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Re: Average time to Remediate PDFs in bulk?

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From: Dona Patrick
Date: Oct 10, 2014 10:41AM

I am asked this question all the time at work. I respond with some of the
same responses that have been provided here and they still say, "Okay
thanks, but how long will it take. We need an LOE for our paperwork..."

So then I usually respond that I can do, on average, 10 to 15 pages an hour
and then figure out about how many pages there are in all and then provide
them with what they are looking for. I always include a disclaimer that if
the files are very complex, misbehave in any way, if I have to write all of
the alt text or if the tables are very complex it will take me more than
what I quoted. I open all of the files to see how many pages are in each
and do a quick scan of what is involved. Sometimes my LOE takes several
hours to write.

Dona

On Fri, Oct 10, 2014 at 12:14 PM, Jonathan Avila < <EMAIL REMOVED>
> wrote:

> > If I was to take a guess at this I¹d say something like: Simple
> documents: .5 an hour Intermediate documents: 1-4 hours
>
> It really depends on the number of pages in the document, the level of
> accessibility desired (e.g. Section 508, WCAG, PDF/UA, etc.), the person
> doing the work, the tools you have available, the native document format,
> etc.
>
> Form based documents, documents with multiple columns, or documents with
> math, footnotes, superscripts, etc. can vary widely. Perhaps a better
> way of looking at it is the types of elements each document contains along
> with the number of pages.
>
> Jonathan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: <EMAIL REMOVED> [mailto:
> <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Jordan Wilson
> Sent: Friday, October 10, 2014 11:55 AM
> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Average time to Remediate PDFs in bulk?
>
> Thanks,
>
> I don¹t need it to be perfect - rather looking for an average that I can
> use for a low and high boundary for my estimate. As far as the size of the
> batch, approximately 1000 documents. Most are simple, some are intermediate
> and a few are complex.
>
> Perhaps it would be more helpful if I took a stab myself and asked if it
> made sense to others:
>
> If I was to take a guess at this I¹d say something like:
>
> Simple documents: .5 an hour
> Intermediate documents: 1-4 hours
> Complex documents: 4-8+ hours
>
> Does that mesh (on average, and without needing to be perfect) with
> other¹s experiences or it too high/too low?
>
>
>
> On 10/10/14, 11:42 AM, "Chagnon | PubCom" < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
> >Jordan wrote: "Does anyone recommend an average time (in hours) they
> >use for remediating a PDF?
> >I'm trying to semi-accurately estimate an hourly effort for large
> >batches of documents."
> >
> >Define "large." It means different things to different people. Is a
> >large batch 10 documents or 100 documents? Are the documents 5 pages
> >long, 50 pages, or 500 pages?
> >
> >In our contracts to agencies for PDF remediation, we specifically do
> >not place an estimate on how long it will take to remediate a PDF. It's
> >just not possible because there are too many variables.
> >
> >The biggest factor is how well the original source document was made,
> >which then affects the underlying structure and coding of the PDF,
> >which of course directly affects accessibility.
> >
> >The version of the originating software is critical; Word 2013 makes a
> >better document than Word 2007. Same with Adobe InDesign. And which
> >version of Acrobat was used to convert the document affects the
> >accessibility in the PDF.
> >
> >You can't see any of these items by visually looking at the PDF, so how
> >do you know what you'll run into when you start remediation?
> >
> >And then there's Alt-text; is the graphic a complex statistical chart
> >or a garden-variety photo for window-dressing the document's visual
> appearance?
> >Big difference in what has to be written for Alt-text, and statistical
> >Alt-text has to then be approved by the author or SME.
> >
> >Summary: sometimes we can remediate a 100-page PDF from Word faster
> >than a 4-page PDF brochure from InDesign. It's all about the code, the
> >source document, the software versions, and the skills of the person
> >who made the document.
> >
> >WTHK ... Who the heck knows!
> >
> >--BJC
> >
> >- PubCom.com - Trainers, Consultants, Designers, and Developers.
> >- Print, Web, Acrobat, XML, eBooks, and U.S. Federal Section 508
> >Accessibility.
> >- 508 Workshop: www.workshop.pubcom.com
> >- US Federal Training: www.gpo.gov/customers/theinstitute.htm
> >
> >
> >> >> >messages to <EMAIL REMOVED>
>
> > > messages to <EMAIL REMOVED>
> > > >