Reading Order Panel

[Hangman]

Adding an empty Picture Frame, Untagged Image (not contained in a Picture Frame), empty Data Merge Layout or Shape to a page and then setting the Alt Text Source in the Tags panel to any value other than Custom incorrectly adds the respective objects to the Reading Order Panel...

Steps to Reproduce

1. Add a Picture Frame or Untagged Image to a page in a Publisher document
2. With the Picture Frame or Untagged Image selected, change the Alt Text Source to any value other than Custom from the dropdown menu in the Tags Panel
3. Picture Frame or the Image Name is added to the Reading Order Panel

Expectation

Neither an empty Picture Frame, Untagged Image, empty Data Merge Layout nor Shape should be added to the Reading Order Panel when the Alt Text Source is set to any value other than Custom from the dropdown menu in the Tags Panel.

[Hangman]

This may be a slightly niche case and I'm unsure if there is a margin of error involved but the Y Reading Order is not always honoured when objects are added to the Reading Order Panel...

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a dashed stroke in a Publisher document
2. Expand the Stroke
3. Separate the objects using Geometry → Separate Curves
4. Name the objects in the Layers Panel for easy identification
5. Add the objects to the Reading Order Panel in order from left to right
6. The objects are not added in the correct order despite all having the same Y value on the page

Expectation

Objects should honour the order added when adding to the Reading Order Panel if their Y positions are all the same.

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "[Win] Reading Order Panel icons require a restart when switching UI Style to Mono on macOS" (REF: AF-4842) has been fixed by the developers in the latest beta build (2.6.0.2861). The fix is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "[iOS] Unable to collapse articles in the iPad Reading Order Panel" (REF: AF-4981) has been fixed by the developers in the latest beta build (2.6.0.2861). The fix is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "[iOS] Double clicking item in Reading Order doesn't perform 'Go To Article' on macOS" (REF: AF-4844) has been fixed by the developers in the latest beta build (2.6.0.2861). The fix is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

[Hangman]

10 minutes ago, anto said:

What is the Reading Order Panel feature for and where and when is it used?
For e-books? And what is the difference between a regular PDF and a PDF with reading order?

[Hangman]

11 minutes ago, anto said:

I read it. It doesn't say what it's for and in what cases it's used. It describes the process of how to do it on the panel and that's it.
What is a screen reader?

From the w3.org website...

"The intent of this technique is to ensure that users can navigate through content in a logical order that is consistent with the meaning of the content. Correct tab and reading order is typically accomplished using a tool for authoring PDF.

For sighted users, the logical order of PDF content is also the visual order on the screen. For keyboard and assistive technology users, the tab order through content, including interactive elements (form fields and links), determines the order in which these users can navigate the content. The tab order must reflect the logical order of the document.

Logical structure is created when a document is saved as tagged PDF. The reading order of a PDF document is determined primarily by the tag order of document elements, including interactive elements, but the order of content within individual tags is determined by the PDF document’s content tree structure.

If the reading order is not correct, keyboard and assistive technology users may not be able to understand the content. For example, some documents use multiple columns, and the reading order is clear visually to sighted users as flowing from the top to the bottom of the first column, then to the top of the next column. But if the document is not properly tagged, a screen reader may read the document from top to bottom, across both columns, interpreting them as one column.

The simplest way to ensure correct reading order is to structure the document correctly in the authoring tool used to create the document, before conversion to tagged PDF. Note, however, that pages with complex layouts with graphics, tables, footnotes, side-bars, form fields, and other elements may not convert to tagged PDF in the correct reading order. These inconsistencies must then be corrected with repair tools such as Acrobat Pro."

NVDA is the most commonly used screen reader followed by JAWS and then Narrator which comes with Windows 11 but has been available as a free option for several years on Windows. Acrobat Reader can equally be used as a screen reader...

[Hangman]

Objects nested inside an Article but excluded from the Reading Order by toggling exclude from reading order off in the Reading Order Panel are still read by screen readers...

So with the setup on the left, a screen reader should only read the last two text items as it does when not contained inside an Article but currently all items inside the Article are read so effectively screen readers see what is on the right... 

[Hangman]

A minor cosmetic one...

On Mac the Tooltip in the Reading Order Panel for excluding objects from the reading order says:

Toggle exclude from reading order

on Windows it says

Toggle excluding from reading order

[bbrother]

Also the new toggle to add or remove the article from reading order is much better than previous icons.
It fits the UI style, it's clearly visible but doesn't stand out to much and distract. Thx, it's a good design update.

[MikeTO]

This may have been previously requested but I didn't see it in the thread, but if I select five articles in the panel and click the Add Article button, I would expect the selected articles to be children of the new article and for the new article to be selected after creation. Instead, the article is created with no children and the previously selected articles are still selected. It feels unnatural to create something and not have it selected after creation.

[MikeTO]

In the latest beta, the Go to Article and Add Selected Object icons have become invisible in light mode.

The Add Article and Remove Article icons have become more disabled looking, I believe in both light and dark modes. Delete already looked disabled but now it's even more disabled.

The new checkbox icons are a welcome improvement but they're a different style than the ones in the TOC panel for no apparent reason (. It seems like they should look the same. Personally, I find the new ones a bit heavy in both light and dark modes.

Left: Beta 2831, Middle: Beta 2861, Right: TOC checkboxes

  

[MikeTO]

And now the invisible icons have reappeared and are back to the appearance of 2831. There must be some glitch that causes them to disappear so I will poke around.

[MikeTO]

Checkboxes are supposed to be unchecked when deselected on both Mac and Windows. Now they look like close buttons when they're deselected.

[bbrother]

7 hours ago, MikeTO said:

Now they look like close buttons when they're deselected.

Fair point that it can be a bit confusing and against convention, but honestly, I like that the rule is broken in this case. The cross makes them a bit more noticeable and not lost in the poor contrast, as you can see by comparing the TOC example you added.

[Hangman]

Page thumbnails and the Reading Order Panel are not automatically populated when editing an embedded PDF until an object (of any description) is added to a page.

Note: This is effectively already logged under AF-960 but is now enhanced with the addition of the Reading Order Panel...

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "Article Positioning is Not Honoured if an Object has been Manually Re-ordered in the Reading Order Panel" (REF: AF-5028) has been fixed by the developers in the latest beta build (2.6.0.2900). The fix is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "Adding Linked Text Frames to a Facing Page Master Incorrectly Adds an Entry to the Reading Order Panel" (REF: AF-4957) has been fixed by the developers in the latest beta build (2.6.0.2900). The fix is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "[Win] Reading Order Panel Fails to Scroll on Windows" (REF: AF-5030) has been fixed by the developers in the latest beta build (2.6.0.2900). The fix is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "[macOS] Hovering over objects in the Reading Order panel will highlight them suggesting they can be nested like Articles" (REF: AF-4952) has been fixed by the developers in the latest beta build (2.6.0.2900). The fix is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "Selecting Master Text Frames as 'Content' fails to show them in the list" (REF: AF-4949) has been fixed by the developers in the latest beta build (2.6.0.2900). The fix is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "[iOS] Reading Order Panel icons require a restart when switching UI Style to Mono" (REF: AF-4843) has been fixed by the developers in the latest beta build (2.6.0.2900). The fix is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "[macOS] Object Selection Within Articles to Omit its PDF Accessibility Tag on Export Can Highlight the Incorrect Object" (REF: AF-4977) has been fixed by the developers in the latest beta build (2.6.0.2900). The fix is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "[iOS] Reading Order Panel icons do not switch to mono on Windows or iPadOS" (REF: AF-4787) has been fixed by the developers in the latest beta build (2.6.0.2900). The fix is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "[Win] Objects Nested Inside an Article Can't be Visually or Physically Excluded from the Reading Order" (REF: AF-4978) has been fixed by the developers in the latest beta build (2.6.0.2900). The fix is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.