Text embedded in decorative shapes in PowerPoint should be tagged as artifact when converted to PDF
When PowerPoint files are converted to PDF, all shapes containing embedded text that were excluded from reading order in PowerPoint are being tagged inappropriately during the conversion to be read by assistive technology anyway. Tagging and reading order as specified in PowerPoint should be carried over to Adobe PDF, and if text is marked to be excluded from reading order because it is actually decorative, this should be honored in the conversion process. For example, we use callout markers that consist of a solid circle with a number embedded in it (1, 2, 3, etc.). The numbered circles are excluded from reading order in PowerPoint because the screenshot they are marking is already described in brief text on the slide, and the numbers in the circles, by themselves, are meaningless when read by a screen reader. However, when I convert the file to PDF, the numbers in the circles are tagged as readable text for assistive technology.
Yes, Adobe Acrobat Pro supplies ways to manually fix accessibility issues, but we shouldn't have to use it to fix accessibility issues caused by Adobe during the conversion process when the source file was set up correctly for accessibility in PowerPoint, Word, etc.
Lisa Spirko
shared this idea
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Valerie Fournand commented
I am having the same issue. Please advise.