E-mail List Archives

Search E-mail List Archives for

Number of posts in this thread: 6 (In chronological order)

From: Lars Ballieu Christensen
Date: Thu, Jun 06 2024 5:36AM
Subject: KOFAX vs Acrobat accessibility evaluation
No previous message | Next message →

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone has compared PDF creation and remediation with Adobe Acrobat vs KOFAX from an accessibility point of view. If so, I would be most interested in a copy of the results.



Venligst/Kind regards



Lars

----

Lars Ballieu Christensen

Rådgiver/Adviser, Ph.D., M.Sc., Sensus ApS

Specialister i tilgængelighed/Accessibility Consultants

Tel: +45 48 22 10 03 – Mobil: +45 40 32 68 23 - Skype: Ballieu

Mail: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = – Web: https://www.sensus.dk



Vi arbejder for et tilgængeligt og rummeligt informationssamfund

Working for an accessible and inclusive information society

From: Karen McCall
Date: Thu, Jun 06 2024 5:51AM
Subject: Re: KOFAX vs Acrobat accessibility evaluation
← Previous message | Next message →

I have the three applications, Acrobat, Foxit and Kofax PowerPDF Advanced.

Since Kofax acquired PowerPDF from Nuance, it is, to put it bluntly, crap.

Even if you start with an accessible Word document that has all the structure, the only tags that result from using the Kofax product are <P> tags with some <Figure> and <Table>. It used to be competitive and is currently the only tools that is not subscription. However, I guess you get what you pay for.

Another problem is that apparently there has been an update or two for over a year and I cannot update the application. The update is listed but the "Update Now" or "Install Now" button (forget what it is called) is unavailable. I've tried everything I can think of to try and update but can't. The pricing hasn't changed, there is something wrong with their update process.

I also don't find their customer service or support folk to be helpful. No one knows anything about tagged PDF...or accessibility.

I don't recommend purchasing this tool until it evolves to be a competitor in the tagged PDF tools again. I am going to give tech support one more try to see if I can get an update. Not holding my breath.

If I can get the update, I'll let the list know if there are any improvements.

It used to be competitive! Not anymore.

Cheers, Karen

From: Karen McCall
Date: Thu, Jun 06 2024 5:55AM
Subject: Re: KOFAX vs Acrobat accessibility evaluation
← Previous message | Next message →

BTW, I rank the remaining two tools in order of capability for tagging/remediating. Acrobat, with all its faults, is still the best of the worst with Foxit in second place. Foxit has several missing tools or tools that don't work as they should. Additionally, the Foxit Reader doesn't respect changes in language or expansion text (when the Span tag is used) and you want to test with a screen reader. I have to use Acrobat to test tagged PDF...so I might as well use Acrobat.

For example, I recently updated a tutorial on how the three applications deal with OCR/Text Recognition. I use the same document each time I run the testing. This time, Foxit wouldn't let me correct any misrecognized text and when I tagged the document after performing text recognition, the entire Tags Tree was empty <P> Tags. Bug or feature?

Cheers, Karen

From: Karen McCall
Date: Fri, Jun 07 2024 7:00AM
Subject: Re: KOFAX vs Acrobat accessibility evaluation
← Previous message | Next message →

OK, I have an update!

First, Kofax is now Tungsten Automation (formerly Kofax).

Second, even though they provide a dialog for an update, there is no such thing as a "free" update.

Each time there is an "update", you have to purchase an "upgrade".

The "good" news is that the tagging is much better and more accurate.

I use JAWS and when I started PowerPDF I got an accessibility settings dialog. This is an improvement.

The Reading Order Panel opens to the right of the document and reveals a Reading Order Ribbon which I haven't explored yet.

I can't find the Content Panel and it is not in the list of things to add to either the Navigation Pane (if that's what it's called here) or the Reading Order Pane.

The Ribbons do have keyboard commands but I've just installed the program so haven't explored them to see how deep or how accessible the tools are.

So, on the negative, there are no "updates" just paid "upgrades" for the application. I'm not sure what constitutes an update or upgrade? Completely new Versions numbers or incremental Version numbers?

On the plus side, the tagging is much better.

I haven't checked the OCR or other tools yet but will keep the list posted.

BTW, an upgrade for the current version (5) is $250 CAD or close to it.

Cheers, Karen

From: Dean.Vasile
Date: Fri, Jun 07 2024 10:20AM
Subject: Re: KOFAX vs Acrobat accessibility evaluation
← Previous message | Next message →

Hello Karen
I am curious how much is adobe costing you per month in Canadian dollars?
Dean Vasile


617-799-1162

> On Jun 7, 2024, at 9:00 AM, Karen McCall < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> OK, I have an update!
>
> First, Kofax is now Tungsten Automation (formerly Kofax).
>
> Second, even though they provide a dialog for an update, there is no such thing as a "free" update.
>
> Each time there is an "update", you have to purchase an "upgrade".
>
> The "good" news is that the tagging is much better and more accurate.
>
> I use JAWS and when I started PowerPDF I got an accessibility settings dialog. This is an improvement.
>
> The Reading Order Panel opens to the right of the document and reveals a Reading Order Ribbon which I haven't explored yet.
>
> I can't find the Content Panel and it is not in the list of things to add to either the Navigation Pane (if that's what it's called here) or the Reading Order Pane.
>
> The Ribbons do have keyboard commands but I've just installed the program so haven't explored them to see how deep or how accessible the tools are.
>
> So, on the negative, there are no "updates" just paid "upgrades" for the application. I'm not sure what constitutes an update or upgrade? Completely new Versions numbers or incremental Version numbers?
>
> On the plus side, the tagging is much better.
>
> I haven't checked the OCR or other tools yet but will keep the list posted.
>
> BTW, an upgrade for the current version (5) is $250 CAD or close to it.
>
> Cheers, Karen
>
>

From: Karen McCall
Date: Fri, Jun 07 2024 12:00PM
Subject: Re: KOFAX vs Acrobat accessibility evaluation
← Previous message | No next message

Yes, it gets expensive with the subscriptions. Both Acrobat and Foxit are each about $20 CAD once you add in the HST.

I bought PowerPDF just before Kofax bought it from Nuance. I couldn't update through the Nuance version and had to buy the software again through Kofax. I then couldn't access any "updates" and this morning had to purchase the software again as an upgrade through the new branding website.

So, it is probably cost effective for PowerPDF as long as I am not constantly updating or upgrading in financial terms. PowerPDF is still not as good a Acrobat or Foxit. It is getting there, but given that it was a true competitor in 2019, it has really lagged behind.

Cheers, Karen