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Re: PDF Remediation Tools

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From: Wyant, Jay (MNIT)
Date: Feb 19, 2013 9:48AM

Re checking XFA Forms (PDF forms created in LiveCycle), a colleague recommended this fragment you add to a form you've created:
http://blogs.adobe.com/formfeed/category/xfa/page/2

She's found it to be the best (or...only?) tool so far for this type of PDF.

Welcome your thoughts!

Jay


-----Original Message-----
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
>>>
>>> >>> >>> list messages to <EMAIL REMOVED>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> *
>> ........................................................................................................................
>> 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/ *