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Re: Checking and Fixing PDFs With a Screen Reader?

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From: Brandon Keith Biggs
Date: May 24, 2019 6:57AM

Hello,
Thank you! I looked at the PAC tool and I had a difficult time
understanding what the report said, but I did see some items, like labeling
of references, that I'm not sure how to do in Word.
Also, many of the links in the document are citations and links to the
citation that is above the link, so as a screen reader user, I know the
link is to that citation.
Thanks,

Brandon Keith Biggs <http://brandonkeithbiggs.com/>;


On Wed, May 22, 2019 at 4:24 PM Peter Quale < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Hi Brandon,
>
> Reading through the PDF with a screen reader is pretty straightforward as
> you're looking for a logical reading order that matches the visible order
> of the content in each page and then look for appropriate headings and
> heading levels.
>
> You might check out the "Screen Reader Output" report found in the PAC 3
> tool
> <
> https://www.access-for-all.ch/en/pdf-lab/pdf-accessibility-checker-pac/downloading-pac.html
> >
> available free from Access for All in Switzerland. I'm consistently
> impressed with the accuracy.
>
> As for Word, as long as your documents avoid tables or other wacky layouts
> and again follow a logical heading structure, the results are usually
> favorable. Be sure to always us the "heading" styles and avoid other
> options like "Title" as there is no equivalent in the PDF tags. Then fixing
> the documents is pretty easy-- just go in and adjust headings as necessary.
> Oh, and rely on the style spacing provided by Word and remove all extra
> lines and useless spaces as the screen readers will likely try to read them
> as "blank, blank, blank".
>
> If you need documents that meet the PDF/UA spec, you can use the issues
> indicated by the PAC 3 tool and search for the specific error text-- Google
> results will often bring up pages from Kenny Moore's site, TaggedPDF.com,
> where he includes excellent step-by-step instructions to fix each one.
>
> -Peter
>
> On Wed, May 22, 2019 at 4:33 PM glen walker < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
> > A few months ago we talked about the accessibility of the checker in
> word.
> > See https://webaim.org/discussion/mail_thread?thread=9180
> >
> >
> > On Wed, May 22, 2019 at 3:23 PM Brandon Keith Biggs <
> > <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> >
> > > Hello,
> > > Is there any way to run an accessibility check that is readable (and
> > > preferably free) that is usable with a screen reader?
> > > Then what is the best way to fix those issues if the document is coming
> > > from Word?
> > > Thank you,
> > >
> > > Brandon Keith Biggs <http://brandonkeithbiggs.com/>;
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > >
>
>
> --
> *Peter Quale*
> Google Voice: (707) 992-5696
> > > > >