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removed extra extraneous comments

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Cuts the multi-line rationale blocks down to what a reader of the file
needs. The reasoning behind the tagging setup belongs in the commit
messages that introduced it, not repeated above every \DocumentMetadata
block.

Also trims the README: drops the consequence clause explaining what
happens when the standard is declared without the tagging, drops the
quoted TeX Live 2024 error message, and notes that sid has a new enough
TeX Live for anyone not on Overleaf. Adds the caveat that a veraPDF
PASS is necessary but not sufficient, since a document whose body text
is all artifact passes too.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Benjamin Mako Hill
2026-08-15 10:24:15 +09:00
parent 4ae0bddb40
commit f7e16a221c
7 changed files with 54 additions and 146 deletions
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78
README
View File

@@ -50,13 +50,10 @@ All four templates build with LuaLaTeX (via latexmk -lualatex). The text
fonts are Libertinus Serif and TeX Gyre Heros, both provided by
texlive-fonts-extra.
The paper, memo, and letter templates need TeX Live 2025 or later. The
tagging code they rely on is not in TeX Live 2024, where the build
stops with "the key 'document/metadata/tagging' is unknown". Debian
trixie ships TeX Live 2024, so a trixie machine needs a newer TeX Live
from elsewhere in the archive. On Overleaf, choose the TeX Live
version under Menu > Settings > TeX Live version; 2025 or later is
required and is not always the default for an older project.
The tagging code requires TeX Live 2025 or later. On Overleaf, set the
version under Menu > Settings > TeX Live version. Debian Trixie ships
TeX Live 2024; sid (unstable) has TeX Live 2026, which also works and
installs without pulling in much else.
================================
=== Accessibility ==============
@@ -65,15 +62,10 @@ required and is not always the default for an older project.
The paper, memo, and letter templates produce tagged PDFs that declare
PDF/UA-2 (ISO 14289-2). The poster template does not; see below.
Tagging is switched on by the tagging=on key in the \DocumentMetadata
block at the top of each template. That key is what does the work: it
loads the kernel code that puts headings, paragraphs, lists, tables,
and figures into the PDF's structure tree, which is what a screen
reader walks. The neighbouring pdfstandard=ua-2 key only writes the
conformance claim into the file's metadata. Setting the standard
without setting tagging=on yields a PDF that announces itself as
accessible and contains nothing for assistive software to read, so
keep the two together.
Two keys in the \DocumentMetadata block at the top of each template do
this, and both are needed: tagging=on loads the kernel code that puts
headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, and figures into the PDF's
structure tree, and pdfstandard=ua-2 writes the conformance claim.
The paper and memo templates were originally built on the memoir
class, which is incompatible with the LaTeX tagged-PDF code. They now
@@ -85,62 +77,50 @@ Writing an accessible document
------------------------------
Tagging gets you the structure; the content is still up to the author.
Three things matter most, and the paper template carries a worked
example of each:
The paper template carries a worked example of each of these:
* Use \section and \subsection for headings rather than setting type
in bold by hand. Screen reader users navigate by the heading tree,
and hand-formatted text is invisible to it.
in bold by hand. Screen reader users navigate by the heading tree.
* Give every figure an alt= description on \includegraphics, saying
what the reader is meant to take from it. A decorative image takes
\includegraphics[artifact]{...} instead, keeping it out of the
reading order.
\includegraphics[artifact]{...} instead.
* Mark header rows on data tables with \tagpdfsetup{table/header-rows
={1}} so their cells become TH rather than TD. Without it a table
reads as an undifferentiated grid of values.
={1}} so their cells become TH rather than TD.
Customizing the styles
----------------------
Some common packages defeat tagging, and the failure is usually
silent: the document compiles without complaint and the tags are
simply missing. Before adding a package, check its status against the
LaTeX Tagging Project's list:
Some common packages defeat tagging, and the failure is silent: the
document compiles without complaint and the tags are simply missing.
Before adding a package, check it against the LaTeX Tagging Project's
list:
https://latex3.github.io/tagging-project/tagging-status/
titlesec and titling are the two to know about here, because they are
the obvious tools for the job cdsc-paper.sty and cdsc-memo.sty do.
titlesec replaces the \@startsection hook that the tagging code uses
to emit heading tags, so loading it produces a PDF with no headings in
the structure tree and no error to say so. Both style files therefore
build their headings and title blocks from the article class's own
\@startsection and \@maketitle hooks.
titlesec and titling are the two to know about, because they are the
obvious tools for the job cdsc-paper.sty and cdsc-memo.sty do.
titlesec replaces the \@startsection hook the tagging code uses to
emit heading tags, so loading it produces a PDF with no headings in
the structure tree.
Verifying
---------
Check a built PDF against the standard with veraPDF:
You can check a built PDF with veraPDF (https://verapdf.org/):
verapdf -f ua2 text.pdf
It prints PASS or FAIL for the file, and --format text will list the
clauses that failed. All four of the tagged templates pass as shipped,
so a FAIL means something in the document needs attention rather than
something in the template.
It prints PASS or FAIL, and --format text lists the failing clauses.
All three tagged templates pass as shipped, so a FAIL points at the
document rather than the template.
Run it. A document that declares PDF/UA-2 and does not meet it is
worse than one that makes no claim, because the claim is what a reader
relying on assistive software will trust. The declaration costs one
line and validating it is the only thing that makes the line true.
Note that a PASS is necessary but not sufficient. A document whose
body text is all marked as artifact passes too, because the standard
only requires that content which is not real be an artifact.
veraPDF is not packaged in Debian; download it from
https://verapdf.org/ and put it on your PATH.
For a quicker look at whether a PDF carries any structure at all,
without checking conformance:
You can confirm there is something in the structure tree as well:
python3 -c "import pikepdf,sys; d=pikepdf.open(sys.argv[1]); \
print(d.Root.get('/StructTreeRoot') and 'tagged' or 'UNTAGGED')" file.pdf

8
letter_template/text.tex
View File

@@ -1,12 +1,4 @@
% Tagged PDF (PDF/UA-2) accessibility setup.
%
% tagging=on is what actually builds the structure tree: it loads the
% kernel code that tags paragraphs, headings, lists, tables, and
% floats. Declaring pdfstandard=ua-2 on its own only writes the claim
% into the metadata; without tagging=on the PDF is marked as UA-2 but
% carries no structure for a screen reader to read. This needs TeX
% Live 2025 or later --- on Overleaf, set it in Menu > Settings >
% TeX Live version.
\DocumentMetadata{
tagging=on,
pdfversion=2.0,

20
memo_template/cdsc-memo.sty
View File

@@ -8,12 +8,8 @@
% line, sans-serif uppercase section headings, no paragraph indent,
% and a small-caps "page/total" footer.
%
% Headings come from the article class's own \@startsection hook
% rather than from titlesec. The tagging code hooks into
% \@startsection to emit the H1, H2, and H3 tags a screen reader
% navigates by; titlesec bypasses that hook, so loading it silently
% produces a PDF with no headings in the structure tree. See the
% Accessibility section of the README.
% Headings use the class's own \@startsection hook, not titlesec,
% which breaks tagging. See the Customizing section of the README.
%
% Copyright 2009-2026 Benjamin Mako Hill <mako@atdot.cc>
% Copyright 2008-2009 Kieran Healy <kjhealy@soc.duke.edu>
@@ -43,15 +39,9 @@
\pagestyle{cdsc-page-memo}
%%% Section headings: sans-serif bold uppercase, with the tight
%%% before/after spacing the original memo style used.
%%%
%%% \@startsection takes {name}{level}{indent}{beforeskip}{afterskip}
%%% {style}. The style argument is applied to the whole heading as an
%%% argument, so \MakeUppercase can be appended to it; the tagging
%%% code wraps the section number in \NoCaseChange so the number is
%%% left alone. A negative afterskip makes a heading run in to the
%%% paragraph that follows it.
%%% Section headings: sans-serif bold uppercase. \@startsection applies
%%% the style argument to the whole heading, so \MakeUppercase can be
%%% appended; the tagging code wraps the number in \NoCaseChange.
\makeatletter

12
memo_template/text.tex
View File

@@ -1,14 +1,4 @@
% Tagged PDF (PDF/UA-2) accessibility setup. The article class works
% with the LaTeX tagging project, so we use the full \DocumentMetadata
% path here.
%
% tagging=on is what actually builds the structure tree: it loads the
% kernel code that tags paragraphs, headings, lists, tables, and
% floats. Declaring pdfstandard=ua-2 on its own only writes the claim
% into the metadata; without tagging=on the PDF is marked as UA-2 but
% carries no structure for a screen reader to read. This needs TeX
% Live 2025 or later --- on Overleaf, set it in Menu > Settings >
% TeX Live version.
% Tagged PDF (PDF/UA-2) accessibility setup.
\DocumentMetadata{
tagging=on,
pdfversion=2.0,

33
paper_template/cdsc-paper.sty
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@@ -6,12 +6,9 @@
% that work. The look-and-feel is kept as close to the previous
% cdsc-article chapterstyle as is practical.
%
% Headings and the title block are built from the article class's own
% \@startsection and \@maketitle hooks rather than from titlesec and
% titling. The tagging code hooks into \@startsection to emit the H1,
% H2, and H3 tags a screen reader navigates by; titlesec bypasses that
% hook, so loading it silently produces a PDF with no headings in the
% structure tree. See the Accessibility section of the README.
% Headings and the title block use the class's own \@startsection and
% \@maketitle hooks, not titlesec and titling, which break tagging.
% See the Customizing section of the README.
%
% Copyright 2009-2026 Benjamin Mako Hill <mako@atdot.cc>
% Copyright 2008-2009 Kieran Healy <kjhealy@soc.duke.edu>
@@ -50,15 +47,9 @@
\pagestyle{cdsc-page}
%%% Section heading styles.
%%%
%%% Each heading is declared through \@startsection, which takes:
%%% {name}{level}{indent}{beforeskip}{afterskip}{style}
%%% A negative beforeskip suppresses the paragraph indent that would
%%% otherwise follow the heading; a negative afterskip makes the
%%% heading run into the paragraph text rather than sit on its own
%%% line. The style argument receives the whole heading as its
%%% argument, so a case-changing command may be appended to it.
%%% Section headings. \@startsection takes {name}{level}{indent}
%%% {beforeskip}{afterskip}{style}; a negative afterskip runs the
%%% heading in to the following paragraph.
\makeatletter
@@ -75,7 +66,6 @@
{\normalsize\itshape}}
% Subsubsections: small bold, run in to the following paragraph
% (the negative afterskip is what makes it run in)
\renewcommand\subsubsection{\@startsection{subsubsection}{3}{\z@}%
{-3.25ex \@plus -1ex \@minus -.2ex}%
{-0.5em}%
@@ -99,14 +89,9 @@
\newcommand{\puB}{}
\newcommand{\published}[1]{\gdef\puB{#1}}
% \raggedright rather than \flushleft: the flushleft environment is a
% trivlist, and starting one as a bare declaration leaves a list open
% in the structure tree. That produces "the number of automatic begin
% and end text-unit para hooks differ" and a mis-nested PDF.
% The vertical skips reproduce what titling's \pretitle/\posttitle,
% \preauthor/\postauthor, and \predate/\postdate produced. The date
% slot keeps its space even when \date{} is empty, which is what the
% previous title block did and what the template's spacing assumes.
% \raggedright, not \flushleft: flushleft is a trivlist and would leave
% a list open in the structure tree. The skips match titling's output;
% the date slot keeps its space even when \date{} is empty.
\renewcommand{\@maketitle}{%
\null
\vskip 2em%

34
paper_template/text.tex
View File

@@ -1,14 +1,4 @@
% Tagged PDF (PDF/UA-2) accessibility setup. The article class works
% with the LaTeX tagging project, so we use the full \DocumentMetadata
% path here.
%
% tagging=on is what actually builds the structure tree: it loads the
% kernel code that tags paragraphs, headings, lists, tables, and
% floats. Declaring pdfstandard=ua-2 on its own only writes the claim
% into the metadata; without tagging=on the PDF is marked as UA-2 but
% carries no structure for a screen reader to read. This needs TeX
% Live 2025 or later --- on Overleaf, set it in Menu > Settings >
% TeX Live version.
% Tagged PDF (PDF/UA-2) accessibility setup.
\DocumentMetadata{
tagging=on,
pdfversion=2.0,
@@ -215,14 +205,9 @@ and the commented-out block below it shows a figure carrying alt text.
Both are here as worked examples; delete them along with this section
when you start writing.
% ACCESSIBILITY: every figure needs an alt= description, which is what
% a screen reader announces in place of the image. Describe what the
% reader is meant to take from the figure rather than naming it: "Edit
% counts rising sharply after 2005" tells them something, "Figure 1"
% does not. The caption is read separately, so alt text that repeats
% the caption is wasted. For a purely decorative image, use
% \includegraphics[artifact]{...} instead, which keeps it out of the
% reading order entirely.
% alt= is what a screen reader announces in place of the image. Say what
% the reader should take from it, not what it is called. A decorative
% image takes [artifact] instead, keeping it out of the reading order.
%
% \begin{figure}
% \centering
@@ -232,11 +217,7 @@ when you start writing.
% \label{fig:example}
% \end{figure}
% ACCESSIBILITY: header-rows tells the tagging code which rows are
% headers, so their cells become TH rather than TD and a screen reader
% can announce the column a value belongs to. Without it, a data table
% reads as an undifferentiated grid of numbers. Set it for each table
% that has headers; use {1,2} if two rows are headers.
% header-rows makes the first row TH rather than TD. Use {1,2} for two.
\tagpdfsetup{table/header-rows={1}}
\begin{table}
\centering
@@ -249,9 +230,8 @@ when you start writing.
\label{tab:example}
\end{table}
% A table used only to position things on the page, rather than to
% present data, should be marked so assistive software skips its
% structure: \tagpdfsetup{table/tagging=presentation}
% A layout table, used to position rather than present, takes
% \tagpdfsetup{table/tagging=presentation}
% bibliography here
\setcounter{biburlnumpenalty}{9001}

15
poster_template/main.tex
View File

@@ -1,15 +1,6 @@
% ACCESSIBILITY: this poster is not a tagged PDF. The beamer class
% rejects \DocumentMetadata outright ("Class beamer Error: The beamer
% class is not compatible with \DocumentMetadata"), and the LaTeX
% Tagging Project lists both beamer and beamerposter as no-support,
% meaning incompatible and not expected to change. beamerposter also
% pulls in textpos and subfig, which are incompatible in their own
% right.
%
% There is no way to make this template produce an accessible PDF
% today. Rather than declare PDF/UA-2 and ship an untagged file, it
% makes no claim at all. If a poster has to be accessible, supply a
% tagged companion document built from the paper or memo template.
% Not a tagged PDF: beamer rejects \DocumentMetadata, and the LaTeX
% Tagging Project lists beamer and beamerposter as no-support. See the
% Posters section of the README.
\documentclass[xcolor=dvipsnames, 12pt]{beamer}
\usepackage[size=custom, width=114, height=80, scale=1.5]{beamerposter}