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Re: PDFs that read one word per line

for

From: Andrew Kirkpatrick
Date: Jan 26, 2010 9:33AM


Tags are automatically added in Standard by Acrobat, yes. But I thought that new tags could only be added in Professional?

This is correct.

Adobe claims that "Adobe is an industry leader in accessibility and supports the creation of outstanding web experiences by encouraging web developers to produce rich, engaging content that is accessible to all."
This does not jibe with making accessibility features exclusively available to wealthier organizations.

Acrobat Pro pricing for non-volume licenses starts at $159 for education customers, which I don't think locks out all but the most wealthy customers. Prices are more for business customers, but again there are volume discounts.

Web developers are not being encouraged to create accessible experiences when Adobe ships Flash, Flex, and Dreamweaver with accessibility features turned off, and when the features that can be made accessible are such a small percentage of the feature-set.

The upcoming Flex 4 enables accessibility by default.
Dreamweaver has enabled accessibility features by default for the last two releases.
Flash files don't need accessibility to be enabled.

AWK

-Julie Strothman
User Experience Researcher and Designer
Landmark College
Putney VT

>>> Andrew Kirkpatrick < <EMAIL REMOVED> > 01/26/10 11:00 AM >>>
Modifying tags does require Acrobat Pro, but tags are added in Acrobat Standard.

Thanks,
AWK

Andrew Kirkpatrick

Senior Product Manager, Accessibility

Adobe Systems

<EMAIL REMOVED>


-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Julie Strothman
Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 10:55 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] PDFs that read one word per line

It's true that we all need to advocate for use of best practices during
authorship.
However, as long as adding and modifying tags is only available as a premium
feature, Adobe's message is that accessibility is non-standard.


On Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 10:10 AM, Andrew Kirkpatrick < <EMAIL REMOVED> >wrote:

> > I like that , PDFu, I'll start using it as it is very fitting.
>
> You've been outspoken in your criticism of PDF and Adobe on this list, and
> that's fine because we are making software for our users and it improves
> when we talk with and listen to our users. It is exciting and gratifying to
> get productive feedback from users who discuss their issues with us and then
> see improvements in the products that help address those issues. However, I
> don't think that adding a letter to make a double entendre out of PDF is
> going to help these conversations remain productive no matter how frustrated
> you are with the format.
>
> > I still cant let Adobe off the hook completely because I dont see enough
> from them stating that they need to be made accessible and
> > that it doesn't come accessible right out of the box.
>
> I'm always looking for ways to improve our messages so that PDF files,
> Flash files, and anything else produced by an Adobe product stands an
> improved chance of being accessible. I'm sure that I've said things like
> "if you follow best practices during authoring then your PDF file can be
> accessible" but perhaps others are saying that PDF is a magic format that
> compensates for author's neglect of accessibility. I'm happy to take
> suggestions.
>
> Thanks,
> AWK
>
> Andrew Kirkpatrick
>
> Senior Product Manager, Accessibility
>
> Adobe Systems
>
> <EMAIL REMOVED>
>
>
>
>
>