better inform the formatting of .pdf files in browsers

[fernando-jose-silva]

Steps to reproduce:

create a text in word, format this text with some information for example: bold, italic, centered, font size larger than the word default, font color different from the word default, paragraphs, line spacing, etc. Now using the word itself, save this text as .pdf. Open the text in browsers like edge, chrome firefox, and also in reader dc. Read the text formatting in these programs, programs, see that the formatting is different from that created in word which can be understandable due to different renderings, however what I notice is that in some programs like edge the formatting informed is very limited,

Actual behavior:

limited formatting information, for example in the edge, only: Segoe UI white on black

Expected behavior:

in word the formatting of this line is: Normal style Arial 14pt pale dark aqua blue bold Italic centered alignment line spacing 1.1 lines

System configuration

NVDA installed/portable/running from source:

instaled

NVDA version:

nvda.exe, NVDA alpha-22975,c9bb993e

Windows version:

10.0.19043.1021

Name and version of other software in use when reproducing the issue:

edge 91 chrome 91 firefox 88 reader dc 21.001.20155

Other information about your system:

Other questions

Does the issue still occur after restarting your computer?

yes

Have you tried any other versions of NVDA? If so, please report their behaviors.

no

If add-ons are disabled, is your problem still occurring?

yes

Does the issue still occur after you run the COM Registration Fixing Tool in NVDA's tools menu?

yes

[Manjunathvangala]

Hey, I've noticed this with headings. I've created a ms word document with a few headings. When I've saved it as .pdf, all the headings have been disappeared. But there are headings, it's just NVDA is not reading them. I'd say this because, I've tested the pdf document with my iPhone, it's reading all the headings. And also, interestingly, Narrator is also reading headings in this pdf. It's only NVDA not reading. Hope it gets resolved.

[Adriani90]

cc: @lukaszgo1, @feerrenrut

[brennanyoung]

Headings should be honoured, but remember that PDF accessibility is very unpredictable. If headings are announced on iOS, then the the fault may lie with the viewer software (e.g. acrobat/foxit), rather than with NVDA. I've recently been able to get NVDA to handle headings properly with both Acrobat and Foxit on Windows, so it can be made to work, but there are many weird quirks. (BTW I had no luck with getting any of this working before the corona lockdown).

Style/formatting info is not usually included in browsable content (e.g. HTML or PDF), because it is regarded as "presentational" and would add a lot of chatter to the output, which many users would find distracting or annoying. Sometimes formatting implies a semantic (such as <em> for emphasis or <i> for idiomatic in HTML), and this typically gets lost on the way to the screen reader. Some ATs might offer features to announce formatting info after a special shortcut. Not sure if NVDA has such a feature (yet) but I suspect that users would complain if NVDA started doing this without being asked.

[seanbudd]

We can't really do anything about this, it needs to be fixed by respective web browsers.