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Re: Screen readers and Adobe 7

for

From: Jared Smith
Date: Jul 13, 2005 3:59PM

> I was wondering if anyone is aware of any screen reading programs that won't
> work with PDFs created in/read in Adobe Acrobat/Reader Version 7

To the best of my knowledge, the only screen reader programs that support
PDF files are JAWS version 3.7+, Window Eyes version 4.1+, and IBM Home
Page Reader 3.04.

However, you have to remember that 'PDF support' is very subject to
interpretation. Earlier versions of JAWS and Window Eyes supported Acrobat
Version 5 files, but few of those files could actually be accessed. Any
type of complex layout or coding would render the files inaccessible. The
accessibility of PDF files has come a long way in recent versions, though
there's still a long way to go. The biggest hurdle we have, in my opinion,
is the absolute misuse of PDF documents on the Web in the first place.

Jared Smith
WebAIM.org