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Re: PDF Remediation Tools

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From: Denis Boudreau
Date: Feb 17, 2013 5:32PM

My experience with Acrobat XI has been that the error messaging that comes with the checker is so good now, that there's less and less need for PAC. I still like to validate with it, but I think it,s more out of habit than anything else.

/Denis



On 2013-02-17, at 11:43 AM, Cliff Tyllick < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Denis, I haven't worked with Acrobat XI for long, but I have not yet needed to use PAC since I converted to it. And I have noticed that the Acrobat's explanations of the errors and the methods for fixing them have improved significantly. Still, I do find PAC's interface and instructions easier for people new to analyzing the accessibility of PDFs to follow.
>
> Of course, if you're relying on Microsoft Office's "Save As PDF" feature to create your PDFs because you don't have access to Acrobat (it's actually better than Acrobat 9; it's as good as Acrobat X and later), then PAC is an excellent option for verifying the accessibility of a PDF. (I haven't yet tested it against Microsoft Word 2010's accessibility checker.)
>
> And, unfortunately for those of us who use Macs, PAC is available only for the Windows operating system.
>
> Birkir, I don't specifically remember having problems remediating forms with PAC, but I don't specifically remember using it to check any, either. Until I can test further, I'll not speculate. Thanks for the reminder to specifically check that out.
>
> Regards,
>
> Cliff
>
>
>
>
> > From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2013 9:09 AM
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] PDF Remediation Tools
>
> Hey gang
>
> How well does PAC work on PDF forms? I have used it with great success
> on PDF documents containing text and images, but I have not tried it
> on PDF forms. From somewhere I got the firm believe that PAC doesn't
> work with those, is that correct?
> Cheers
> -B
>
> On 2/17/13, Denis Boudreau < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>> Hi Cliff,
>>
>> While I agree with you that PAC is a great checker, especially when
>> introducing new people to PDFF remediation, I have to ask. Are you using
>> Acrobat Pro X or XI?
>>
>> Because I found that now that I've moved to Acrobat Pro XI, I don't need to
>> use PAC so much anymore.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> /Denis
>>
>>
>>
>> On 2013-02-16, at 11:28 PM, Cliff Tyllick < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>>
>>> Tim and Silvia,
>>>
>>> I love the PDF Accessibility Checker (PAC), particularly for these two
>>> reasons:
>>> * Its explanation of the source of an error and the repair needed is so
>>> much clearer than the information most people can glean from Acrobat's
>>> accessibility checker.
>>> * Whenever a flaw in the PDF causes the checking process to fail, PAC
>>> will give you results for everything it was able to review up to the point
>>> where the flaw caused the failure. By contrast, Acrobat's checker simply
>>> crashes. By studying the features that PAC was checking when it crashed, I
>>> have been able to find and fix whatever caused the crash and then complete
>>> the check.
>>> Having said that, I must point out that you can't fix the problems with
>>> PAC. You must either fix them in the source document—and then create a new
>>> PDF—or use another tool (Acrobat, for example) to repair the PDF itself.
>>>
>>> It's a great checker. I've found it to be a great tool for introducing
>>> others to the process of reviewing and repairing PDFs. But it is only a
>>> checker, not a repair tool.
>>>
>>> Cheers!
>>>
>>> Cliff
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> >>> From: Silvia Rodríguez Vázquez < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>>> To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>>> Sent: Friday, February 15, 2013 9:34 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] PDF Remediation Tools
>>>
>>> Hi Tim,
>>>
>>> The PDF-Accessibility-Checker (PAC) from the "Access for All" Foundation
>>> works very good.
>>>
>>> You can check its features and download it for free from here:
>>> http://www.access-for-all.ch/en/pdf-lab/pdf-accessibility-checker-pac.html
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Silvia
>>>
>>>
>>> On 15 February 2013 16:09, Tim Harshbarger <
>>> <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> What tools are currently out there that can assist with PDF remediation?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Tim
>>>>
>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> *
>>> ........................................................................................................................
>>> Silvia Rodríguez Vázquez*
>>> EN/ FR/PT- ES translator and localiser
>>> *Joint Doctoral Degree Candidate
>>> University of Salamanca & University of Geneva*
>>> Tel(s): (+41) 762.699.442 / (+34) 646.57.57.73
>>> *http://www.issco.unige.ch/en/staff/rodriguez/ *
>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>
>> >> >> >>
> > > > > >