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Re: PDF vs. HTML

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From: mzwack
Date: Jul 30, 2004 4:28PM

*I'm implementing a lot of accessible PDFs


*With version 6 there has been increased ease for applying tags


*The only PDFs we are avoiding making accessible are PDFs with lots of
tables, because HTML will read tables better (when the LIFT program in
Macromedia Dreamweaver is used on the tables)


*PDFs developed in Office 2000/XP (word, excel, powerpoint) are particularly
easy to convert to accessible PDF format using the PDFMaker macro (you can
even add the ALT tags right in Word, Excel, Powerpoint that convert right
over to accessible PDF format)


*For programs, coming from other programs, that is where you would use the
make accessible action in Acrobat, then fix and adjust the tags as necessary


*You can change the reading order of the document (from the Acrobat 6 Pro
toolbar) select Edit > Preferences > Reading then adjust the reading order -
this can be helpful in cases like you mention, however I have not tested
this out a lot because the Acrobat Read Out Loud method is not the only type
of screen reader, there is also Jaws, etc.


Let me know if you'd like and I can expand on this as necessary


Melanie