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Re: Question about Acrobat Reader

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From: Paul Bohman
Date: Oct 5, 2001 5:45PM

Acrobat files can be made accessible with Acrobat version 5.0. If you have the full version of acrbat--not just the free reader--you can create tagged PDF files. These files can be read quite well by the latest versions of JAWS and WindowEyes. I have not had the opportunity to personally test pdf files with WindowEyes, but I have with JAWS. JAWS was able to read simple documents quite well. Complex documents, as with complex HTML, were somewhat more difficult to understand, even though essentially all of the content was "accessible" to the screen reader.
The plugin that worked with older versions of Acrobat reader did not work the same way. From what I understand, they simply created alternative versions (e.g. HTML) of the document. With the new version of Acrobat, the actual PDF file can be made directly accessible.
There are some drawbacks.
1. Not everyone has the latest version of the Acrobat Reader on their machines, so not everyone with a screen reader will be able to access the PDF files, even if the files themselves are created in tagged PDF. They would need the latest version of the reader.
2. The only way to create tagged PDF files from the start to the finish is to use Microsoft Office products. You export the Office file to PDF and the conversion is done automatically. The process works fairly well, but the old principle applies: garbage in, garbage out. If the author does not include alt tags with images, none will be created. If the author does not use headings in the Office document, no headings will be created in the PDF document. You get the idea. The good part of this is that you can go in and edit the PDF tags manually. The bad part is that it can be a time-consuming process.
3. If you don't use MS Office to create your PDF documents (e.g. you use PageMaker or something else), then you have to run a script on the PDF file after-the-fact. The script, called "make accessible", does its best to tag the document appropriately, but it is far from perfect. To have a truly accessible document in the end, you have to edit the PDF tags manually. Again, this is time-consuming.
4. If your PDF files are scanned documents, you have to run an OCR program on them before they will be accessible at all. Acrobat has a built-in OCR program that works quite well, but you may need to touch up the document after running the OCR on it. Then you have to run the "make accessible" plug-in on it, then you have to edit the tags manually to correct any mistakes.
In summary: If the end user has the latest screen reader with the latest version of Acrobat Reader, and if the document was created with accessibility in mind, then Acrobat documents can be very accessible. If any of the above conditions are not met, the documents are not accessible.
My suggestion: Go ahead and post your accessible PDF files, but don't rely on PDF alone. Provide an HTML alternative.
Paul Bohman
Technology Coordinator
WebAIM (Web Accessibility in Mind)
www.webaim.org
Utah State University
www.usu.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]On Behalf Of
Schoppa, Laura
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2001 9:18 AM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: Question about Acrobat Reader

I would like to find out about anyone's experiences with Adobe's free "Make
Accessible Plug-in" for PDF files.
Are PDF's okay to put out there?

Laura Schoppa
Graphic Designer / Web Developer
SI Enterprise Consulting Corp.
Office: 703-905-1687


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