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Number of posts in this thread: 8 (In chronological order)

From: Karen McCall
Date: Wed, Oct 06 2021 5:48AM
Subject: Making Speaker Notes Accessible as a Tagged PDF
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Morning Everyone!

I just added a tagged PDF with options for making the Notes pages of PowerPoint as an accessible PDF.
https://www.karlencommunications.com/adobe/PowerPointSpeakerNotesAccessibilityInPDF.pdf

The short version: DON'T use the Acrobat Ribbon or Acrobat tools and DON'T use the Kofax PowerPDF or Foxit Editor 11 conversion tools as this creates an inaccessible version of the Notes pages. DO use the Microsoft ability to save as tagged PDF and choose Notes Pages from the options.

I explain what the intentional barriers are for each method of conversion.

Please share!

Cheers, Karen

From: David Engebretson Jr.
Date: Wed, Oct 06 2021 8:45AM
Subject: Re: Making Speaker Notes Accessible as a Tagged PDF
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Thanks for the tips!

I'm super interested in your thoughts that the Adobe snafu is intentional. I see where you are coming from because it hurts - it almost feels to me like a personal slap to my face as a screen reader user.

Do you think, though, that Adobe would intentionally put a product out in the world that breaks accessibility for assistive technology users? I'm wondering if it was simply a glitch in their testing/quality assurance process. Glitches happen, especially in engineering without user testing.

Anyhow, I appreciate your expertise and your passion for the subject. This is good food for thought. Hopefully you shared this with the accessibility and inclusion folks at Adobe so they can think about improving their product.

Thank you for all of your hard work!
David

From: Karen McCall
Date: Wed, Oct 06 2021 10:02AM
Subject: Re: Making Speaker Notes Accessible as a Tagged PDF
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I know. I realize that there might be "bug fixes" and things do get broken.

However, the fact that in many cases we still have to build a business case for accessibility and inclusion and creating technology that isn't accessible, usable and inclusive from the concept and design phase is "intentional". "We've" known about the need for accessible, usable and inclusive technology since the creation of e-mail...we just haven't thought it was "important enough" to implement and often prefer to say we'll do that later...once the technology is released.

...which is why I can't buy an appliance with a touch screen or computer screen that I can use with a screen reader. 😊

...and why document authors and technology developers still aren't creating accessible and usable content. 😊

...and why we aren't teaching students to create accessible, usable and inclusive "things" when they first put their hands on a keyboard or creating accessible curriculum isn't part of teacher training. 😊

Cheers, Karen

From: David Engebretson Jr.
Date: Wed, Oct 06 2021 11:11AM
Subject: Re: Making Speaker Notes Accessible as a Tagged PDF
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Ooh, you might be interested in some of the work we are doing at the university I work at!

I'm pushing for:
* teachers in our elementary education teaching programs to teach kids how to make documents fully accessible from the first time the students touch a computer.
* training all faculty staff and students to make their digital creations fully accessible from design to implementation as soon as they join our university community
* incorporating accessible design principles into our curriculum from English 101 on... hopefully into all GUR's
*incorporating accessible design principles into our computer science programs from CS 101 on... hopefully into all programs of concentration that deal with digital technologies, and programs that create physical products (such as industrial design)
* and much more!

I think the solution to the a11y problem is to start teaching our youngest students, right from the start, to create things with accessibility in mind. Maybe then, in 50 years, I can retire from being an a11y advocate because all humans will understand the importance of accessible design. I'm a dreamer, I know. 😊

Thanks again for all of your hard work and advocacy!
David

From: Ilana Gordon
Date: Wed, Oct 06 2021 11:51AM
Subject: Re: Making Speaker Notes Accessible as a Tagged PDF
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David, you are so right in your approach. So many organizations don't want
to "burden" presenters with accessibility guidelines and they design in a
vacuum without any idea what it takes to make their presentations
accessible.
Kudos to your approach!
Ilana
On Wed, Oct 6, 2021 at 1:11 PM David Engebretson Jr. <
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Ooh, you might be interested in some of the work we are doing at the
> university I work at!
>
> I'm pushing for:
> * teachers in our elementary education teaching programs to teach kids how
> to make documents fully accessible from the first time the students touch a
> computer.
> * training all faculty staff and students to make their digital creations
> fully accessible from design to implementation as soon as they join our
> university community
> * incorporating accessible design principles into our curriculum from
> English 101 on... hopefully into all GUR's
> *incorporating accessible design principles into our computer science
> programs from CS 101 on... hopefully into all programs of concentration
> that deal with digital technologies, and programs that create physical
> products (such as industrial design)
> * and much more!
>
> I think the solution to the a11y problem is to start teaching our youngest
> students, right from the start, to create things with accessibility in
> mind. Maybe then, in 50 years, I can retire from being an a11y advocate
> because all humans will understand the importance of accessible design. I'm
> a dreamer, I know. 😊
>
> Thanks again for all of your hard work and advocacy!
> David
>
> > > > >
--
Ilana Gordon
CEO
Word Wizards, Inc
8609 2nd Avenue, Unit 406-B
Silver Spring, MD 20910
*v.*301-986-0808 *fax.*301-986-0809
*Direct: 240-380-2639*
www.wordwizardsinc.com

From: chagnon
Date: Wed, Oct 06 2021 12:38PM
Subject: Re: Making Speaker Notes Accessible as a Tagged PDF
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David, that's incredible!
I'm wondering if you could present a short summary of this at the AHG conference next month?
We keep getting questions from our academic clients on how to bring accessibility into the mainstream...that it becomes just the normal ways things are made.
You have some great examples.

— — —
Bevi Chagnon | Designer, Accessibility Technician | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
— — —
PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
consulting ' training ' development ' design ' sec. 508 services
Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes
— — —
Latest blog-newsletter – Simple Guide to Writing Alt-Text

From: Andy LaGow
Date: Wed, Oct 06 2021 12:50PM
Subject: Re: Making Speaker Notes Accessible as a Tagged PDF
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There's a larger issue involved from a corporate standpoint, which basically boils down to the devotion to which brands are prioritized over accessibility. This hurdle can be next to impossible to overcome, unless brand guidelines are specifically redesigned for accessibility. I've seen it to some extent, but most designers working today still don't get it. I see this every day.

Andy LaGow
Vice President
Word Wizards, Inc. <https://www.wordwizardsinc.com/>
240.380.2635

> On Oct 6, 2021, at 2:38 PM, < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> David, that's incredible!
> I'm wondering if you could present a short summary of this at the AHG conference next month?
> We keep getting questions from our academic clients on how to bring accessibility into the mainstream...that it becomes just the normal ways things are made.
> You have some great examples.
>
> — — —
> Bevi Chagnon | Designer, Accessibility Technician | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> — — —
> PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
> consulting ' training ' development ' design ' sec. 508 services
> Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes
> — — —
> Latest blog-newsletter – Simple Guide to Writing Alt-Text
>
>

From: David Engebretson Jr.
Date: Wed, Oct 06 2021 1:16PM
Subject: Re: Making Speaker Notes Accessible as a Tagged PDF
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I'd be happy to present a summary at AHG but I'm not signed up for it this year.

Are they still accepting proposals for AHG? I thought it closed a couple of months back...

Thanks for your encouragement!
David