Running Validation (Full & Incremental) (Desktop and Advanced Editor)

Once remediation is complete, run a verification to check for anything that might have been missed, errors that may have been made, and/or for any steps that were purposefully skipped because CommonLook’s functionality provides a way to fix things “in bulk” during this phase (for example, tooltips on forms).  There are two types of Verifications that can be run. 

A “Structural” check will test the document for empty tags, empty tags that contain Alt. text, broken links, etc.  In addition, the Structural check tests tables, links, tables of contents, etc., to make sure that these tags, including their required nested tags, have been assembled correctly.  For example, the Structural check will verify that Table tags contain Table Row tags and that those tags then contain Table Data and/or Table Header cells. 

An “Accessibility” check will test the document against one or more established accessibility standards (Section 508, WCAG 2.0AA, WCAG 2.1AA, HHS, and PDF/UA). 

Running a Full Validation

The steps below will take the user through running an Accessibility check, however, running a Structural check is accomplished in much the same way. 

1. In the Standards panel, to the right of the physical view of the document, double-click to open the Standards menu.
2. Select and open “Accessibility” to choose from the list of standards for testing the document’s compliance.  
   
3. Choose the standard(s) against which the document will be checked.  (Note:  Standards can be opened and then individual guidelines or checkpoints within the standard may be specifically tested.  To test the document against the full standard, simply choose it from the menu.)
4. Below the list of Accessibility standards, click the “Full” button to test the document.
   

Running an Incremental Validation

When going through validation results, it is very common for a user to make an adjustment to the document. If changes are made, it is important to run the verification check again to ensure compliance, but it is unnecessary to work through the same results again. In situations like this, a user can run an "Incremental Validation" to check only the document elements that have been updated since the last Full Validation was run. This can save time during remediation by preventing repetitive work. The steps below will take the user through running an Accessibility check, however, running a Structural check is accomplished in much the same way. 

1. In the Standards panel, to the right of the physical view of the document, double-click to open the Standards menu.
2. 
3. Select and open “Accessibility” to choose from the list of standards for testing the document’s compliance.  
   
4. Choose the standard(s) against which the document will be checked.  (Note:  Standards can be opened and then individual guidelines or checkpoints within the standard may be specifically tested.  To test the document against the full standard, simply choose it from the menu.)
5. Below the list of Accessibility standards, click the “Incremental” button to test the document.
   

After running your Validation check, users will work their way through the results and make the necessary adjustments. To make that a bit easier, we recommend filtering your results to make them a bit more manageable.

Filtering Validation Results

After you have run your verification, you will discover that a large number of results have been generated. The results panel will show all outcomes from the selected standards by default, so an effective way to manage these findings is to filter the results, therefore breaking down the feedback and making your efforts more logical and manageable. This section will address "Failed" results, but users should also manage "Warning" and "User Verification" findings.

1. When the Results panel opens, near the upper left corner, click in the “Filter by” field to expand the drop-down menu options.
2. Uncheck the checkbox for “All” and then check the desired filter checkboxes.  Click anywhere to close the dropdown menu.  There is no need to check the elements that have already passed or do not apply to the particular document. This includes "Passed" and "Not Applicable" results. 

For more information on the next steps, refer to the article titled "Validation - Addressing Failures, Warnings, & User Verifications" and eventually explore the article titled "Generating a Compliance Report."

Didn't find what you're looking for? Navigate to our "Validation & Standard Check" section for more related articles that may help!