How to Manually Tag a Table of Contents in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC

In today’s tutorial, we’ll dive into the step-by-step process of manually tagging a table of contents (TOC) in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC to ensure accessibility compliance.

Video Guide

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To begin, open your document in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. Don’t worry if your document lacks tags. We’ll create them from scratch.

Creating Document Tags: Right-click inside the accessibility tags window and select “Create Tags Root” to initialize the tagging process.
Adding Document Tag: Next, right-click again and add the document tag, establishing the parent structure.
Creating TOC Tag: Now, create a new tag for the table of contents (TOC) and nest it under the document parent tag.

Accessibility tags structure: Document tag with TOC tag nested under.

Tag the Table of Contents Items

Now comes the exciting part – tagging the table of contents items individually:

Tagging TOC Items: Utilize the “Create Tag from Selection” option to tag each TOC item, ensuring proper nesting within the TOC tag.
Fixing Tagging Errors: Use the “Prepare for Accessibility” tools to rectify any tagging errors or inconsistencies. We used the Reading Order tool.

Using the reading order tool to fix tagging errors.

Enhancing Accessibility

To improve accessibility further, we’ll address additional elements:

Handling Dots: Convert unnecessary elements like dots into artifacts to enhance screen reader experience.
Creating Hyperlinks: Make TOC items interactive by adding hyperlinks to navigate to specific pages within the document.

Final Touches

To wrap up the tagging process:

Reviewing Accessibility: Run the accessibility checker to identify any remaining issues and ensure compliance.
Optimizing Layout: Customize the layout by organizing TOC items and adding necessary reference tags.
Ensuring Compliance: Verify compliance with WCAG and PDF UA standards to guarantee accessibility for all users.

Awesome! You’ve now learned how to tag a table of contents in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC for accessibility compliance. While there are faster methods available, understanding the manual process empowers you to create fully accessible documents from scratch.

Let me be your champion for inclusion. I offer tailored solutions (and self-paced courses!) to ensure your documents meet and exceed compliance expectations. For more detailed insights, tutorials, and in-depth discussions on accessibility and related topics, don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel: The Accessibility Guy on YouTube. Subscribe for regular updates!