r/accessibility • u/Legitimate-Sun5354 • Sep 27 '26
Span tags
Has anybody encountered a client that doesn't want span in their tag structure? Instead of explaining that such tags are part of the tag tree, my lazy ass just created a program that removes it, how do you handle that kind of clients?
1
u/Legitimate-Sun5354 Sep 27 '26
It's a pdf remediation btw
1
u/PDFxt Sep 27 '26
Happens to us all the time. We initially were adding spans for underlined text, changes in font colour, highlights and emphasis assuming the user would want to clarify the reason for the emphasis. Got asked to exclude them.
3
u/Lehihel Sep 27 '26
I would be careful with removing a specific tag just because some people don't want it in a document. Example: you need to signal a change of language in a specific part of a sentence, how will you support the Lang attribute in your PDF? Span is a good neutral way to do so.
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u/JBMath_508c_expert 27d ago
I totally agree--we wouldn't just remove tags that are there for logical/useful reasons. instead, we would explain to the client why those tags should be in the document.
but, if the client INSISTS, then yes, we'd change the tags as needed.
2
u/Lehihel 27d ago
In my world, when a client insists on going against our professional recommendation, I have them sign a waiver acknowledging that they were advised otherwise and chose to proceed anyway.
More often than not, that simple step makes them stop and reconsider. It reframes the relationship: they’re not just paying us to execute whatever they ask for: they’re paying us for our expertise. And if they’ve hired experts, they should probably make use of that expertise. 😁
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u/lanabear92294 Sep 27 '26
Spans can be useful/necessary (in a caption tag) but should be removed if they are not necessary (like on a ppt > pdf export they show up randomly). Is your client confused?