{
"content": [
{
"text": "services articles resources projects community Search: Introduction to Web Accessibility WebAIM Training Review of CommonLook PDF Plug-in Home > Resources > Review of CommonLook PDF Article Contents Introduction Tools and Features Report and Repair Conclusion Introduction CommonLook PDF is a plug-in for Adobe Acrobat Pro DC to create, evaluate, and repair tagged PDF documents\u2014often more efficiently than Acrobat alone. As of April 2020, a license costs around $900/year, with government and educational discounts available. The plug-in is only supported on Windows, and while it can work on files in any language, the software itself is only available in English. CommonLook also offers CommonLook Office for Word and PowerPoint and CommonLook Clarity to evaluate and monitor PDF accessibility (not reviewed in this article). Not an Acrobat replacement",
"source_file": "webaim-org-resources-commonlook-....pdf",
"page_number": 1,
"chunk_id": 0,
"source_type": "WebAIM"
},
{
"text": "PDF accessibility is primarily focused on aligning the file's tag structure with the visual presentation, and this is what CommonLook does well. However, you must use Acrobat to add tags to an untagged PDF. Acrobat is also required for any content changes to a PDF. This is a deliberate decision by the Creators of CommonLook PDF so that their tool will never impact the look or behavior of a PDF. These content changes include running optical character recognition (OCR) on PDFs that do not contain real text, adding links, and creating fillable forms. It is also a good idea to repair the content order of a PDF using Acrobat's Reading Order tool and Order pane. The content order determines how the PDF will be displayed when viewed using \"Reflow\" in on desktop or \"Reading Mode\" on mobile. Important Make all content changes in Acrobat before running CommonLook PDF. Tools and Features To get started, Open Acrobat, open the desired PDF, then select Plug-Ins > CommonLook > CommonLook PDF in the software menu. Menu options are presented at the top, tags on the left side, the PDF in the center, and other toolbars on the right. Most panels can be undocked and moved, even to a different screen.",
"source_file": "webaim-org-resources-commonlook-....pdf",
"page_number": 2,
"chunk_id": 0,
"source_type": "WebAIM"
},
{
"text": "Tip Pressing Ctrl + Tab will show a list of all the panels within CommonLook, making it easy to navigate between areas with a keyboard. Merging, deleting, reordering, and changing the nesting of tags is easy\u2014much easier than in Acrobat. Below are some of the features that make CommonLook PDF a useful tool. Properties panel Like Acrobat, selecting a tag in the sidebar will highlight this option in the PDF. Tag properties are grouped conveniently in the lower right corner of the screen. These properties include tag type, title text, alt text, language, and header information for tables.",
"source_file": "webaim-org-resources-commonlook-....pdf",
"page_number": 3,
"chunk_id": 0,
"source_type": "WebAIM"
},
{
"text": "Tag Similar Tag Similar can be used to apply the same tag to all blocks of text with the same styling (e.g., the same size, color, and font). For example, if a document contains 40 instances of 18pt blue Arial text that should be second-level heading, tag the first instance with
and then use Tag Similar to tag to the remaining 39 headings with
. Tables Editing complex tables in Acrobat can be difficult and time consuming. CommonLook PDF has several tools for working with tables\u2014probably its most valuable features. Table editor The Table Editor facilitates quick table evaluation and repair. Features include the ability to specify column and row header scope, change header cells to data cells, insert cells, and to assign or generate \"linked headers.\" There are also buttons to skip to the previous and next tables within the document. Linearize layout tables CommonLook PDF includes option an option to linearize layout tables by row or by column, converting each cell to a paragraph and removing extraneous table markup\u2014a task that is very time consuming in",
"source_file": "webaim-org-resources-commonlook-....pdf",
"page_number": 4,
"chunk_id": 0,
"source_type": "WebAIM"
},
{
"text": "Acrobat. Create lists CommonLook PDF can quickly create lists. Simply highlight the block of text and select the Generate List from Selection icon. A similar feature exists to add the correct tags to a table of contents. This saves time over Acrobat alone, which has no tool to create lists\u2014the list structure must be manually added and manipulated within the tags panel, which is a tedious process. Forms There are also tools for reviewing and repairing the accessibility of fillable forms. (You must use Acrobat to create fillable forms, because doing so impacts the content.) Report and Repair The evaluation tools within CommonLook PDF are robust but somewhat complicated. All relevant PDF accessibility standards are supported including WCAG 2.0 and 2.1, Section 508,and PDF/UA. To begin evaluating, select a standard from the Standards panel in the upper- right corner, and choose either Incremental or Full report type. Results are displayed in a table docked in the center of the screen, under the main window. Long descriptions are hard to read without hovering over them and reading the mouse tooltip. This can be tedious at times, but it can often be addressed by changing the table width, removing unnecessary columns, or undocking the table and viewing it on a second screen. The report is very thorough, bordering on overwhelming. However, the results can",
"source_file": "webaim-org-resources-commonlook-....pdf",
"page_number": 5,
"chunk_id": 0,
"source_type": "WebAIM"
},
{
"text": "be sorted and filtered. Most issues can be resolved by right clicking the issue and selecting Fix. Some will be fixed automatically, but for most, a step-by-step \"Fix Wizard\" will pop up to walk you through repair. Most fixes have great wizards. The few that involve changes to the file's \"content\" require you to return to Acrobat. The checker is very thorough and helpful, but not perfect. Hovering and right- clicking on each issue can be a bit of a nuisance, but this is not a major issue. The rules and reports seem designed for PDF/UA (a standard primarily for PDF creation) and then modified for WCAG, which is more relevant to content evaluation and repair. For example, PDF/UA requires alternative text for links. WCAG does not, but the tool fails links lacking alternative text. What if you then give a link alternative text to satisfy the checker, but the alternative text does not contain the visible link text (e.g., a link with text of \"WCAG\" and alternative text of \"Web Content Accessibility Guidelines\")? This would fail the WCAG 2.1 Label in Name success criterion, but the checker does not flag this. WCAG results are also organized by guideline, even though WCAG states that success criteria are \"to be used where requirements and conformance testing are necessary.\" Organizing results by success criteria would make it much easier to group similar issues. It would also allow sorting by Level (A, AA, and AAA) and linking to the W3C's PDF Techniques for WCAG 2.0.",
"source_file": "webaim-org-resources-commonlook-....pdf",
"page_number": 6,
"chunk_id": 0,
"source_type": "WebAIM"
},
{
"text": "Conclusion CommonLook PDF is very complete for evaluating and repairing a tagged PDF. If your files only require occasional simple repairs that are easy to do in Acrobat, then it might be overkill. However, if you spend even a couple hours a week repairing PDF tags and can handle the up-front costs (both software cost and learning curve), this tool can significantly streamline the process of creating accessible PDF files. Last updated: Apr 28, 2020 Related Resources PDF Accessibility \u00a92025 WebAIM Utah State University 6807 Old Main Hill Logan, UT 84322-6807 435.797.7024 Check Your Accessibility Web site address: WAVE From the Blog Up and Coming ARIA Global Digital Accessibility Salary Survey Results Join the Discussion\u2014From Your Inbox Using Severity Ratings to Prioritize Web Accessibility Remediation Popular Resources WebAIM Training WCAG 2 Checklist WebAIM Monthly Newsletter Color Contrast Checker Web Accessibility for Designers WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool Contact About RSS Feeds Twitter Copyright & Terms of Use",
"source_file": "webaim-org-resources-commonlook-....pdf",
"page_number": 7,
"chunk_id": 0,
"source_type": "WebAIM"
},
{
"text": "services articles resources projects community Search: Introduction to Web Accessibility WebAIM Training Resources Home > Resources Popular Resources Introduction to Web Accessibility WCAG 2 Checklist Section 508 Checklist Web Accessibility Email Forum WebAIM Blog WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool Word and PowerPoint Evaluation Checklist Quick References and Cheat Sheets Infographic: Web Accessibility for Designers Web Accessibility Principles Testing for Web Accessibility HTML Semantics and Accessibility Cheat Sheet Tools Accessibility Evaluation Tools - An Overview Color Contrast Checker Color-reliant Link Contrast Checker CommonLook PDF Plug-in for Acrobat",
"source_file": "webaim-org-resources-....pdf",
"page_number": 1,
"chunk_id": 0,
"source_type": "WebAIM"
},
{
"text": "WAVE Keyboard Shortcuts JAWS Keyboard Shortcuts NVDA Keyboard Shortcuts \u00a92025 WebAIM Utah State University 6807 Old Main Hill Logan, UT 84322-6807 435.797.7024 Check Your Accessibility Web site address: WAVE From the Blog Up and Coming ARIA Global Digital Accessibility Salary Survey Results Join the Discussion\u2014From Your Inbox Using Severity Ratings to Prioritize Web Accessibility Remediation Popular Resources WebAIM Training WCAG 2 Checklist WebAIM Monthly Newsletter Color Contrast Checker Web Accessibility for Designers WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool Contact About RSS Feeds Twitter Copyright & Terms of Use",
"source_file": "webaim-org-resources-....pdf",
"page_number": 2,
"chunk_id": 0,
"source_type": "WebAIM"
},
{
"text": "HTML Semantics and Accessibility Cheat Sheet The following table lists the most common and useful HTML elements that have an impact on accessibility for users with disabilities. Element Semantics/Functionality Accessibility Considerations Defines a link if a non-empty href attribute is present. Ensure the element functions as a link\u2014it takes the user to another page/file or another location within the page. Ensure the link can be navigated and activated with a keyboard and has a visible focus indicator. Must contain content that describes the function of the link. Should typically be underlined within body content. Represents an abbreviation or acronym. The attribute value is presented to assistive technology. Best practice is to spell out acronyms and abbreviations in text at their first occurrence instead of using . Defines a hotspot within an image map (defined with