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PDF viewers used by screen reader users

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From: Sailesh Panchang
Date: Dec 3, 2020 11:59AM

Update:
On launching a PDF online in Chrome, one has the option to open it in
Acrobat Reader. Using this option is necessary to complete a fillable
form. I do not see this option in Edge.
Also one cannot access lists or read a data table in a tagged PDF
directly using Chrome or Edge whether the PDF is accessed offline or
online.
I have not had success using the page# textbox right at the start on
launching a PDF in Chrome / Edge to navigate to say, page #27 in the
PDF.
Also JAWS can do a fairly good job of automatic-OCR with scanned
files in Acrobat Reader but I have not experienced that with the
browser-reading feature.
It appears Acrobat Reader is the best option yet for screen reader users.
- Sailesh
On 10/4/20, Birkir R. Gunnarsson < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> Hi David
>
> I'm just using the default PDF view in Chrome, no plug-ins.
> I click the PDF, then at the top there is a dialog where you can
> choose to zoom in, download etc. Then the file starts.
> There's a bit of a delay I admit, it can get annoying for large files,
> but typically I find that it is better than downloading the file and
> opening it, though I don't have strong opinions. I just like being
> able to click and read without taking extra steps, especially if I'm
> not sure whether the PDF has anything interesting, e.g. a restaurant
> menu.
>
>
> On 10/3/20, David Engebretson Jr. < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>> Hi Birkir,
>>
>> I'm happy to hear you are finding the presentation of PDF documents in
>> Chrome more accessible. Is this the Chrome PDF add-on you are using?
>>
>> I ask because I find the latency from keypress to when the TTS engine
>> starts
>> to talk (I'm using Eloquence) is significant enough that I have to use
>> the
>> Adobe Reader application on my Windows 10 machine so I don't get
>> frustrated
>> with the latency while viewing PDF's in Chrome.
>>
>> Are you experiencing any latency?
>>
>> Thanks for your thoughts!
>> David
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of
>> Birkir R. Gunnarsson
>> Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2020 4:34 AM
>> To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] PDF viewers used by screen reader users
>>
>> Chrome has a surprisingly decent PDF viewer by now. I have, for the most
>> part, stopped downloading web-based PDF files, just open them in Chrome
>> instead. I have not tried this on interactive PDFs though but for static
>> documents reading order, headings and so on are properly exposed (to
>> Jaws/NVDA).
>>
>> On 10/2/20, Sailesh Panchang < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>>> A long standing practice for me has been:
>>> I prefer to download PDFs and read them using Adobe Reader.
>>> I do this off links that open up a PDF in the browser too.
>>> On Windows, this is the most effective way of getting to content /
>>> navigating around in a tagged or even untagged doc that may or may
>>> not include forms.
>>> As 2020 draws to a close, I am wondering if there are other reliable
>>> and effective PDF/UA viewers that work with screen readers on Windows
>>> /mobile / Mac and would like to learn from the experience of SR
>>> colleagues on the list.
>>>
>>> Thanks very much,
>>> Sailesh
>>> >>> >>> archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
>>> >>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Work hard. Have fun. Make history.
>> >> >> at
>> http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
>> >>
>> >> >> >> >>
>
>
> --
> Work hard. Have fun. Make history.
> > > > >


--
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Sailesh Panchang
Principal Accessibility Consultant
Deque Systems Inc
381 Elden Street, Suite 2000, Herndon, VA 20170
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