NOTE: Certain hyperlinks point to the Equidox KnowledgeBase and can only be accessed by authorized users.

Equidox was designed by Onix to simplify and improve the PDF remediation workflow. The easy-to-use interface streamlines the conversion of inaccessible PDF to HTML, EPUB, or PDF-UA. Equidox is hosted in the Google Cloud (GCP) and can be accessed from any web browser for collaborative preparation of WCAG 2.0 AA documents. This user guide outlines the powerful functionality of Equidox and best practices for PDF remediation.

Sign in with an Equidox account or a Google account which is determined during the account registration.

NOTE: Users must be created by a system administrator. Once an administrator has created an account, the user will receive a confirmation/activation email.

Once registered, a user can enter a valid username and password into the Your Username and Password fields and select the Sign in button. A valid username and password will point to the Equidox homepage.

The user can sign in using a Google account if specified by the system administrator. Reply to the email confirmation (upon account creation) and select the Sign in with Google button to open a new Google sign in window. Follow the steps to sign in with the registered Google account. A successful sign in will point to the Equidox homepage.

Equidox sign in screen

The Primary Sidebar tabs provide access to any page in Equidox. From top to bottom, the tabs are listed:

• Home
• Documents
• Import
• Notifications
• Settings
• Help
• Sign out

NOTE: The search tab is only available if Equidox is connected to a Search Appliance.

Primary Sidebar

The Documents tab presents a list of all active documents in Equidox. The documents will primarily be ordered by the date which they were last edited.

Use color labels to easily identify related documents in the color label. Filter documents based on owner, import/modified date, label, and name.

Equidox Documents Page

A search appliance helps users find specific documents to import for conversion. The Search Appliance tab allows users to sync their search appliance with Equidox.

Equidox Search Appliance Page

Enter criteria in the Search tab to set a query to execute on the search appliance. Activate the search appliance with the Search button to retrieve documents to import into Equidox from the filtered collection.

The Import Documents tab allows the user to select files from their computer to upload into Equidox.

Equidox Import Documents Page

Click anywhere on the import area to display an “Open file…” dialogue. Navigate the filesystem to find document(s) to import into Equidox or drag-and-drop a document in the Drop files to upload box.

The URL tab allows the user to import a document through a URL. Copy and paste URL(s) on a separate lines(s) into the URL text box and select the import button. NOTE: Currently, only public facing files are accepted in Equidox. Files requiring authentication will not be imported.

Select the Notifications tab to view all of the notifications generated for the account. Time-stamps allow the user to identify how new or old a notification is. Delete a notification by selecting the red cross icon . The user can delete all notifications by selecting the Trash icon at the top of the screen. Notifications link to the respective document by selecting the blue title link in the notification. Notifications appear when a document is finished importing and when the status of a document has changed.

If a document finishes importing or a document status changes while the user is away from the notifications page, a modal popup will appear in the bottom right corner of the screen. The number on the Notification icon indicates the number of new notifications.

Select the Settings tab to manage labels, groups, accounts, and the search appliance within Equidox.

Equidox Settings Page

Select the question mark on the sidebar to open the Help tab to access various support resources: Help Videos, Release Notes, and a link to this End User Guide.

Equidox Help Page

The Help Videos illustrate the steps required to complete a specific task in Equidox. The FreshDesk enables a user to create and manage tickets to alert the Equidox team of potential bugs. A link to the End User Guide is located near the top of the page as an instructional reference on Equidox features.

Sign Out of Equidox and return to the Sign In page by selecting the symbol at the bottom of the sidebar. The user can also select Sign Out from the drop down list in the top right corner of the user’s email account page to sign out as well.

Select the email address in the top right corner of the page to view a user profile. Select Profile, modify the profile information, and Save the changes to the account.

Settings - User Profile

NOTE: An Equidox profile will display a Google account picture if created with a Gmail address.

Labels allow users to organize documents in specific groups and simplify the process of searching for documents. The Sort by bar on the Documents tab allows the user to sort the labels by specific attributes . The user can select the + to create an additional label. The Filter refines the list down to a specific label. Each label displays color, name, a brief description, and the trash button to delete the label.

Settings - Labels Page

Groups allow admins to restrict access for specific groups and specific documents. Users will only be able to work on documents that have been assigned to the same group as the user. Enter the group name and description (optional) into the appropriate fields and select the green Create button. Select the to delete and unassign all documents to the group.

Settings - Groups Page

The Accounts tab allows administrators to create and manage Equidox user accounts. Administrators can see if accounts are registered, change the group(s) users are assigned to, change administrator permissions, change passwords, and delete/create users.

Administrators can connect Equidox to a Search Appliance to help locate PDF content. Name the collection in the Name textbox, select the Add button to the right of the field, and then select Save to save changes. Select the and then Save to delete a collection.

Settings - Search Page

Google SSO allows users to sign in to Equidox using their G Suite or Gmail account. Sign in as an administrator. Click on Settings, Accounts, and New Account. Fill in the required information and select the Google Account checkbox.

Administrator view of New Account dialogue

Equidox will query the mail server to confirm the account is handled by a Google (or Gmail) server once the account is created. Click the activation link in the Equidox email to access the Sign in page for Google Accounts. (Note: in some cases, organizations may hide their mail servers entries to avoid spam).

Equidox Google user activation screen

The dialogue will ask the user to sign in using a Google account. The invitation email address must match the Google account used to sign in. If the email addresses do not match, activation will be denied by the server for security reasons.

Equidox user activation screen

Users who activate Equidox using a Google account must initially click on the Sign in with Google button. Users can sign in with the username/password combination or the Sign in with Google button once they validate their account.

Equidox Google login screen

Non-Google account users can click Forgot your password? to send an email with password reset directions. Google account users can click Forgot your password? to send an email with password reset directions through the Google Password Manager. Equidox is not authorized to change or reset passwords for Google accounts. Click the Delete button on the Account Settings page to delete an account.

The Documents tab presents a list of all active documents in Equidox. The documents will primarily be ordered by the date which they were last edited.

Each document can be color labeled to easily identify related documents with the same label. Assign labels to a document by selecting Edit which links to the Document detail page where the Label field can be selected. Select one of the labels from the drop-down list and click Save under the Language field.

Filter documents based on its owner, imported or modified date, label and name.

Equidox Documents page

The user can choose to display documents in a List view or Grid View by selecting the respective list or grid icons in the top right corner of the page.

Documents Page in Grid View format

Open a document to view Properties, Metadata, Images, History, Permissions, and Output tabs and modify the document details. The Properties tab displays all of the properties of the document. Title, Label, and Language attributes can be modified. Original URL, Created Date, Last Modification Date, Producer, as well as the number of images and pages in the document are also displayed. Share a document with other users and delete a document in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

Equidox Document Details Page

Select a document to view the Document Details Page and choose one of the pages in the Page Preview list to be redirected to the Page Editor.

The properties of a document can be managed by changing the label, title, and assignment to different users. If required, enter a new title in the Title bar and choose a new label from the Label bar. Use the Language drop-down menu to select the language of the document. Click Download original document/PDF header to download the original document. View the page count in the Pages bar.

Equidox Document Details Page - Properties tab

Select Metadata to view and edit the names and values pertaining to each piece of metadata. Click + to create and save or to delete metadata.

Equidox Document Details Page - Metadata tab

Add more metadata search terms to make it easier to retrieve documents. Select a document and open the Metadata tab. Enter or modify the name and value in the metadata fields. Select the + icon to save the changes.

Remove search terms by deleting metadata from a document. Select the Metadata tab and click the red cross icon to delete.

Select Images for a list view of all the images in the document. From here, the user is presented with a preview of the image, description of the image, and the page number the image appears on. The field will read No Description if no description has been assigned yet. Select the image preview, page number or pencil symbol to open the Page Editor to locate the image and enter a description on the control panel.

Equidox Document Details Page - Images tab

The History tab shows users and the changes they have made to the document.

Equidox Document Details Page - History tab

Manage and organize document permissions by selecting which users and groups can or cannot view and edit certain documents. A new document will be automatically shared with a group when uploaded by a user assigned to that group. Administrators can grant access to view and edit a document by manually sharing documents with groups and individual users.

Administrators can share documents with other users. Select a document. Click the green Share button in the top right corner of the Document Detail page. Select “Share with Others” or “Share with a Group” on the modal pop-up window. The “Share with Others” option presents a list of other users to share the document with and grant editing permissions. The “Share with a Group” option presents a list of groups to share the document with and grant editing permissions to all users within that group.

Equidox Document Details Page - Share Document

Users can edit the file name or preview the HTML document before download. Equidox allows users to choose the proper Output, which is currently WCAG 2.0 AA compliant HTML. Users can download the entire document or individual pages when they are ready to export the remediated document. The file is downloaded in a zip file, and from there the user dictates what they want to do with the document in terms of saving it or importing it into a CMS or LMS, if applicable.

Equidox Document Details Page - Output tab

The user can download the entire document in HTML or download a selection of pages from the document. The entire document will be downloaded if the All radio box is selected when the user clicks Download HTML. To download a selection of pages from the document the user can enter the desired page numbers into the text box.

Examples:

• Valid selections: 1, 2, 3 or 1-3
• Invalid selection: 3-1

The user can toggle the option to generate page IDs. Toggling this on will export page IDs with the rest of the document upon export. ## internal HREF reference! <span id=”page2”/> so you can create a link <a href=”#page2”> so if you have created a link that refer to a specific page in the document you will need to generate the Page IDs or the links will not work.

Alternate: using Anchor (refer)

Edit the name of the document being exported in the Filename textbox.

Equidox Document Details Page - Output HTML

Follow the same instructions for HTML output

Equidox Document Details Page - Output PDF

Follow the same instructions for HTML output

Equidox Document Details Page - Output Epub

The user can select specific pages for editing from the page browser. Launch the Page Editor by selecting a page and use the tools change the page properties and create or manage reading zones.

The Page Information section gives a brief summary/description of page details and allows the user to add and save notes to a page.

The page number displays which page of the document is being edited.

The Last Saved field is a time-stamp displaying when the document was most recently saved.

The Notes field is to help users to communicate keep track of any relevant information in the document. Notes have no effect on the exported document.

Equidox Page Editor - Page Information

The Sensitivity slider adjusts the size, granularity, and reading order of zones on the page. The user can adjust the slider until a desired auto-detection sensitivity level is reached. Select Apply to all pages to set the sensitivity level to all remaining pages in the document.

Page Editor - Low Sensitivity

Page Editor - High Sensitivity

Move the sensitivity slider to the right to increase the size and decrease the number of zones. Move the sensitivity slider to the left to decrease the size and increase the number of zones.

The user selects the Re-Order button, Equidox will re-order the reading order of the page accordingly.

Select Landscape or Portrait in the Page Orientation menu and select Rotate to change the orientation of the page.

Zones separate different assets from one another to give the user flexibility while editing the page. Auto-detected zones will appear but additional zones can be created by clicking and dragging the mouse over the desired area. Zone editing options appear on the side bar when a zone is selected.

Zones allows the user to select a specific area of the document (i.e. text, image, list, block quote) for editing. Left click and drag the edge of zone to change its size. Select the zone and drag to move it to a new location. Edit zone properties such as name, type, language, order and size.

Page Editor - Zone being created

Change the reading order by selecting a zone and changing the Order number in the the sidebar. Zones appear in the order they are created if the Order is not changed.

Page Editor - Zone Properties and Order

The Pages tab displays all pages in the document on the left side toolbar. Select any page to view in the page editor.

Page Editor - Pages Tab

Page controls are located in the top right corner of the conversion page and allow the user to save, zoom in/out, and preview the output.

Page Controls

The first option saves all changes made to the page.

The second option validates the work of other users and locks all changes made to the page. An administrator can review the work of another user and prevent any future edits.

The third option allows the user to preview the HTML version of the page.

The fourth and fifth options zoom the page in and out.

The sixth option displays a list of keyboard shortcuts to speed up the conversion process.

The final option closes the page editor and returns to the Document Detail page.

There are a number of shortcuts to speed up the conversion process.

• P - Change Selected Zone to a default Text
• A - Change Selected Zone to an Anchor
• H - Change Selected Zone to a Heading
• I - Change Selected Zone to Ignore (hide)
• F - Change Selected Zone to a Field
• U - Change Selected Zone to a URL (link)
• L - Change Selected Zone to a List
• T - Change Selected Zone to a Table
• B - Change Selected Zone to a Blockquote container
• Q - Change Selected Zone to a Quote
• G - Change Selected Zone to a Graphic
• C - Change Selected Zone to a Citation
• Delete + x - Remove the selected zone
• M - Toggle the Merge Attribute
• K - Toggle the Break Lines Attribute
• V - Toggle the visible Attribute
• Up arrow - Move Zone up
• Down arrow - Move Zone down
• Left arrow - Move Zone left
• Right arrow - Move Zone right
• Ctrl + s - Save Page
• Ctrl + p - Preview page
• Ctrl + x - Clear Layout
• Ctrl + i - Zoom in
• Ctrl + o - Zoom Out
• Ctrl + m - Mark page as validated
• Ctrl + h - Show this help window
• Alt + b - Show Page Options
• Alt + z - Show Zone options
• Alt + p - Show list of pages

Create zones around a specific assets and use editing techniques to convert the document into an accessible format.

Page Editor - Creating a Zone

Modify the location of the zone in the Zone Position section of the Page Editor toolbar or click and drag the zone to the desired location.

Left, Top, Width, Height show the distance between the edge of the zone and the respective edge of the page. Change by either manually typing in the field, using the arrows to increase/decrease the value, dragging the edge of the zone, or dragging the entire zone to the desired position.

Page Editor - Zone Position fields

Global Zone Properties apply to all zones.

The zone list will refer to different zones by their zone name. The zone name is automatically populated but can be modified by changing the name in the Name textbox.

The zone type drop down list allows the user to select the correct HTML tag for the zone when exporting a document.

The language drop down list allows the user to select the correct language of text in the zone.

The Order field represents the order in which the zone will appear and be read in the HTML output of the document.

The Remove Zone button allows the user to remove zones they do not want to be included in the export of the document.

Page Editor - Zone Properties

Select a zone and toggle Merge under the Zone tab. For example, if the user selects Merge while zone 4 is selected, zone 4 will be merged with zone 3. If the first zone on a page is selected, it will be merged with the last zone on the page before it.

Page Editor - Merge Zone toggle

Select the zone to see the zone settings and toggle the Break Lines box. This will format the zones so that their line breaks are in the same place as in the original document.

Page Editor - Break Lines toggle

Equidox scans the page to convert assets into a tag tree.

Equidox uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and automatically detects text in an imported document. OCR functionality is great for scanned documents. Select the OCR Zone Source option and select Convert to Text. The user is able to view and edit the text if there are errors to correct.

Pager Editor - Zone Source - OCR

Select the Custom Zone Source to manually enter the content for a zone.

Select Text to indicate a zone consists of text based content and to use an appropriate tag in the HTML output.

Select Heading to indicate a zone is intended to be read as a heading by a text-to-speech tool. The heading level can be modified to distinguish between headings and subheadings.

Select Table to indicate a zone is a table. A summary and caption can be added to help the text-to-speech tool describe the context of the table. The user can access the table editor to make manual edits and adjustments to the table.

Select Link to indicate a zone is a hyperlink. The user can add an anchor to the link for future readers to access when they click on the link.

Select List to indicate a zone is a list. The user can create a caption and summary for the list to help the text-to-speech tool describe the context of the list.

An Anchor type is to be used with links. Copy the URL and paste it in the anchor field. Anchors can also be used for anchoring pages to a table of contents.

Select Ignore to hide zones, repeated, inaccurate or irrelevant content.

Select Blockquote to indicate a zone is a quote from another source. A blockquote is identified by an indentation of the quote and a blue line on the left side of the zone.

Select Graphic to indicate that a zone is a graphic. The graphic zone type can be used on any logo, symbol, formula, diagram, etc. that does not qualify as an image. Add alt text or a long description to help text-to-speech tools explain the graphic.

Select Quote to indicate a zone is a quote defined by quotation marks at the beginning and end of the zone.

Select Cite to indicate the zone consists of a proper title of a work. This can be used to identify the title of book, movie, piece of art, etc. Exclude the author’s name from the Cite zone type.

Select Footnote Link to indicate a zone consists of a footnote marker corresponding to a footnote at the bottom of a document.

Select Form to indicate a zone consists of multiple field items. Select Field to indicate a zone is capable to take user input as content within a form.

Label and form element in a single, assign the correct value. Wrap all control in a form zone; assign form values. ALT-Key functionality - TBD by Eric:

Select OCR to indicate a zone was generated via the optical character recognition tool. The OCR zone type is generally used for scanned PDF documents.

Text zones will appear in the HTML preview in the sequence of creation if no changes were made to the zone order.

Use Text Tags to apply styles to text zones (i.e. italicizing, bold, color).

Choose between single or double indentations of individual text zones in the exported document.

Select Heading to indicate a zone is to be read as a heading by a text-to-speech tool. The heading level can be modified to distinguish between headings and subheadings. A lower heading level will output a larger heading. A higher heading level will output a smaller heading.

The heading level can be adjusted by manually entering the number or using the arrows in the Level field under Heading Properties. A lower heading level will output larger text. A higher heading level will output smaller text.

Toggle the Use as Template option under Heading Properties to apply the same settings to zones of similar size and properties throughout the document. This feature is useful when large documents have multiple pages with similar layouts.

Select Table to indicate a zone is a table. A summary and caption can be added to help the text-to-speech tool describe the context of the table. The user can access the table editor to make manual edits and adjustments to the table.

Add or modify the description of the table in the Summary text box.

Add or modify the Table Caption in the Caption text box. Captions will be read aloud by text-to-speech tools to describe the context of the table.

Select the blue Table Editor button to open the Table Editor. From here, the user can adjust cell sizes, row count, column count, headers, and table orientation. Equidox will automatically export the adjustments and apply the correct HTML tags for text-to-speech tools. The Table Editor is capable of converting complex tables in a few minutes rather than a few hours.

NOTE: Learn more about the Table Editor

Page Editor - Table Properties

Select Link to indicate a zone is a hyperlink. Add an anchor in the Link Properties for the link to point to when clicked.

Select the link to redirect to the specified URL in the URL/Anchor text box. Modify the anchor by entering the desired URL in the text box. The link can anchor to any valid location such as pages within the document, outside web pages, and even email addresses.

Modify the description of the link in the Description text box for text-to-speech tools to describe the context of the link.

Indicating that a zone is a List, List Body, and List Item are all part of generating list objects with child list items. This can be used on any type of ordered or unordered list etc.

Select List from the Type drop down menu in the Zone Properties section to indicate a zone is a list. Create and modify the caption and summary in the List Properties section.

Note: List zones are marked with a green indicator.

Add or modify the List Caption in the Caption text box. Captions will be read aloud by text-to-speech tools to describe the context of the list.

This field is for a summary of the list. This can be modified by changing the text within the text box. These changes will be saved with the rest of the page.

Select Unordered or Ordered in the List Properties section. An unordered list will output various types of bullet points when displaying the list. An ordered list allows the user to select the list style (lowercase, uppercase, roman numerals, numbers, etc.) in the output.

Display the list in the reverse order with the Reversed toggle at the bottom of the List Properties section.

Select the blue Detect button to create a text zone around each element of the list. This automated process may require some manual adjusting it some elements are undetected.

Page Editor - List Properties

##Need more information on these

An anchor type is to be used with the link type. The link in the document will present the user with the anchor when the link is selected. Users will select the zone where they want the link, and change the field from text to link. Users should copy and paste the URL from the actual website in order to anchor the link in the proper zone. The link will then become active and clickable in the HTML output. Anchor can also be used for anchoring pages to a table of contents.

In order for an anchor zone to be usable, it is crucial to give the anchor a proper Anchor ID. This can be any string of alphanumeric characters that will be used as a reference ID for links.

Page Editor - Creating a useable Anchor zone

To begin, the user must first create a link zone. Once the link zone is created, the user can set the URL/Anchor field to the Anchor ID of the anchor the user would like to link to with a # in front of it.

Example: Anchor ID = sample_anchor, URL/Anchor = #sample_anchor

Using the Anchor Zone with a Link

Indicating that a zone is a graphic will generate an image of set zone for the HTML document. This can be used on any image, symbol, formula etc. that is not identified by EQUIDOX™ as an image. Alt text or long description can also be added to define or explain the image/graphic.

This field is a description of the graphic. It is used for accessibility purposes. It can be modified by entering text into the Description (Alt) text box. The data will be saved with the rest of the page.

This field is an optional longer alternate description of the graphic that allows more characters. It is used for accessibility purposes. It can be modified by entering text into the Long Description text box. The data will be saved with the rest of the page.

Page Editor - Graphic Properties

By selecting the blue 'Edit' button, the user will be redirected to the Graphic Editor. From here, the user can modify fields of the graphic such as the description, long description, and the graphic name.

Select Blockquote to indicate a zone is a quote from another source. A blockquote is identified by an indentation of the quote and a blue line on the left side of the zone.

Identifying a zone as a quote results in set zone having quotation marks at the beginning and the end of the zone.

Select Cite to indicate the zone consists of a proper title of a work. This can be used to identify the title of book, movie, piece of art, etc. Exclude the author’s name from the Cite zone type.

Select Footnote Link to identify a zone consists of a footnote marker corresponding to a footnote at the bottom of a document.

## NEED INFO

Add or modify a description of the footnote link in the Description text box.

Identifying a zone as a Form results in the zone being set as an HTML form in the exported document. Setting a zone as a Field within a form allows the user to add fields in which the user can input data and submit it. There can be a variety of fields within the same form which range from radio-boxes to pick-lists.

This field represents a link to the form that the field is a part of. This zone can be modified by entering text into the Description text box. The data will be saved with the rest of the page.

This field represents the name of the field. This zone can be modified by entering text into the Description text box. The data will be saved with the rest of the page.

This field allows the user to select between a variety of field types for the user to enter information into in the document. This ranges from text boxes to drop down lists. This field can be modified by selecting one of the options from the drop down list and filling out its values accordingly.

This field represents what value will be in the field before the user selects or interacts with it. It is used as a placeholder for user input in the exported document. This value can be modified by entering text into the Description text box. The data will be saved with the rest of the page.

##This field simply represents which zone will be linked to the field zone such that they stay together upon export. This field can be set by either selecting the zone the user would like to use as the label through the picklist or by creating a zone that covers both the field and label zone while holding down the alt-key. If done correctly, the zone will appear to be blue while creating and will automatically set the label zone upon release.

Page Editor - Field Properties

Any zone that was generated via the tool’s optical character recognition should be listed as OCR zone type. This lets the user know that this content was most likely a scanned PDF imported into Equidox.

When the user is presented with the table editor, there is a control panel on the left side of the screen, much like the one on the conversion page, but with tools pertaining to converting a table.

Above the Zone Properties there are options to Save, Preview, as well as Zoom in and Zoom out. These are all functions that are available on the conversion page. The difference with the control panel on the Table Editor is that it has more detailed tasks pertaining to editing a table, and does not have tasks available that are irrelevant to the table. Such tools can be seen in the image below.

Equidox Table Editor

Under Zone Properties the zone Name, Caption, and Summary are presented. This information is able to be modified.

Sliding the sensitivity bar to the left will create more columns and rows, while sliding the sensitivity bar to the right will create less columns and rows. Simply, by selecting two cells in the same column or row and pressing and holding the Shift-key, the user can span multiple cells.

Editing a table allows the user to make the necessary adjustments to make the table accessible to a screen reader.

Create a zone over the table. Change the zone type to Table. Open the Table Editor by selecting the button on the sidebar.

Page Editor - Table Properties and accessing the Table Editor

Modify the cell detection sensitivity in the Page tab and click Apply. Span across cells by selecting a cell, holding shift, selecting an additional cell, and clicking Span in the Cells tab.

Table Editor - Column Merge

Table Editor - Row Merge

Click and drag column/row guides to change size. Select Merge Right or Merge Down in the toolbar to merge columns and rows.

Table Editor - Row/Column Split and Merge

Select Table and toggle IDs in the Table Properties section to have Equidox automatically generate the table IDs.

Page Editor - Table ID’s

Save all changes using the Save This Table option on the top right of the screen. Preview the HTML table by selecting Preview this Table on the top right of the screen.

## The Table Editor Guides will appear as blue lines that go across the table. These lines represent where each of the rows and columns will be searching for text in each table cell. All of the Guide-lines can be moved by selecting them and dragging them either horizontally (for rows) or vertically (for columns).

Table Editor