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RE: PDF files and Section 508 Compliance

for

From: Austin, Darrel
Date: May 16, 2005 8:50AM


> If possible try to get to the source documents used to
> generate the PDF in the first place and use the accessibility
> features of the PDF conversion tools.

If you have access to the source files, then the better option would likely
be to post the source file (Word, for instance, can be a LOT more 'readable'
than a PDF is for someone using something like JAWS) and then convert to
HTML (and PDF if you still want that option too.)

Granted, a big part of all of this is how well written/semantically
formatted the source documents are. A lot of folks still use MS Word as a
fancy Typewriter, which, in the end, isn't any different than the PDF...just
a document hard-formatted to look nice when printed.

Adobe has done and admirable job convincing everyone that PDF is the be-all
end-all format out there. I believed it myself for a long time. ;o)

-Darrel