Tags allow users with screen readers to identify a document's structure by assigning content types to the document. Below are the various tag elements that documents can have in Adobe Acrobat Pro:
Container elements are the highest level of element and provide hierarchical grouping for other block-level elements:
| Tag | Description |
|---|---|
| <Part> | Part element is a large division of a document; it can be used to group smaller units of content together, such as division elements, article elements, or section elements. |
| <Div> | Division element is a generic block-level element or group of block-level elements. |
| <Art> | Article element is a self-contained body of text considered to be a single narrative. |
| <Sect> | Section element is a general container element type, comparable to Division (DIV Class= “Sect” in HTML, which is usually a component of a part element or an article element. |
Heading and paragraph elements are paragraph-like, block-level elements that include specific level heading and generic paragraph tags. A heading (H) element should appear as the first child of any higher-level division. Six levels of headings (H1 to H6) are available for applications that don’t hierarchically nest sections:
| Tag | Description |
|---|---|
| <H> | Header (Not recommended for use in structured PDF documents) |
| <H1> | Heading level 1 |
| <H2> | Heading level 2 |
| <H3> | Heading level 3 |
| <H4> | Heading level 4 |
| <H5> | Heading level 5 |
| <H6> | Heading level 6 |
| <P> | Paragraph |
Label and list elements are elements for structuring lists:
| Tag | Description |
|---|---|
| <L> | List element is any sequence of items of similar meaning or other relevance; immediate child elements should be list item elements. |
| <LI> | List item element is any one member of a list; may have a label element (optional) and a list body element as a child. |
| <Lbl> | Label element is a bullet, name, or number that identifies and distinguishes an element from others in the same list. |
| <Lbody> | List item body element is the descriptive content of a list item. |
Special text elements identify text that isn’t used as a generic paragraph:
| Tag | Description |
|---|---|
| <BlockQuote> | Block quote element is one or more paragraphs of text attributed to someone other than the author of the immediate surrounding text. |
| <Caption> | Caption element is a brief portion of text that describes a table or a figure. |
| <Index> | Index element is a sequence of entries that contain identifying text and reference elements that point out the occurrence of the text in the main body of the document. |
| <TOC> | Table of contents element is an element that contains a structured list of items and labels identifying those items; has its own discrete hierarchy. |
| <TOCI> | Table of contents item element is an item contained in a list associated with a table of contents element. |
Table elements are special elements for structuring tables:
| Tag | Description |
|---|---|
| <Table> | Table element is a two-dimensional arrangement of data or text cells that contains table row elements as child elements and may have a caption element as its first or last child element. |
| <TR> | Table row element is one row of headings or data in a table; may contain table header cell elements and table data cell elements. |
| <TH> | Table header cell element is a table cell that contains header text or data describing one or more rows or columns of a table. |
| <TD> | Table data cell element is a table cell that contains non-header data. |
Inline-level elements identify a span of text that has specific formatting or behavior. They are differentiated from block-level elements. Inline-level elements may be contained in or contain block-level elements:
| Tag | Description |
|---|---|
| <BibEntry> | Bibliography entry element is a description of where some cited information may be found. |
| <Quote> | Quote entry element is an inline portion of text that is attributed to someone other than the author of the text surrounding it; different from a block quote, which is a whole paragraph or multiple paragraphs, as opposed to inline text. |
| <Span> | Span entry element is any inline segment of text; commonly used to delimit text that is associated with a set of styling properties. |
Special inline-level elements describe an inline portion of text that has special formatting or behavior:
| Tag | Description |
|---|---|
| <Code> | Code entry element is computer program text embedded within a document. |
| <Figure> | Figure entry element is a graphic or graphic representation associated with text. |
| <Form> | Form entry element is a PDF form annotation that can be or has been filled out. |
| <Formula> | Formula entry element is a mathematical formula. |
| <Link> | Link entry element is a hyperlink that is embedded within a document. The target can be in the same document, in another PDF document, or on a website. |
| <Note> | Note entry element is explanatory text or documentation, such as a footnote or endnote that is referred to in the main body of text. |
| <Reference> | Reference entry element is a citation to text or data that is found elsewhere in the document. |
Source: PDF Testing and Remediation Guide (March 2019) by the Accessible Electronic Document Community of Practice (Section 508).
