How to Untag Content (Creating Artifacts) (Desktop and Advanced Editor)

Product

Advanced Editor (Web-based CL PDF)

CommonLook PDF Desktop Version

Feature

Tagging 

Document Element

Artifacts / Untagging Content

Overview

Assistive Technology, like Screen Readers, read a PDF's content from its Tags tree. Content that is untagged — also referred to as "artifacted" — is not part of the Tags tree and will not be read by screen readers or other assistive technology. Artifacting is used to exclude content from the reading experience when that content doesn't convey information a screen reader user needs to hear. 

Prerequisites 

Artifact (untag) content when it doesn't convey any important information, such as:

• Decorative images
• Background colors (shading, etc.)
• Cell borders in data tables
• Other page elements that don't add meaning

Running headers, footers, and page numbers that repeat on every page should also be artifacted — with one exception: if a header or footer contains content, tag it once so it's read a single time, then artifact the repeating instances on subsequent pages. For more detail, see How to Handle Headers, Footers, & Page Numbers in CommonLook PDF Desktop or How to Handle Headers, Footers, & Page Numbers in the Advanced Editor.

Steps to Follow

There are two ways to artifact (untag) content:

1. Highlight the content in the physical view and press the Delete key.
2. Select the tag in the Tags tree and press the Delete key.

Alternatively, right-click the tag to open the context menu and choose "Untag" — this produces the same result.

Note: Untagging content does not delete it from the physical view of the document; it only removes it from the Tags tree.

When artifacting content, if empty tags are left behind in the Tags tree, run a "Cleanup" to remove them. For more information, see How to Clean Up Empty Tags in CommonLook PDF Desktop or How to Clean Up Empty Tags in the Advanced Editor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why artifact (untag) content?

Decorative images, background colors (shading, etc.), cell borders in data tables, and other elements on the page that don't convey any important information don't need to be tagged and read by screen readers and other assistive technology.

What about running headers, footers, page numbers, etc., that repeat on every page?

If you've got content in a header or footer that repeats on every page, tag it once so that it's read one time. Other than that, running headers and footers should be artifacted. Refer to Headers, Footers, and Pagination Artifacts for more information.