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Re: PDF, Accessibility and Quality Control

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From: Zwack, Melanie C
Date: Jan 29, 2007 8:40AM

Here are some key responses I got the the questions about PDF,
Accessibility, and Quality Control:



* If time is not a critical issue and the PDF was not
well-formed from the start (i.e, no headings, etc.), then I do suggest
using the TouchUp Reading Order tool to reclassify the content where
appropriate. While the TouchUp tool is a major improvement to how
things had to be done in earlier versions of Acrobat, a proper workflow
is a better option IMO as touching up even short document can take more
time.



* In terms of QC/QA, I generally do not recommend the use of a
specific screen-reader as what works in screen-reader version "X" does
not mean that the same function will exist in version "Y" (makes for
some tedious testing!). I try out a few screen-readers when I am trying
something new in the PDF conversion process, but I have that luxury.
The best results I have had with respect to evaluating reading order is
to save out a tagged PDF as "Text(Accessible)" from the Save As... menu.
You should get the proper text flow and additional items that a
screen-reader will also announce are typically displayed in brackets.
The drawback to this method is if data tables are present (linearizes
the data).



* When you test with a particular screen reader it can be
problematic, because as you say, a different version will give you
different results. Also, this way people who use a different screen
reader might also be excluded. It is best to follow good practices, be
as maticulous about tagging as possible, and let assistive technologies
worry about reading a properly written document. It pays off on the long
run.



These are all interesting responses, and I really appreciate the input.
My points about the above are:



* For MS Word and InDesign, I recognize the fact that in those
sorts of PDFs, I have control over how the tags will be outputting.
These sorts of PDFs are much easier to deal with. However, I guess my
real concern is for those PDFs, such as those developed in Quark or
other programs, where the output tags is not so clean, and there's no
control over the source-files. At this point, we've just been making it
work - - getting the content in the correct sequential order and
applying alt tags to images. This is a pretty basic goal, but given the
fact that the PDF is a difficult one to work with, and the goal of
trying to tag it perfectly could really literally take 2-3 times as
long, we've made the decision that this basic goal - - getting the
content in the correct sequential order is good enough. I've disregarded
whether the tags correctly associated with <h3> <p> <figure> - - so far
this has worked. Do you feel that this is acceptable in terms of quality
control? Or, should we try to actually tag these correctly?



* Another question I have, You speak of well-formed documents.
What exactly do you mean by that. I guess I'm not totally clear about
what the meaning of a well-formed document is?



* We are currently using Acrobat 7 Pro, and possibly soon
working with Acrobat 8 Pro. Since Acrobat 5, it was just amazing to get
a document tagged in the first place. But, now several years later, I
think it is important to re-evaluate these standards, and figure out if
there are better ways that we need to do things.



TIA
Melanie Zwack