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Re: FW: PDF is only partially accessible

for

From: deblist
Date: Dec 4, 2009 7:24AM

On Fri, 4 Dec 2009, Simius Puer wrote:
> Not everyone is as web savvy as developers like to think and I
> know many people who get confused by PDF content (especially if the link to
> it doesn't warn them first - the web editors fault, not Adobe's of course),
> new windows and the like.

it's not just a matter of Web savviness. For many completely
web-savvy users with disabilities, switching to PDF or
flash-based content can simply be a matter of spoons. Opening up
a PDF, and then formatting it in such a way that I can see all
the text on a page in a readable size font and scan the content
(which is ultimately what I care about, not the layout) without
using a mouse is a royal pain. I know perfectly well how to do
it, but when computer users with disabilities are confronted with
just one more roadblock in the Big Dig is our computer using
experience, many of us will choose to take a side route.

As a general rule, PDF content on the web is something I avoid
unless I have no choice. Yes, technically I can navigate a PDF
accessibly, but it is such a chore to do so that why would I ever
spend spoons on a PDF when there is so much else to do?

-deborah