WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Screen-reader updates

for

From: Derek Featherstone
Date: Feb 22, 2006 7:20AM

On 2/20/06, Wayne Dick wrote:

>3) While MathML is not complete and not even the ACM uses it, it can
>be translated easily to just about any medium human beings use to
>read. Right now I can't make any sense out of mathematics in PDF.

This is a good point and raises the issue that I think is most often
glossed over from Joe's PDF article on A List Apart.

"There are too many PDFs on the web. Most every PDF should be something
other than PDF."

Source: <http://www.alistapart.com/articles/pdf_accessibility/#overused>;

Is this not a case where PDF as a delivery format is not the correct
choice? Based on your experience, wouldn't you say that PDF is not
suitable for the delivery of mathematical equations or notations?

This isn't the fault of PDF, though. The responsibility here lies with
the author that is choosing to publish in a format that is not suitable
for their content.

Best regards,
Derek.
--
Derek Featherstone <EMAIL REMOVED>
tel: 613-599-9784 1-866-932-4878 (toll-free in North America)
Web Development: http://www.furtherahead.com
Personal: http://www.boxofchocolates.ca