A Recommended Workflow (Desktop and Advanced Editor)

There are, essentially, two "parts" to the PDF remediation workflow.  Part 1 is "what happens in the document before you use CommonLook PDF and Part 2 is your approach while using CommonLook PDF. 

Prior to using CommonLook PDF: 

In Acrobat (or in your source document) – before using CommonLook PDF:

(Because in CommonLook PDF you can’t add or remove content and you can’t change the physical view of the PDF.)

1. Run OCR if the document is scanned.

2. Add Form fields and/or Links as needed.

3. Add Java Script if needed.

4. Embed fonts if needed (PDF/UA)

5. Add Tags to the document if needed – Check for corruption in the physical view!

6. “Save as” so that you’re not working on the original document!

Optional but helpful:

1. Print the Table of Contents and mark Heading Levels (in the margin).

2. Look over the document and see if there are tables that contain empty cells – if there are, remember to not do a “full” cleanup when cleaning empty tags!

3. Are there images that convey relevant information? If not (or if not many) then, in CommonLook PDF, it may be advantageous to “artifact all images” (lines on tables, for example).

In CommonLook PDF, prior to remediation:

1. In the ribbon on the Settings tab:

   1. Reset Panels Location if needed.

   2. Choose selection settings as appropriate (Exact, Tagged/Untagged, etc.).

Remediation work in CommonLook PDF: 

What follows is a good basic workflow to get started remediating a document after you've done anything that needs to be done in Acrobat, or at the source, first.  Refer to the checklist, linked above, for more information if needed. 

1. Open CommonLook.

2. Open the Tags tree.

   1. Artifact images as needed (refer to the “Optional” section).

   2. Remediate the document: (remember to save periodically!)

      1. Verify reading order,

      2. Check that the correct tag is being used,

      3. Look for color issues,

      4. Fix tables, forms, links, artifact headers/footers, etc. as needed.

      5. Clean up empty tags.

      6. Set the Tabbing Order to follow Document Structure (this can also be done with the Fix Wizard after you run your verification)

      7. Add the Document Tag.

3. Add Bookmarks.

4. Complete Metadata (this may be done in the next step as part of the HHS, WCAG, or PDF U/A verification).

5. 
   

   1. Check the checkbox (in Metadata) for 508, WCAG 2.0AA, WCAG 2.1AA PDF/UA and/or HHS/ HHS 2018 as applicable

6. Run Verification(s) – Structural and Accessibility as needed.

   1. Address any failures, checkpoints requiring user verification, and warnings.

7. Generate and save the report.

8. Save your work!  When shutting things down, use “Save and Close.”

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