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Re: Reading upper-level Unicode glyphs in PDF

for

From: Bevi Chagnon | PubCom
Date: Sep 8, 2009 1:00PM

Summary (almost there):

Based on Jared and Karen's comments, and combined with an Adobe reference to
tagging abbreviations
http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/products/acrobat/pdf/A9-pdf-access-repair
-workflow.pdf, I think I have a workable solution for InDesign desktop
publishers who must export 508-accessible PDFs from their layouts.

Can I ask a favor? I have a test PDF uploaded to my website that has several
samples of upper-level Unicode characters in different usage scenarios. I
tried to replicate what I find my government publishers doing in their
InDesign layouts.

My goal is to find a way to let the designers create what they need to have
in the visual design and give 508-users a way to read the Unicode
characters.

Would a few screen reader users/list members take a quick look at the PDF
and let me know if it works? I'll post an online tutorial for the list when
I have the details worked out.

It's short.
It's here:
http://pubcom.com/newsletter/pdf-samples/3_Unicode-Test-2_corrected.pdf

Thanks in advance,
--Bevi Chagnon

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . .
Bevi Chagnon | <EMAIL REMOVED> | www.PubCom.com
Government and non-profit publishing specialists for print, web, marketing,
Acrobat, & 508
PublishingDC Group Co-Moderator |
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PublishingDC
Bevi blogs on Facebook |
www.facebook.com/pages/Takoma-Park-MD/PubCom/139231069223
And she tweets on Twitter | www.twitter.com/pubcom
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Karlen
Communications
Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2009 10:49 AM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Reading upper-level Unicode glyphs in PDF

Wouldn't you want to use the Actual Text attribute since you want the
character to read as part of text and not as a standalone graphic?

Cheers, Karen

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Jared Smith
Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2009 10:31 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Reading upper-level Unicode glyphs in PDF

On Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 8:17 AM, Bevi Chagnon | PubCom< <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

> Since JAWS isn't reading the Unicode characters, do you have any suggested
> workaround for those of us who must create documents with these extended
> characters?

I think the only way to have them read is to provide the character
name or text into the tags of the document. In Acrobat Pro, select the
tag for that character (you might need to go through the process of
creating a new tag if that character is included in a tag that
contains the surrounding text), then select Properties... Tag... and
then enter Alternative Text into the appropriate box.

Jared Smith
WebAIM