WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: PDFs that read one word per line

for

From: Mark Magennis
Date: Jan 28, 2010 4:42AM

On 28 Jan 2010, at 11:12, Monir ElRayes wrote:

>> Correctly structured and fully tagged PDFs are typically NOT as
>> accessible
>> as an equivalent HTML document.
>>
> This is because in most cases these PDFs are not truly properly
> structured.

This is only half the story, not the full reason. There's more to it
than that, and that is the concept of "accessibility support", which
is central to any discussion about the accessibility of PDFs but
missing from what you have said.

> Using the right tools, PDF files, including those
> containing complex data tables, can be read correctly using Screen
> Readers

My point is that this statement is incorrect as it stands. It would be
correct to say "some screen readers" but not to generalise to "screen
readers". As I pointed out in my statistics for Ireland, complex data
tables in PDF files may only be able to be read correctly by something
like 35% of screen readers in this country. I'm not sure whether 35%
is right because I don't know the full details of accessibility
support for PDF data tables in screen readers, or even exactly what
versions of screen readers people have.

Monir, you have to factor in the concept of "accessibility support",
because that gives the essential context within which statements about
the accessibility of PDFs of any other online technology can be judged
as true or false.

All the best,
Mark




********************************************************************
National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) is a company
limited by guarantee (registered in Ireland No. 26293) .
Our registered office is at Whitworth Road, Drumcondra, Dublin 9.
NCBI is also a registered Charity (chy4626).

NOTICE: The information contained in this email and any attachments
is confidential and may be privileged. If you are not the intended
recipient you should not use, disclose, distribute or copy any of
the content of it or of any attachment; you are requested to notify
the sender immediately of your receipt of the email and then to
delete it and any attachments from your system.

NCBI endeavours to ensure that emails and any attachments generated
by its staff are free from viruses or other contaminants. However,
it cannot accept any responsibility for any such which are
transmitted. We therefore recommend you scan all attachments.

Please note that the statements and views expressed in this email
and any attachments are those of the author and do not necessarily
represent the views of NCBI


********************************************************************