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Re: PDF will be legally accessible with the new 508

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From: John Foliot
Date: Mar 19, 2010 11:36PM

OK, I'm truly trying to understand. Is this a good thing for you? It is
still unclear to me. Does the PDF file format as we know it in 2010 now
contain sufficient means to provide accessible content, to multiple
Adaptive Technology tools, that it can now be considered acceptable when
done right? That seems good to me, as some of the richness that PDF *does*
afford is of value in some circumstances.

We know that there are legacy PDF's out there that will not be accessible,
and likely a few still being created today that are not as rich as
Acrobat/Live Design could produce. We can only blame that on history and
poor training though, right? Is this a problem with "PDF" or of poor
authoring practice and the early history of PDF? Everything improves over
time, from Adaptive Technology, to file formats, to good wine.

Interesting note about cheap alternatives that generate pseudo-PDFs that
lack access features. Are you aware of any examples that I could see? It
would be interesting to see what if anything they do produce - perhaps we
should go after those software companies instead - I wonder aloud if ISO
could modify the once proprietary but now open PDF standard to place a
stronger insistence on accessibility to be called "PDF" (worth asking,
no?). If bad software tools (versus a file format) is the culprit, we
should point that out with proof, and attack the real problem. Most large
organizations that I know of, the majority will not buy faulty tools if
they can avoid it, so the market place can be our friend if we are smart
about it.

Thanks Chuck.

JF
(Notice: I do not have any vested interest in the Adobe Software company,
although I do know many people who work there, and those I know are all
genuine about improving accessibility.)


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