PDF exports missing table tags
I've started noticing this problem with multiple documents exported to PDF from Word. The issue is that the accessibility tags for the table content are <P> instead of <TH>, <TD>, etc. I was able to replicate the problem myself, using a Save as... method that retains accessibility features in the PDF. In other words, the PDF has bookmarked headings, alt-text for images, and so forth. It's just that some of the tables are tagged as regular text, though they are formatted as tables with header rows in the original Word document. I asked this question to a few colleagues, and one suggested that the table border settings might be causing the problem. Indeed, when I changed the cell borders from "none" to black, the PDF did show table tags. As you are probably aware, this is not a workable solution in academia, where style guides often have strict requirements for table design, including no vertical cell borders. One thing that worked was adding white borders--the table with white borders exported properly to PDF. Unfortunately, adding white vertical borders makes the black horizontal borders look like dashed lines (also, it is going to make a ton of work for the document creators). I would be so grateful for any ideas on how to solve this.