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Re: Recommended method for identifying a line in an "Accessible PDF"

for

From: Terence de Giere
Date: Feb 18, 2003 8:12AM

Jules,

One could use "horizontal line" or "horizontal rule". The somewhat out
of date pwWebSpeak audio browser used the "A section separator" to
identify a horizontal line in HTML. It is probably better to use a
descriptive reference or a functional description of the line rather
than three hyphens because assistive technology may say dash dash dash
or something unexpected when using punctuation or repeated punctuation
marks. For example, SS# for a U.S. Social Security number would be
pronounced "S S sharp" in some technology. So if the line separates
something you can say "separator line" or "section separator line", and
if the line is just decorative and has no visual function other than as
a frill, "decorative line", although in this latter case (since I have
not tried this yet) perhaps a blank space might work, allowing the
reader to skip over a non essential line as with non essential spacer
images in HTML using null alternate text.

Terence de Giere
<EMAIL REMOVED>

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Julian Rikards wrote:

This is somewhat off topic in that most of the discussions on this list
revolve around HTML and CSS with regard to Accessibility. However, I am
trying to create an accessible pdf and for the most part, know what I am
doing but for some reason, a horizontal rule in Word 2002 is flagged by
Acrobat's Accessibility Checker - the checker wants the line to have
alternate text. In the past, I have simply been inserting "---" (three
hyphens) as the Alternate Text. Does anyone have a better idea?

These next two questions may assist with the answer. If someone were to put
a graphical horizontal line in a web page, what would one write as its alt
text? OR, what does a web page reader say when it encounters a
horizontal rule?

Jules




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