Working with Chemistry (CL Edu)

Chemistry in the Simplified Editor

Descriptions (alternative text) for chemical equations/formulas as well as chemical diagrams, can be automatically detected and generated by CommonLook Edu.  

• In a PDF output, for example, chemical equations will be placed in Formula tags and the Chemistry description will be used as the Alt text for the Formula tag.  
• In an E-text output, the Chemistry description will take the place of the equation.  
• In accessible large-print Word documents, chemical diagrams will be treated as images and their Alt text will be populated with the hemistry description from CL Edu.

When the system detects chemistry in the simplified editor content, it will be placed in a container and marked as chemistry, and will automatically create the Chemistry description.  To check it for accuracy and edit if needed, follow these directions:

• Click on the Chemistry container.  (If it’s inline, you will have to select the “parent” container, choose “Edit Inline,” and then click on the Chemistry container. Alternatively, you could also click the symbol to access the toolbar with functions for inline elements.)

• With the Chemistry container selected, click on the “Chemistry” button in the toolbar (or, in the “child toolbar” if the equation is inline).
• On the right side of the interface, below the buttons for “Page Elements” and “Reading Order,” you’ll find the “Chemistry description” dialog box.  Verify and edit, if needed, the “Chemistry description,” here. 
• When you’re done making any edits, click “Save.”  
   

When Chemical Equations or Diagrams are not recognized

Sometimes, CommonLook Edu may not recognize content as chemistry. When running a PDF through the system, during “Clarify Page Elements” or in the “Full Document Review,” mark the chemistry content using the steps described below. CL Edu doesn’t currently detect chemistry elements automatically.

1. In CL Edu, draw a box around the chemical diagrams or reaction equations,

2. In the toolbar that opens, choose “Chemistry” to create a Chemistry container.
   

3. Verify and edit the Chemistry description (as described in that section, above). If the description is not accurate, try resizing the element. Ensure the entirety of the diagram is within the boundaries of the element.

4. Hit “Save.”

Converting detected elements to Chemistry in the PDF source

CL Edu may detect the text or image on the page but not recognize it as a chemical diagram or reaction equation, putting it in a Text or Image container instead of in a Chemistry container.  If that’s the case, select the Text (or Image) container and, in the toolbar, use the “Chemistry” button to convert it to a Chemistry container.   

Then, verify and edit the Chemistry description as needed.

Chemical reaction equations as images in the PDF source

CL Edu can produce descriptions (alt text) of chemical reaction equations, regardless of whether the content is extractable text or an image in the source document.  Mark the image of an equation as Chemistry as outlined above.

Verify and edit the Chemistry description as needed and hit “Save.” 

Note:  If your remediation will result in an accessible Word document, the image of the equation will be converted to OfficeMath or a MathType object which you could then further edit, in the Word document, if needed.

Chemistry content in data tables 

When the source file is a PDF, if you have a data table that contains chemistry content, start with properly marking the data table (correct columns, rows, marking headers as needed, etc.) and then mark the chemistry in the cells as needed. Refer to the articles on Tables in the CommonLook PDF Simplified Editor, for more information.

With the table marked correctly, use the “Edit Inline” button in the toolbar to add the Chemistry containers in the data cells, as needed. 

The screenshot below provides an example where there is a table of alcohols, their chemical formulas, and their structures.  

The screenshot below shows the same data table of alcohols with the chemical formulas and symbols in Chemistry containers. 

Note:  The “inline” chemistry containers, in the table cells, have slightly different icons as opposed to when chemistry is in its own container, so they can be easily differentiated from standalone chemistry containers. 

Chemistry content in Lists

When the source file is a PDF, if you have chemistry that is included in a list then you’ll need to make sure that the list container and its list items are structured correctly, in addition to checking the chemistry content.  Refer to the articles on Lists in the CommonLook PDF Simplified Editor, as needed. 

The “overview” steps to working with chemistry lists are as follows (and then we’ll provide more detail below):

1. Make sure the list is marked correctly, in a List container,
2. Resize the list body items, as needed, to contain the chemistry,
3. In the list, use“Edit Inline” to mark the chemistry in the list. 

Here are more specific details, and screenshots, for marking chemistry in a list:

1. Mark the list.  Notice in the screenshot below that the list has been “marked” (placed in a List container) but the chemical structures are not in containers within the list.  We’ll need to modify that next.
   
2. Select the List container and then choose the “List” button in the toolbar to open up be able to check and adjust the containers inside the list.
   
   
   
   The screenshot below shows the containers inside the List container, after hitting the List button in the toolbar.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Resize the list item that should be holding the chemistry, too.  In the screenshot below, the “boxes” with the word “Structure” in them have been resized to also include the chemical structure diagrams that they are related to.
   Note:  At this point, the Chemistry containers have not been created. We have simply resized the list items, as needed, so they can contain the inline Chemistry container, after it’s been marked.
   
   
   
   
4. Once you have resized the boxes, as needed, to contain the text and the chemistry, hit the “Close” button in the sub-toolbar that is open. This will bring you back to the “main” List container.
   
   
5. Select the “main” list container and then, in the toolbar, hit “Edit Inline.”
   
6. Then, in “Edit Inline,” draw a box around the chemistry content and, in the sub-toolbar, hit the “Chemistry” button.  Important:  Remember to check the “Chemistry description” and hit “Save” before marking the next chemical “item.”
   
   
7. Click into the next box where you’ll need to mark chemistry and repeat the process.  The screenshot below shows the three chemical structures in the list have been marked as “Chemistry.”
   
   
8. Hit the “Close” button in your inline editing when you’re done.
   
   

Important Note:  If you delete a “parent” container, such as a List, that has inline elements inside it, a dialog box will open telling you that the container has inline elements.  It will also ask you whether or not you want to keep those inline elements.  Choose “No,” create the new “parent” container as needed, then open the new “parent” container and create the new “inline” container(s) as needed.  

Notes based on accessible output

If you are generating:

1. An accessible PDF, the chemistry will be placed in Formula or Figure tags, based on whether the chemistry is an equation or a diagram of a chemical structure, for example.  The “equation description,” in CL Edu, will become the Alt text for the Formula and Figure tags.

2. An accessible, large-print Word file, the equations will be created in OfficeMath or MathType objects based on the settings that were selected in the first steps.  Images of chemistry will have Alt text assigned to them.

3. E-text, the “Chemistry description” will be used as the text for the chemical reaction equations and chemical diagrams.

4. Braille, chemical diagrams are replaced with their descriptions. Chemical equations and reactions are presented in UEB Braille code with Nemeth.