Alt tags for unimportant elements

[Outtacontext]

I have created a PDF from an InDesign file. I have added alt tags to important images. But, in a footer, I have a logo on every page (80 pages!) where I don't want to put an alt tag. If I leave it blank, will the screen reader ignore it? Or do I have to use something like a blank alt tag (i.e. "")? Thx.

[a_C_student]

Repeating footers should be marked as background artifacts.

[Outtacontext]

Thanks. And, how do you do that?

[Dave__M]

One way is to right-click on the tag itself in the Content panel and select Create Artifact... from the popup list.

You can further define the type in the next dialog box.

Or, using the Reading Order tool, you can select a tag on the page to select it, and click the Background button on the Touch Up Reading Order panel.

I hope this is helpful,

Dave

[Outtacontext]

Is there a way to do this in bulk? I have a logo at the bottom of each page (80 pages). I'd love to convert all of them to "background" at once. Is that possible?

[olafdruemmer]

You may want to try out the Preflight tool - it can mark everything as artifact (background object) that is not already included in the tagging structure. Obviously this implies you would do it as a last step (after everything is properly tagged). You would also want to do it on a copy of the PDF, just in case the outcome is not what you expected it to be.

To try this out, do this:

- launch the Preflight tool (cmd-shift-X, or go to Edit->Preflight, or search for it in the Tools view

- switch to the "PDF Standards" library (popup in the middle at the top of the Preflight window)

- again, in the Preflight window, switch to the "Fixups" list (click on the wrench icon)

- in the search field in the Preflight window, enter 'artifact'

- an item with the name "Mark all non-structure elements as artifact" will be shown

- click on the "Fix" button in the lower right to execute the fixup (again: make sure to work on a copy of your precious original PDF, or during execution of the fixup, save to a different file name and/or different folder)

Once completed, all elements should either be part of the tagging structure, or be marked as artifact (background element)

[raeben3]

I haven't worked in Indesign in a while but if your design uses Master Pages, then I believe anything on those master pages would automatically be tagged as Artifact in the PDF.  Now if you over-ride the Master Page on a particular page or pages, you may have to manually tag those items as Artifacts, but otherwise  believe this can be resolved in the ID file by using Master Pages.

[pixelstrolch]

If you are able to solve a tagging issue with an authoring software, like InDesign, you should do it there. In most cases this is the more efficient way. raeben3​​ already explained everything you need. Content on the master page is automatically going to be an Artifact. In either case, I recommend you to use the master page for repeating headers and footers, no matter what output you create.

[Outtacontext · Accepted solution]

I found out that the logos in the footer were put on the Master page in InDesign. So, that solves the problem. Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.