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Re: Who benefits of PDF tags aside from screen reader users?

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From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Aug 29, 2013 3:01PM


Another perceived benefit, though mostly historical, and not
necessarily correct.
- is that PDF documents cannot be alterred accidentally by the user
(any document can be hacked or alterred purposefully, after all all
you need is Adobe Acrobat or similar).

- It is true that forms that require user input can be evaluated much
more easily and user input can be controlled more strictly than with,
say, a Word document or a text document.

Word forms can be created, but they have serious accessibility issues
for screenreader users (though this brings us back to that category).
I am not sure about this, but I believe that users who do not have
Microsoft Word could interact with complex Word forms using, say, a
text editor or Wordpad, though Open Office might do the trick.


A follow up question for the PDF experts in here.
How would you justify creating a PDF form over an HTML one?
Cheers
-Birkir
Birkir Gunnarsson
Accessibility SME | Deque Systems


On 8/29/13, Chagnon | PubCom < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> The publisher of the PDF benefits.
>
> - If the PDF is logically structured, tagged with common <Hx> tags, and has
> readable text, search engines can read the PDF and correctly index it. This
> improves search engine optimization (SEO) for that PDF.
>
> - If a PDF is exported to Word, InDesign, or another file format, the end
> result will be better if the original PDF was logically tagged and
> structured. This helps the publisher repurpose the content in other
> formats.
>
> - Tab order is usually set to follow the tag tree order, so anyone tabbing
> through the PDF will benefit. They'll navigate the document in a logical
> order.
>
> -Bevi Chagnon
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> www.PubCom.com - Trainers, Consultants, Designers, Developers.
> Print, Web, Acrobat, XML, eBooks, and U.S. Federal Section 508
> Accessibility.
> New Sec. 508 Workshop & EPUBs Tour in 2013 - www.Workshop.Pubcom.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of McMorland,
> Gabriel C
> Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2013 4:22 PM
> To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
> Subject: [WebAIM] Who benefits of PDF tags aside from screen reader users?
>
> Other than screen reader users, who benefits from tagged PDF? I understand
> that running optical character recognition benefits all users because the
> text is searchable, but I would like to know how adding PDF tags benefits
> people who do not use screen reading software.
> I'm a screen reader user myself, but I think knowing the benefits to to
> others will help me make a stronger case for using tagged PDF. Thanks for
> your knowledge!
> > > messages to <EMAIL REMOVED>
>
> > > >