOC off of the page and into the pasteboard of the document.
  11. DO NOT thread the table of contents in with the rest of your text. It will convert the <TOC> tag to a <P> tag.

Why?

You must use an automatic table of contents or it is not accessible. Never create a table of contents manually.

The first TOC is visible on the page must have the proper zoom settings and hyperlinks with alt tags. “Inherit zoom” must be used because it is not accessible to force a user to view something a certain way. Inherit Zoom” honors whatever zoom setting the user has chosen. By default, InDesign uses “fit in window,” so this has to be changed on every TOC entry. Alt-tags are required for all hyperlinks to describe where they go or what they do.

This second TOC that is off the page and in the pasteboard makes the bookmarks. Bookmarks are required per the criteria.

Screen reader users are forced to hear an almost endless string of “dotdotdotdotdotdot” if automatic leader dots are used. You must use the Character Style instead.

Other zoom settings are not permitted because you may not impose a way of viewing the document on users – they must be able to zoom in on the document in a way that meets their needs and “Inherit Zoom” honors whatever zoom setting they have chosen.

The <TOC> tag is required for accessible documents. <P> for a table of contents does not meet the criteria.

Figure 13: Setup with no styles and adjusted levels for the table of contents that will generate the bookmarks in PDF.
Figure 14: The table of contents in the pasteboard makes the bookmarks and visual table of contents on the page that is also “clickable.”
Figure 15: The table of contents styles are both mapped to the P export tag.
Figure 16: Proper handling for links in an automatic table of contents showing “Inherit Zoom” and alt-tag.

Use Automatic Footnotes and Endnotes

Use automatic footnotes and endnotes in the Endnote and Footnotes panel.

Don’t manually create them because they will not get linked properly and you will have to manually remediate them in Acrobat PDF.

Artifact Text if Necessary

Artifact text you do not want read by a screen reader.

Artifact text if you do not want to use a parent page for some reason to artifact page numbers, running headers and footers and other repetitive page information.

Create a Paragraph Style named “artifact” and set the PDF export tag to “artifact.” Apply the style to text you do not want a screen reader user to hear.

Never artifact text that screen reader users need to hear.

“Some other elements that are automatically artifacted by InDesign:

  • Anything placed on a parent/master page is automatically artifacted.
  • Graphic frames are similar to text frames: the container frame itself is artifacted, leaving the graphic intact and tagged as <Figure>.
  • Rules above/below, Borders, and Shading [on text frames] are automatically artifacted and leave the text content intact and tagged.
  • Underlines on text, including those used to indicated hyperlinks are automatically artifacted.
  • Cell Borders and Shading in tables are artifacted, leaving the cell contents intact and tagged.
  • Borders/rules between columns are artifacted.
  • If using footnotes, the short horizontal line above the first footnote’s text is artifacted.

“You only have to manually artifact something only if you deliberately create or place it on the page, like an unimportant graphic that is only eye candy but has no significant visual information to convey. Otherwise, InDesign pretty much automatically takes care of the items listed above.”

– Bevi Chagnon, Designer & Technologist for Accessible Documents

Use Character Color Selectively

You may need to “hide” text from sighted users but cause it to be exported with a tag to work with access technologies.

You can do this by hiding tagged text behind a background shape (Arrange > Send to back) or by using the same fill color for the text on top of the background (blue on blue.) This will flag as a WCAG color contrast error but not as a PDF/UA error.

A “no fill” color for characters exports as artifacted text, even if it is mapped to a PDF export tag. This is helpful for anchoring form fields to tables – there is nothing to anchor the form field to without text in the cell. Change the text to “no fill” before exporting and there will be no visible text in the cells and form fields will still be in the proper order in the tags tree.

Course Sections

Course Overview

  1. Understand Inclusive and Accessible Content
  2. Configure Your Workspaces
  3. Plan the Layout
  4. Work with Text
  5. Work with Visuals
  6. Create Drafts
  7. Learn Special Considerations for Publications
  8. Finalize the Document: Check, Set Reading Order, and Export
  9. Perform Post-Process in Acrobat
  10. Test the Document
  11. Make Additional Changes
  12. Explore Bonus Features
  13. Engage with More Resources

Checklist for Accessible InDesign Documents