How to Fix Read Out Loud Showing Blank or Empty Page in a Lexis PDF
Question details
The user needs to troubleshoot and resolve an issue where the PDF text-to-speech function fails to read the text in a downloaded Lexis document.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat / Lexis Advance PDF
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Attempting to use the Read Out Loud text-to-speech feature to listen to a legal document or opinion downloaded from Lexis Advance.
- Observed behavior
- The Read Out Loud feature incorrectly reports the document as 'Blank' or 'Empty Page', even when the PDF appears to contain visible and selectable text.
Verify that your computer's audio is functioning properly and check if your PDF reader software is updated to the latest version.
Test Text Selection and Run OCR
If the PDF consists of scanned images instead of actual text, the speech engine cannot process it. Running Optical Character Recognition (OCR) converts these images into readable text.
Even if a document looks clear, it may lack the underlying text layer required by text-to-speech engines. Performing an OCR scan creates this necessary text layer.
Open the Lexis PDF in your reader and try to highlight a specific sentence. If the cursor selects the entire page instead of individual words, the document is an image.
Navigate to the 'Tools' menu in your PDF editor and select 'Recognize Text' or 'OCR'.
Choose 'In This File' and click 'Recognize Text' to process the document.
Save the file as a new searchable PDF, then activate the Read Out Loud feature again to confirm it can now read the text.
Check Accessibility Tags and Security Settings
A document may have restrictive security settings or lack the accessibility tags needed for the screen reader to determine the reading order.
Easily Extract and Read PDF Text with WPS Office
If your current PDF reader struggles with Lexis documents or accessibility features, WPS PDF offers built-in OCR and comprehensive PDF management tools to convert, edit, and read complex files seamlessly.
- 1. Open WPS PDF: Launch WPS Office and open your downloaded Lexis PDF within the WPS PDF viewer.
- 2. Use OCR if Needed: If the document is unselectable, click on the 'Tools' tab and select 'OCR' to extract the text.
- 3. Export to Word for Easy Reading: Click 'PDF to Word' to convert the document into a fully editable format.
- 4. Utilize System Screen Readers: Open the converted Word document and use standard screen reading tools or text-to-speech features without compatibility errors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Read Out Loud say 'Empty Page' when I can see the text on the screen?
This usually happens when the PDF lacks accessibility tags, uses a non-standard font encoding that the speech engine cannot interpret, or is essentially a flat image of text rather than a digitally rendered font layer.
How do I check if my PDF allows content copying for accessibility?
Open your PDF document, go to File > Properties, and select the Security tab. Look down the list of document restrictions for 'Content Copying for Accessibility' and verify that it says 'Allowed'.
Can I fix an untagged PDF myself?
Yes. If you have a fully featured PDF editor, you can navigate to the accessibility or advanced tools section and use the 'Autotag Document' feature. This will automatically scan the document and create a structured reading order for text-to-speech engines.
