WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Accessibility of Tagged Acrobat PDFs

for

From: Andrew Kirkpatrick
Date: Aug 14, 2003 10:01AM


Jon,
You mean for people who are visually impaired but not blind who want to turn
images off to get access to the text equivalent for images, yes?

Acrobat Reader 5 and Adobe Reader 6 have some nice features for scaling
text. Both players allow the text to reflow like HTML can so when you set
the zoom to 300%, the text can still be on screen. The readers also allow
users to set text color and background preferences.

For use with screen readers, PDF does very well, but some of the limitations
of MSAA are problems for PDF (e.g. You can tag a pdf with headers like n an
html document, but they are not passed through to the screen reader by
MSAA). This is also a problem with Flash.

I agree with the idea that having an alternative to the PDF is the way to
go...

AWK

On 8/14/03 11:04 AM, "Jon Gunderson" < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Gerard,
>
> Adobe PDF can be more accessible through the use of tagged text and other
> techniques. One of the limitations is for people with visual imapriments
> being able to change font families and have access to text equivalents for
> graphic objects.
>
> In general it is best to have a alternative to the PDF that uses an
> alternative format to fill in the accessibility gaps of PDF.
>
> Jon
>
>
> On Thu, 14 Aug 2003, Gerard Corboz wrote:
>
>> I would like to know if anyone has experience with trying to make Acrobat
>> PDF documents and forms accessible.
>>
>> What I'm interested in finding out is if whether or not Adobe's claims that
>> Acrobat is accessible are accurate or just marketing fluff.
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Gerard Corboz
>> ---------
>> Perform
>> Information Design Solutions
>> ph: 6214 0968
>> fax: 6214 0964
>> mobile: 0402 236 358
>> http://www.perform.net.au
>> Join our mailing list - http://www.perform.net.au/News/
>> ---------
>>
>> Important
>>
>> The information transmitted in this email is for the use of the intended
>> recipient only and may contain confidential and/or legally privileged
>> material. If received in error, please delete all copies and advise the
>> sender. The reproduction or dissemination of this email or its attachments
>> is prohibited without the consent of the sender.
>>
>>
>> ----
>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or view list archives,
>> visit http://www.webaim.org/discussion/
>>
>
>
> ----
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or view list archives,
> visit http://www.webaim.org/discussion/
>

--
Andrew Kirkpatrick
CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media
125 Western Ave.
Boston, MA 02134
E-mail: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Web site: ncam.wgbh.org

617-300-4420 (direct voice/FAX)
617-300-3400 (main NCAM)
617-300-2489 (TTY)

WGBH enriches people's lives through programs and services that educate,
inspire, and entertain, fostering citizenship and culture, the joy of
learning, and the power of diverse perspectives.



----
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or view list archives,
visit http://www.webaim.org/discussion/