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PDF Tables

 

Rows

If you are receiving this error, there is a TR tag in your content that is not the child of a Table, THead, TBody, or TFoot. To check a table element:

  1.  In the Tags panel, expand the tags root to view a table tag.
  2.  Select the table tag <Table> and verify that it contains one of the following elements:  
    1. Table Rows, each of which contains Table Header <TH> or Table Data<TD> cells.
    2. <THead>, <TBody>, and <TFoot> sections, each of which contains Table Rows. (The Table Rows contain <TH> cells, <TD> cells, or both.)
  3.  Do one or more of the following: 
    1. If the tag for the table doesn’t contain these elements, but rows, columns, and cells appear in the table in the document pane, use the Touch Up Reading Order tool to select and define the table or individual cells.
    2. If the table contains rows that span two or more columns, set ColSpan and RowSpan attributes for these rows in the tag structure.
    3. Re-create the table in the authoring application, and then convert it to a tagged PDF.
TH and TD

In a proper table, the TH and TD are children of a TR. To check a table element:

  1. In the Tags panel, expand the tags root to view a table tag.
  2. Select the table tag <Table> and verify that it contains one of the following elements:
    1. Table Rows, each of which contains Table Header <TH> or Table Data<TD> cells.
    2. <THead>, <TBody>, and <TFoot> sections, each of which contains Table Rows. (The Table Rows contain <TH> cells, <TD> cells, or both.)
  3. Do one or more of the following:
      1. If the tag for the table doesn’t contain these elements, but rows, columns, and cells appear in the table in the document pane, use the Touch Up Reading Order tool to select and define the table or individual cells.
      2. If the table contains rows that span two or more columns, set ColSpan and RowSpan attributes for these rows in the tag structure.
      3. Re-create the table in the authoring application, and then convert it to a tagged PDF.


Headers

For accessibility, it’s always necessary for a table in a PDF for have headers. To check a table element:

  1. In the Tags panel, expand the tags root to view a table tag.
  2. Select the table tag <Table> and verify that it contains one of the following elements:
      1. Table Rows, each of which contains Table Header <TH> or Table Data<TD> cells.
      2. <THead>, <TBody>, and <TFoot> sections, each of which contains Table Rows. (The Table Rows contain <TH> cells, <TD> cells, or both.)
  3. Do one or more of the following:
      1. If the tag for the table doesn’t contain these elements, but rows, columns, and cells appear in the table in the document pane, use the Touch Up Reading Order tool to select and define the table or individual cells.
      2. If the table contains rows that span two or more columns, set ColSpan and RowSpan attributes for these rows in the tag structure.
      3. Re-create the table in the authoring application, and then convert it to a tagged PDF.
Regularity

To be accessible, tables must contain the same number of columns in each row. And rows in each column. To check a table element:

  1. In the Tags panel, expand the tags root to view a table tag.
  2. Select the table tag <Table> and verify that it contains one of the following elements:
      1. Table Rows, each of which contains Table Header <TH> or Table Data<TD> cells.
      2. <THead>, <TBody>, and <TFoot> sections, each of which contains Table Rows. (The Table Rows contain <TH> cells, <TD> cells, or both.)
  3. Do one or more of the following:
      1. If the tag for the table doesn’t contain these elements, but rows, columns, and cells appear in the table in the document pane, use the Touch Up Reading Order tool to select and define the table or individual cells.
      2. If the table contains rows that span two or more columns, set ColSpan and RowSpan attributes for these rows in the tag structure.
      3. Re-create the table in the authoring application, and then convert it to a tagged PDF.
Table Summaries

Table summaries are completely optional, but may help improve the accessibility of your tables, and overall, your document. To add a table summary:

  1. Choose Tools > Accessibility > Reading Order
  2. Select the table by drawing a rectangle around it.
  3. In the Touch UP Reading Order dialog box, click Table.
  4. Right-click (on Windows) or Ctrl-Click(on Mac OS) Table.
  5. Click Edit Table Summary
  6. Enter a summary and click OK.