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Re: automatic document testing

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From: Bevi Chagnon
Date: Oct 24, 2011 12:57PM

Lucy,
First, my condolences. You're in a hard place!

Automated accessibility checkers and remediation software can have severe
shortcomings. One example that can help make the point to your boss is
Alt-text on graphics. I reviewed a government client's PDFs that had been
automatically remediated with a tool (sorry, don't remember the company or
name) which created Alt-text for all graphics in the PDF. Every graphic --
including photos, logos, informational charts, and decorative stuff that
should have been labeled artifacts -- had the same Alt-text, "Graphic."

Technically the graphics had Alt-text but just the word "graphic" isn't
useful or accurate, and definitely shouldn't be tolerated for accessibility
standards.

I doubt we'll have a tool anytime soon that can objectively and accurately
determine the Alt-text for graphics. That still takes a trained, intelligent
human being to write Alt-text and a few minutes of labor.

--Bevi Chagnon

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